The Hidden Snake in the Grass: Superior Detection of Snakes in Challenging Attentional Conditions.

ABSTRACT: Snakes have provided a serious threat to primates throughout evolution. Furthermore, bites by venomous snakes still cause significant morbidity and mortality in tropical regions of the world. According to the Snake Detection Theory (SDT Isbell, 2006; 2009), the vital need to detect camouflaged snakes provided strong evolutionary pressure to develop astute perceptual capacity in animals that were potential targets for snake attacks. We performed a series of behavioral tests that assessed snake detection under conditions that may have been critical for survival. We used spiders as the control stimulus because they are also a common object of phobias and rated negatively by the general population, thus commonly lumped together with snakes as "evolutionary fear-relevant". Across four experimen

SUBMITTER: Soares SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4262429 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature