While sitting on their parents' laps, infants were shown images of spiders and snakes on white backgrounds for five seconds. In fact, research shows that at least five percent of the population has a strong, inhibiting fear of spiders and snakes.īut do we learn this fear, or is it something we're born with?Ī group of researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Germany and Uppsala University in Sweden decided to find out by testing a segment of the population least likely to show fear: babies.įorty-eight six-month-old infants were tested at the institute to analyze how they reacted to images the researchers predicted might be frightening. Many people squirm at the thought of a spider dangling above them or a snake slithering underfoot.
