If you're terrified of spiders, or fearful of snakes, then blame your parents. A study challenges the widely held view that we are hard-wired to fear creepy crawlies and instead suggests we learn to be scared of them in the first years of life. Fear of snakes is one of the most common - and in Britain - irrational phobias. Half the population is thought to suffer even though most have never actually seen a snake. Experts at Rutgers University in Newark showed seven-month-old babies two videos side by side – one of a snake and another of a non-threatening animal. At the same time, the babies were played a recording of either a fearful human voice or a happy one.The infants spent more time looking at the snake videos when listening to the fearful voices, but showed no signs of fear themselves, the researchers report in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science.
如果你见到蜘蛛就尖叫，想起蛇就浑身发抖，那么千万别责怪自己那么胆小，或者天生就是一胆小鬼。绝对不是。其实是爸爸妈妈教会你“如何害怕” 的。有调查称，“害怕蛇”是绝大多数英国人的“通病”，英国人把自己害怕蛇归结为“天性使然”，有半数英国国民光是想到蛇都不寒而栗，更别说是看见蛇了。据悉，一项新研究调查彻底颠覆了人们的固有观念，即-----人们对蛇和蜘蛛的恐惧时与生俱来的，其实不然，人们是在出生后几年逐渐学会害怕它们的。美国新泽西州的研究者做了一项实验，在7个月大的婴儿面前并排播放两段视频，一个关于蛇，另一个关于某种无害动物。结果婴儿花更多的时间观看蛇，甚至把自己的耳朵凑过去“倾听”蛇发出的滋滋声，但没有表现出任何恐惧的反应。这项研究调查被发布在《心理科学最新动向》期刊上，证明，初生牛犊其实不怕蛇！

Past studies have shown that people can be taught to fear almost anything. In one Swedish study, scientists showed volunteers images of snakes, spiders, flowers and mushrooms while giving them a small electric shock. Unsurprisingly, the volunteers learnt to associate all the images with fear. In Britain half of women and a fifth of men are thought to be frightened of spiders, irrespective of whether they are dangerous or not. Many scientists argue that the phobias, exploited by Hollywood movies such as Arachnophobia and Snakes on a Plane, evolved millions of years ago when our ancestors lived alongside a host of deadly reptiles and insects in Africa.
过去的研究一致认为，人们内心产生的恐惧心理都是受到外界影响而形成的。在一项来自瑞典调查显示，当科学家在志愿者面前分别摆放：蛇、蜘蛛、花卉以及蘑菇照片等，同时用仪器给志愿者外界的电流冲击，结果志愿者对于所有的照片都产生恐惧、害怕心理，志愿者“被迫”把所有照片与恐惧联系起来。因为在英国，有半数女人以及20%的男人都害怕蜘蛛，不管他们是否觉得蜘蛛危险与否，他们似乎天生就害怕那种活物。有科学家谴责人们的这种毫无来由的恐惧心理部分归结于好莱坞的惊悚电影，比如《小魔煞》，这部电影讲的是一只来自丛林的特种蜘蛛来到小镇繁衍后代，最终酿成灾难的故事。科学家认为这些人为制造的恐怖场景让人们即使不害怕蜘蛛，也变得害怕了。