FEARS: INSTINCT OR LEARNED?

Written by Caroline Meyer

Research has been done related to the fear of heights, fear of snakes and spiders as well as the fear of strangers. Most of these fears seem to start from around the 8 to 10-month mark. But is this evolution or learned? Things that threaten survival can easily be chalked up to being an instinctive fear and perhaps being hard-wired into humans from birth. This may in fact not be entirely true. Fears are easily learned and once they are, removing the fear becomes extremely difficult. There is research on both instinctual and learned fears but the theory of it being due to evolution may be based on flawed studies. Current research suggests that fear is picked up from adults and other young children and we are not born with it. 

In the research done on the topic, it was discovered that infants actually demonstrated interest in spiders, snakes and so forth and actually tried to interact with them. There was no fear and even if they were shown images of the creatures, along with fearful voices, if anything, they showed more attention. They would reach out to try and touch the images. When shown spiders and snakes in tanks, they were quite interested and spent time peering into the tanks. Even when confronted with steep drops, they were likely to peer over the edge and extend hands or feet over to try and explore it. There was no obvious fear response. When it came to strangers, babies would smile and offer toys in most instances. Even in an unfamiliar environment, infants did not react negatively to strangers.  Infants did show interest in strangers as well as snakes and spiders, but the usual fear symptoms were not present. Avoiding the edge is not the same as being afraid of heights. Exploring the drop is not necessarily negative. In infants a raised heartbeat might also indicate interest as opposed to fear. The increase in heartbeat needs to be taken in conjunction with body language such as whether they are smiling or showing agitation or distress. As we get older, there may be a greater fear depending on the size or depth of a drop off. In infants, the reaction tends to remain the same no matter the fall distance. Avoiding the drop is perhaps an instinct for survival, but it is not a fear. Showing some nervousness around strangers or being wary is not necessarily due to fear. They may also react differently depending on the environment they are in and how they are approached. The faster a stranger approaches and attempts to touch or pick up the child, the more likely it is that they respond negatively. That being said, more than 40% of babies will stay neutral or show a positive response even when picked up by a stranger in an unfamiliar environment. 

A lot of the responses seen seem to relate more to the child’s temperament and abilities as opposed to being a general response. As children advance in their abilities, they are more likely to respond in different ways to the same predicament. Infants that are just starting to crawl or walk will often not stop at the point of a drop off, where more experienced babies are likely to stop and explore the drop by extending arms or legs into the drop or over the gap.  They will also start looking for ways to bypass the obstacle and will become a lot more cautious. Babies that are generally more nervous or temperamental will often react more negatively and show signs of fear more readily than babies with a calmer temperament. 

Most of the research has centred around the fear of strangers, heights, snakes and spiders even though these have clearly been shown not to be prevalent in babies and young children. Even in adults, the fear heights, snakes and spiders is under 6% of the population that experience an intense fear or phobia. While social anxiety affects around 11% of people, the fear of strangers on its own is extremely rare. On further investigation, the fear of spiders, snakes, strangers and heights that are found in almost 90% of preschool children has developed as a result of media and having the fear instilled in them by adults (usually parents and caregivers). 

Children will also pick up cues from their parents of what they need to fear. Research done displaying a drop of to an infant and then having the child go near the same drop with the parent showing a happy or fearful response clearly showed the influence of adult body language/facial expression on the child learning to fear. 

Actual fear does not cause defined responses on its own. The brain interprets the significance of what is happening including physical changes such as an increased heart rate and increased sweating. This response and the preparation of the body to handle it is stored in the brain and activated when the mind perceives the threat to be imminent. This learned response then manifests as fear. 

Future research may look at the definition of fear from an even more in-depth perspective. Introducing physical or behavioural responses along with the negative emotional reaction. Responses would also need to increase incrementally along with the increase in the threat. It might also be useful to examine other fears and how they are manifested as well as different responses from a wide variety of infants and small children to get a better determination of what fear actually is. The reactions at different ages may also help determine when fears may be instinctive and when they are learned behaviour.