Searching for the Critical Features of Snakes

The bigger the threat, the longer the gaze? A cross-cultural study of Somalis and Czechs

“…In a visual detection task, snakes were detected faster than other animals (Lobue and DeLoache, 2008;Shibasaki and Kawai, 2011;Penkunas and Coss, 2013;Soares and Esteves, 2013), even under high perceptual load (Soares et al, 2014;Kawai and He, 2016;Kawai and Qiu, 2020) and regardless of their colouration (Prokop et al, 2018;Fančovičová et al, 2020). Similar results were obtained from a simulated virtual hike (Jensen and Caine, 2021), whilst LoBue (2014) and Kawai (2019) investigated which features facilitated the detection. Additional support for the Snake detection theory also comes from event-related potentials (ERP) studies (He et al, 2014;Grassini et al, 2016;Van Strien et al, 2016;Van Strien and Isbell, 2017) or neurobiological research (Van Le et al, 2013, 2014.…”

“…This notion was supported by Etting and Isbell (2014) in their rhesus macaque behavioural study. Recently, the topic of recognition-relevant features of snakes was reviewed by Kawai (2019) . In concordance with the most current results, he concluded that snake scales are the key characteristic ( He et al, 2014 ; Van Strien et al, 2016 ; Isbell and Etting, 2017 ; Van Strien and Isbell, 2017 ; Kawai, 2019 ).…”

“…Recently, the topic of recognition-relevant features of snakes was reviewed by Kawai (2019) . In concordance with the most current results, he concluded that snake scales are the key characteristic ( He et al, 2014 ; Van Strien et al, 2016 ; Isbell and Etting, 2017 ; Van Strien and Isbell, 2017 ; Kawai, 2019 ). Interestingly, the importance of snake scales could be illustrated already in hominids, as some palaeolithic engravings likely represent a snakeskin ( Coss and Charles, 2021 ).…”

“…Taken altogether, however, the human mind seems to be specifically equipped to react to snakes in a certain manner ( Isbell, 2006 , 2009 ). Further, there are several compelling pieces of evidence that this reaction is at least partially innate ( Tierney and Connolly, 2013 ; Kawai, 2019 ). First, it is shared amongst distinct cultures across the globe ( Alves et al, 2014 ; Pandey et al, 2016 ; Landová et al, 2018 ; Onyishi et al, 2021 ), second, it can manifest itself very early in human ontogeny ( Lobue and DeLoache, 2008 ; DeLoache and LoBue, 2009 ; Hayakawa et al, 2011 ; Borgi and Cirulli, 2015 ; Bertels et al, 2020 ), and third, we can observe a similar reaction in apes and other primates ( Murray and King, 1973 ; Shibasaki and Kawai, 2009 ; Weiss et al, 2015 ; Kawai and Koda, 2016 ; Wombolt and Caine, 2016 ; Zhang et al, 2020 ).…”