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Girls Wired To Fear Dangerous AnimalsComments:224
Posted by
samzenpus
on Mon Sep 14, 2009 12:00 PM
from the don't-play-with-venomous-things dept.
from the don't-play-with-venomous-things dept.
Foot-in-Mouth writes "New Scientist reports that girls are more "primed" to fear spiders and snakes, compared to boys. Infant boys and girls were shown pairs of images, a fearful and a happy object (such as a spider and a flower), measuring the boys' and girls' dwell times on the images. And in another similar test, normally happy objects (such as a flower) were given a fearful face and fearful objects were given a happy face. The results of these two tests suggested to the researcher that girls are not wired to fear spiders, for example, but rather girls are wired to more quickly learn to fear dangerous animals.
The researcher, David Rakison at CMU, 'attributes the difference to behavioural differences between men and women among our hunter-gatherer ancestors. An aversion to spiders may help women avoid dangerous animals, but in men evolution seems to have favoured more risk-taking behaviour for successful hunting.'
This reminds one of men's obsession with video games. Will game designers use this information to tweak video games for gender, either to make the games more or less frightening?"
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Dangerous animals (Score:5, Funny)
i.e. mice
Re:Dangerous animals (Score:5, Insightful)
Mice bite. Bites get infected and transmit diseases. It makes sense evolutionarily speaking. Boys grow to be men and need to be able to not be afraid (or at least keep that fear in check) while hunting so that they can focus on the kill. Girls and women tended to be more on the gatherer side (why they can see colors better amongst other things) to pick fruit and what-not. Spiders and bugs and slithery things would be more dangerous to them than men since they'd be more likely to encounter them. Screaming when in fear alerts the tribe to danger and the higher pitch of their voices seems like it would travel better than a guttural manly tone.. Makes perfect sense to me.
Re:Dangerous animals (Score:5, Funny)
Another possibility (not saying yours is wrong, but this "correction", is probably another factor).
[..] It makes sense evolutionarily speaking. Boys grow to be men and need to be able to not be afraid (or at least keep that fear in check) while doing stupid but impressive things to show potential mates that they are strong. [...]
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Screaming when in fear alerts the tribe to danger and the higher pitch of their voices seems like it would travel better than a guttural manly tone..
Actually the higher pitch is better because it is less omnidirectional (i.e. you can tell where it's coming from) than a lower pitch. This is why police/fire/medical vehicles have high pitch sirens, so you can tell where they are coming from easier.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Mice bite
If you are catching a mouse in a cardboard box with your bare hand then the cornered mouse will eventually bite. But in an open land any sane mouse will do its best to run away. Attempts to bite a creature 100x larger than the mouse will only force it to come closer to the danger, and most likely will not be effective.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Damn, just one bad day and no one ever lets you forget.
What about the most dreaded animal of all? (Score:2, Funny)
Trollus Slashdottus?
Does anyone even read the summary anymore? (Score:3, Informative)
Foot in mouth is right. The title and the summary contradict.
Video Game Changes (Score:5, Funny)
Will game designers use this information to tweak video games for gender, either to make the games more or less frightening?
Tweak video games for gender? You mean like Sims 4 with the man-eating toilet seat?
Wow. I just freaked myself out.
mice? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:mice? (Score:5, Funny)
I always thought the mice thing was a construction of television, much like the toilet seat wars. I've never once seen a girl who reacts to a mouse with anything other than "Awwwwwwwwwwww, look at the mouse".
I've seen a girl jump on a chair and shriek when a mouse scurried through the room. I've also been berated for leaving the toilet seat in the wrong configuration. Your anecdotal experience completely goes against my anecdotal experience, and guess whose anecdotal experience I tend to trust more?
Re:mice? (Score:4, Funny)
Oh yeah? Well I've seen an NFL linebacker jump five feet straight up when he saw a mouse. Then a woman grabbed it with her bare hand and bit off its head. Then she looked right at me and said "That's what'll happen to you if you leave the seat up again."
guess whose anecdotal experience I tend to trust more?
Probably not the anecdotal experience that was obviously just made up... for shame.
Re:mice? (Score:5, Funny)
True that! It doesn't really matter if some other women are afraid of mice or not or if they don't care about toilet seats if the one you're with threatens to cut your junk off in your sleep if they fall into the toilet, or if you look at other women, or try to leave. (please help).
Re:mice? (Score:5, Insightful)
No... it's in women's best interest for the men to put the seat up when they go and back down when they're done. Prevents the "them falling in" problem, prevents the "them sitting on a wet seat" problem, and prevents the "them actually having to do something" problem.
Me, I just leave BOTH seats down anymore. Nobody complains and it doesn't look like the toilet is yawning at you when you walk into the room. ;)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Send him a link to this article.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I always thought the mice thing was a construction of television, much like the toilet seat wars.
I see you've never lived in the same house as a woman. I suggest you get married, try leaving the toilet seat up a few times, and then try your post again. For best results, go to your in-laws' house and leave the toilet seat up there. It won't do any damage. Chances are your mother-in-law doesn't like you anyway ;-)
Re:mice? (Score:5, Funny)
Actually I've noticed a HUMAN aversion to mice. A couple of mice in a room will often make a 250lb flanel-wearing truck driver hop up on the table to get away.
I'll admit, they freak me out too. I went into the shed in my back yard to clean up a good while back. I had some scraps of carpet stashed in there that were left over from when I'd built a speaker box for my car. I picked up the pile and mice - dozens of them, just scattered everywhere. I'll admit, I shrieked like a girl and ran for mah life . . .
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I am no fan of mice. I once woke up in the middle of the night to notice a mouse sitting on my foot and eating the skin from my toes. I spent the rest of the night sitting in the dark in the middle of my apartment with a pellet gun and a flashlight. Every time I heard it scurry I would spot light it. The first time it was in front of my computer. The second time it was in front of some glass dishes. The third time I cought it in the open, and took a shot as it jumped jumped 3 feet towards some shelves. I ma
Is there one? (Score:2)
Actually, is there one? Mice are a fact of life in rural areas. I can't imagine women being able to function at all in, say, medieval Europe if they were wired to shriek and jump on the table at the sight of one. Rats and mice were really that common.
Heck, even in the 20'th century, I've seen more than one when visiting either grandma as a child. And that's not counting the ones the cat used to bring us. And I don't remember anyone freaking out.
Honestly, other than in Hollywood movies and cartoons, I can't
Re: (Score:2)
I beg to differ. [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Not a legend, your link just separates them out as not being major rabies carriers. Here in New Mexico, we get cases of hantavirus [wikipedia.org] every year, which certainly is carries by mice and rats. We also typically get several cases of plague [wikipedia.org] every year. And, while the little rodents don't directly communicate the disease to humans, they make a pretty efficient transport device for the critters that do.
Unscientific conclusions? (Score:2)
Re:Unscientific conclusions? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes it's pretty speculative, but suggesting that it's a blind guess requires real ignorance of both history and biology.
Except it's not that clear cut at all (Score:3, Informative)
Except it's not that clear at all, so, yes, _I_ will call it blind guesses.
For a start, the evolution of the homo species has involved _reducing_ sexual dimorphism. All along the line we moved from disproportionately larger males than females and males with born natural weapons (e.g., bigger teeth and jaws) to something more gender-equal than any other ape. Clearly there wasn't as big a need for big males protecting weak females.
Also, if you're actually looking at primitive cultures, you must be looking thr
Re: (Score:2)
Thats not at all what the popular TV Show Xena led me to believe.
Evolutionary origins of gender stereotypes (Score:5, Funny)
British scientists have uncovered why little girls like pink toys [today.com]. "Women are hardwired to like pink," says Professor Gene Hunt of the University of Metro, "because their cavewoman foremothers spent their days gathering red leaves and berries amongst the trees." Later, women needed to notice red-faced babies and blushing boyfriends. Men are attracted to blue because of the colour of the sky as seen when hunting.
Women are also predisposed to backstab one another in the workplace and cry in the boardroom, just like the social structures in the cave population as extrapolated from two bone needles. Being too successful will increase women's testosterone, giving them hairy nipples and male-pattern baldness. Females joining the hunt may also explain the end of the Neanderthals.
IQ test studies show that women have lower IQs on average than men, undoubtedly from lesser need for environmental variation while taking care of the cave. Tests on little boys prove that testosterone correlates with a sense of humour, so women naturally can't take a joke. Housework has been shown to cut the risk of several fatal diseases, and dressing up nicely around the house is psychologically healthy as it uses the Homo erectus clan maintenance abilities of the female of the tribe.
Men are naturally predisposed to sleep with as many women as possible, as proven by lions, whereas women are naturally predisposed to stay loyal to their man and their spawn. Women who sleep around are at increased risk of parasites and death, as proven by cheetahs, who are a pack of catty sluts.
In a final crowning achievement, the team has shown that daily fellatio greatly reduces the incidence of breast cancer. Furthermore, regular sexual intercourse is essential to feminine health, but may be injurious if prolonged for more than two minutes or conducted while the man is sober.
"In conclusion," says Professor Hunt, "all of this is top-notch science that you can absolutely rely on. Now get your knickers back on and make me a cuppa."
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
YAVGDT - Yet Another Video Game Design Theory (Score:2)
Does everything have to tie back to video game design? I think we're being a little one-track-mind here. Sometimes things just are and we'll see what people make of them. This research is so general, one could pose the question "Will directors/writers/teachers/coaches/lawyers use this information to tweak movies/literature/education/sports/representation for gender?"
Bullshit (Score:4, Interesting)
Gender discrimination? Say it ain't so. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Gender discrimination? Say it ain't so. (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, most of the "gender differences" we see are primarily nurture, not nature. Even if you don't brainwash your own daughter, trust me, other kids will.
As an adult male, I too find it depressing that I apparently cannot be trusted around children, but my daughter's male teacher and principal can (strange double standard). Unfortunately, I do like kids, in the sense that I want to see them be happy. And, as creepy as I am, little girls adore me. Why? Because, unlike most adults, I actually pay attention to them, and treat them like human beings. Which apparently is something that their paranoid parents are failing to do. I believe giving your kids the time and attention they crave would protect them much better than training them to fear all strangers. The "stranger danger" myth is bullshit - the vast majority of child abuse is perpetrated by people the parents know, those same school staff and relatives that the parents trust unconditionally.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I realize this is a troll, and I shouldn't bother responding, but....
This is a common misinterpretation. I'm not saying I like *hanging around with kids*. I'm saying I like a lot of the same things as I did when I was a kid.
Personally, I don't particularly like being around kids (I neither have, nor want, children). but when I am around them, they tend to like me because I can still act like a kid, instead of being just another boring adult who completely ignores them.
I'm the type that goes out to a state p
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes, I was trolling (I'm the same AC).
In a way, I was acknowledging the problem you describe. I was poking you where I know it's uncomfortable. I've felt the same thing.
In a way, I was also trying to show how silly it sounds to freak out just because an adult gets along well with children.
(You fed the troll; I'll bet you didn't expect to get this in return. ;)
Meh... I've said what I have to say, now moving on...
Fear It Self (Score:2)
I'm not sure about girls being afraid of snakes and spiders and such but is weird that I'm spooked if not afraid of the ad in the page about "Dora Saves The Crystal Kingdom. Try it free! Nick Jr Arcade"?
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
What if you had HUNDREDS of scientists objectively judging facial expressions of HUNDREDS of infants?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Their data is of their creation - yes. They are testing the infant's reaction to those creations. How is the data corruptable? The scientists can think and have as many preconceptions they want about their data, and how they percieve the children might react. Either way - it doesn't stop the children from reacting to the data in any way. And if the recording of the reaction is accurate, ie, larger sample sizes, then you've got yourself an answer to a question.
How would you propose they experiment with human
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Just take the pictures of the infants' reactions, and get some third parties, who don't even know what the experiment is about, to do the scoring. You could probably conscript a bunch of child-development majors to provide assessments of the sample pretty easily.
Re:Nature vs nurture. (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, you can, though I don't know if this study did so.
Make it more blind. Have volunteers (who can't see the images) classify the infants' reactions to the images.
Whoops, hold on. I just RTFA. They're not evaluating based on the infants' facial expressions--they're evaluating based on how long the infants looked at each image. That's objective--hard to see how the scientists' expectations would be affecting the data. Mind you, "more time looking==more scared" isn't obviously valid, but the difference in times between the tests is still significant. You could question whether the girls are learning fear vs something else, but the test still seems to show that the girls are being trained by the images while the boys aren't.
Except that's the crux of the problem (Score:3, Insightful)
Except that seems to me like a very serious flaw. Doing a scientific test when you don't even know what you're measuring or what it means, seems to me incredibly unscientific. If they can't actually prove that "more time looking == more scared", then the whole conclusion isn't really supported by anything.
To see how bogus the whole "more looking == more fear" thing is, a whole other team used "more looking == more attractive" when they tried to prove that there is a hard-wired beauty ideal. If I'm to believ
Re: (Score:2)
Seems like you might do better looking for electrical activity patterns in the amygdala.
I find this interesting as it touches my life... my wife has always been afraid of spiders, but recently her fear of them has gone into the realm of extreme phobia. Panic attacks, avoiding places where a spider might be etc. She can't even watch a scene in a movie that has a spider-like creature in it without having an attack.
Of course, she has panic attack issues anyway, it makes me wonder if some peoples amygdalas are
Re:Nature vs nurture. (Score:5, Informative)
It seems foolish to base a scientific study off of some scientist's ability to objectively judge facial expressions in infants.
That's not what the study measured. It used quantifiable criteria. The conclusions are debatable, but you have to read the study before you're entitled to an opinion.
That's not science.
That's not reading.
Re: (Score:2, Redundant)
The study does seem to demonstrate that girls are being trained by the images while the boys aren't. It might not be "trained to fear", but something is responsible for the difference between the tests. There's a history effect. The girls are learning something the boys aren't.
Re:Girls can be fun (Score:5, Funny)
Congratulations, you've just told us what every little boy already knew.
The main attraction of toads, frogs, worms, and bugs is the fascinating effect they have on girls.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
That may be; however, I've *trained* women to fear ME.
Bukakekekekeke
Re:Dangerous animals? (Score:5, Funny)
Women are wired to fear ME.
Hey, my mom's first laptop had ME installed on it - and I'd say fear was a completely reasonable reaction.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Women are wired to fear ME.
Hey, my mom's first laptop had ME installed on it
My Mom's laptop had ME and My siblings installed on it. One by one, we were uninstalled at birth.