This is the previous study that was cited in the article: http://phobias.about.com/od/research/a/snakeandspidpho.htm http://phobias.about.com/od/research/a/snak

This is the previous study that was cited in the article: http://phobias.about.com/od/research/a/snakeandspidpho.htm http://phobias.about.com/od/research/a/snakeandspidpho.htm (I'm sure I read it in the dead-tree version on the New Scientist but can't find it now). What's interesting is that the children simply paid more attention to spider/snake-like shapes rather than actually fear them. This seems to have been the case with both of my children who have been fascinated by spiders from an early age and will spot them from across the room. I encourage the curiosity and discourage the fear (we're in Ireland after all). For some reason, I think it's more plausible that we have a genetic predisposition to pay attention to spiders/snakes rather than the emotional fear response. Perhaps that distinction isn't present in crickets?