A velocidade sacádica na deteção de cobras: um estudo com image morphing
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Data
2018
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Numa perspetiva evolutiva, o medo tem origem em sistemas de comportamento
defensivo que ajudaram, ao longo do percurso evolutivo, os indivíduos a lidar com
diferentes tipos de ameaça à sua sobrevivência (Bolles, 1970), motivando-os a escapar e
evitar fontes de perigo e ameaça com ativação de comportamentos defensivos muito
rápidos (Fanselow & Lester, 1988). Como répteis, as cobras têm significado, no
percurso evolutivo, uma ameaça mortal, configurando-se, por esta razão, como
estímulos especiais para os seres humanos (Öhman & Mineka, 2003). Numa perspetiva
filogenética a literatura sugere que um módulo evoluído de medo é ativado
preferencialmente por estímulos biologicamente relevantes (Fox, Griggs, &
Mouchlianitis, 2007)
A presente investigação propõe-se examinar os processos atencionais, através de
movimentos oculares, associados à deteção de ameaças biologicamente relevante, com
vista a uma melhor compreensão do efeito moderador do medo de cobras nas respostas
de defesa dos indivíduos.
Um paradigma de image morphing, com um conjunto de quatro diferentes
categorias de estímulos, foi utilizado. Os referidos estímulos foram apresentados aos
participantes de forma aleatória enquanto os seus movimentos oculares foram registados
de modo contínuo.
Foram encontradas diferenças significativas na velocidade máxima das sacadas
quando analisadas em função dos dois grupos de medo. Indivíduos com elevado medo
de cobras apresentaram velocidade sacádicas máximas mais elevadas que no grupo de
baixo medo, corroborando estudos realizados que demonstram que os indivíduos
tendem a utilizar recursos pré-atencionais não conscientes para uma mais rápida
identificação de ameaças com relevância biológica.
From an evolutionary perspective, fear arises through systems of defensive behavior that have helped individuals cope with different types of threats to their survival (Bolles, 1970), motivating them to escape and avoid sources of danger and threat with the activation of very rapid defensive behaviors (Fanselow & Lester, 1988). As reptiles, snakes have represented a mortal threat in the course of evolution, and thus constitute special stimuli for humans (Öhman & Mineka, 2003). From a phylogenetic perspective, the literature suggests that an evolved module of fear is activated preferentially by biologically fear-relevant stimuli (Fox et al., 2007) The present investigation aimed to examine the attentional processes throught eye movements associated to the detection of biologically relevant threats, in order to better understand the moderating effect of fear of snakes on individuals’ defense responses A image morphing paradigm was present, using a set of visual stimuli framed in four diferent categories. These stimuli were presented to the participants randomly, while their eye movements were continously recorded. Significant differences were found in peak saccadic velocity between the two fear groups. Individuals with high fear of snakes showed faster maximum saccade velocities compared to the low-fear group, which corroborates studies that have shown that individuals tend to use non-conscious pre-attentional resources for biologically threat-relevant detection.
From an evolutionary perspective, fear arises through systems of defensive behavior that have helped individuals cope with different types of threats to their survival (Bolles, 1970), motivating them to escape and avoid sources of danger and threat with the activation of very rapid defensive behaviors (Fanselow & Lester, 1988). As reptiles, snakes have represented a mortal threat in the course of evolution, and thus constitute special stimuli for humans (Öhman & Mineka, 2003). From a phylogenetic perspective, the literature suggests that an evolved module of fear is activated preferentially by biologically fear-relevant stimuli (Fox et al., 2007) The present investigation aimed to examine the attentional processes throught eye movements associated to the detection of biologically relevant threats, in order to better understand the moderating effect of fear of snakes on individuals’ defense responses A image morphing paradigm was present, using a set of visual stimuli framed in four diferent categories. These stimuli were presented to the participants randomly, while their eye movements were continously recorded. Significant differences were found in peak saccadic velocity between the two fear groups. Individuals with high fear of snakes showed faster maximum saccade velocities compared to the low-fear group, which corroborates studies that have shown that individuals tend to use non-conscious pre-attentional resources for biologically threat-relevant detection.
Descrição
Orientação: Pedro Joel Rosa
Palavras-chave
MESTRADO EM PSICOLOGIA CLÍNICA E DA SAÚDE, PSICOLOGIA, SERPENTES, EYE TRACKING, ESTÍMULOS, MEDO, PSYCHOLOGY, SERPENTS, EYE TRACKING, STIMULI, FEAR