Knowledge of Collision Modulates Defensive Multisensory Responses to Looming Insects in Arachnophobes

Milou K. Huijsmans; Alyanne M. de Haan; Barbara C.N. Müller; H. Chris Dijkerman; Hein T. van Schie

doi:10.1037/xhp0000974

Knowledge of Collision Modulates Defensive Multisensory Responses to Looming Insects in Arachnophobes

Milou K. Huijsmans, Alyanne M. de Haan, Barbara C.N. Müller, H. Chris Dijkerman, Hein T. van Schie^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Radboud University Nijmegen

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

We investigated the role of contextual knowledge in defensive responses to visual stimuli (spiders and butterflies) looming toward the hand. Human participants responded to tactile stimuli delivered to the same hand at 6 possible locations during an insect's approach. Tactile reaction times were faster when looming stimuli were closer to the hand, especially for spiders, and faster when insects loomed on a collision path than on a near-miss path. This latter finding suggests that human reactions to looming stimuli are not merely automatic reflexes but that contextual knowledge about the trajectory of looming objects is included in predicting their impact.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-7
Journal	Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
Volume	48
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000974
Publication status	Published - Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Psychological Association

Funding

This study was supported by an NWO Vici Grant (453-10-003) to H. Chris Dijkerman. A special thanks goes to Mike Staadegaard, who programmed the experiment in Unity 3D.

Funders	Funder number
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek	453-10-003

Keywords

Defensive behavior
Looming
Peripersonal space
Spider
Threat

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10.1037/xhp0000974

00004788-202201000-00001Final published version, 581 KBLicence: Taverne

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abstract = "We investigated the role of contextual knowledge in defensive responses to visual stimuli (spiders and butterflies) looming toward the hand. Human participants responded to tactile stimuli delivered to the same hand at 6 possible locations during an insect's approach. Tactile reaction times were faster when looming stimuli were closer to the hand, especially for spiders, and faster when insects loomed on a collision path than on a near-miss path. This latter finding suggests that human reactions to looming stimuli are not merely automatic reflexes but that contextual knowledge about the trajectory of looming objects is included in predicting their impact.",

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AU - van Schie, Hein T.

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Knowledge of Collision Modulates Defensive Multisensory Responses to Looming Insects in Arachnophobes

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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Keywords

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