Evolutionary Psychology
www.epjournal.net – 2009. 7(4): 534-544
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Original Article
Backward Masked Snakes and Guns Modulate Spatial Attention
Joshua M. Carlson, Biomedical Engineering, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook,
USA. Email: carlsonjm79@gmail.com (Corresponding Author).
Andrea L. Fee, Department of Psychology, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, Edwardsville, USA.
Karen S. Reinke, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois-Springfield, Springfield, USA.
Abstract: Fearful faces are important social cues that alert others of potential threat. Even
backward masked fearful faces facilitate spatial attention. However, visual stimuli other
than fearful faces can signal potential threat. Indeed, unmasked snakes and spiders
modulate spatial attention. Yet, it is unclear if the rapid threat-related facilitation of spatial
attention to backward masked stimuli is elicited by non-face threat cues. Evolutionary
theories claim that phylogenetic threats (i.e. snakes and spiders) should preferentially elicit
an automatic fear response, but it is untested as to whether this response extends to
enhancements in spatial attention under restricted processing conditions. Thirty individuals
completed a backward masking dot-probe task with both evolutionary relevant and
irrelevant threat cues. The results suggest that backward masked visual fear stimuli
modulate spatial attention. Both evolutionary relevant (snake) and irrelevant (gun) threat
cues facilitated spatial attention.
Keywords: emotion, fear, evolution, backward masking, dot-probe.
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Introduction
Threatening stimuli are theorized to elicit an evolutionary-based fear response that
increases an individual’s likelihood of survival (LeDoux, 1996; Öhman and Mineka, 2001).
This response may be initiated through a subcortical neural system for rapid, relatively non-
discriminative, responses or a co