Cole, Geoff G and Wilkins, Arnold J (2013) Fear of Holes. Psychological Science, 24 (10). pp. 1980-1985. DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613484937
Cole, Geoff G and Wilkins, Arnold J (2013) Fear of Holes. Psychological Science, 24 (10). pp. 1980-1985. DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613484937
Cole, Geoff G and Wilkins, Arnold J (2013) Fear of Holes. Psychological Science, 24 (10). pp. 1980-1985. DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613484937
Abstract
<jats:p> Phobias are usually described as irrational and persistent fears of certain objects or situations, and causes of such fears are difficult to identify. We describe an unusual but common phobia (trypophobia), hitherto unreported in the scientific literature, in which sufferers are averse to images of holes. We performed a spectral analysis on a variety of images that induce trypophobia and found that the stimuli had a spectral composition typically associated with uncomfortable visual images, namely, high-contrast energy at midrange spatial frequencies. Critically, we found that a range of potentially dangerous animals also possess this spectral characteristic. We argue that although sufferers are not conscious of the association, the phobia arises in part because the inducing stimuli share basic visual characteristics with dangerous organisms, characteristics that are low level and easily computed, and therefore facilitate a rapid nonconscious response. </jats:p>
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Uncontrolled Keywords: | phobia; trypophobia; holes; evolution; visual stress; aposematism; threat; fear; evolutionary psychology; vision; avoidance |
Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology |
Divisions: | Faculty of Science and Health Faculty of Science and Health > Psychology, Department of |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 16 Sep 2013 08:46 |
Last Modified: | 07 Aug 2024 19:44 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/7734 |
Available files
Filename: 2013-210.pdf