Snake and spider handlers needed for UQ study

[Fuscus]

People who handle snakes or spiders regularly are needed for an upcoming University of Queensland study.

According to UQ researcher Helena Purkis, snakes and spiders are often at the centre of irrational fears.

read more : Snake and spider handlers needed for UQ study - UQ News Online - The University of Queensland

 

[Flaviruthless]

Cheers for that!

 

[euphorion]

sounds interesting

 

[mysteryman]

i'd love to help out, sounds like fun

 

[gus11]

Could be interesting, I'm not sure how they will seperate the result of evolution or is a learned behaviour.

My mums greatest fear is snakes, she wont stay at my house when she visits cause i have snakes, she passionately wants nothing to do with them. One of the funniest things I've ever seen was my mum finding a 12ft scrubby when she came to visit and then running for her life she won't even go into the melbourne zoo reptile house. Whilst I find nothing more enjoyable than seeing wild snakes and catching them for work and research. I've never had issues with them, I was scared of spiders growing up, but have no issues with them now.

There is a very short chapter that relates to this in the book The Lizard King by Bryan Christy. It brings up many many interesting points.

"Snakes are the most widely dreamed about, most feared, most religiously significant creature in the world. No other creature figures so widely in folk-lore and myth. No other creature is so universally accused of hijacking the amygdala, the region of the brain responsible for flight."

"A cobra spread its hood to protect Guatama, hero of Buddhism. The serpent in the Garden of Eden represents Satan, but it was also the catalyst for man’s redemption."

"Albert Schweitzer, winner of the Nobel Prize for his “reverence for life” philosophy, carried a rifle for ministering to snakes".

From the "Journal of Human Evolution, the shape of the human head - eyes front, large brain – stems from a desire by man’s ancestors to avoid snake predators".

"Coiled at the centre of the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of the word fascinate is this: “of a serpent.” Evolved from lizards, deliverers of venom – snakes are the villains of the animal kingdom."

"Why will monkeys terrified of even a snakelike piece of garden hose nevertheless return for a life-threatening second peek?"

"At one time, collecting reptiles was a sign of good taste." (referring to dead stuffed animals)

I thought these were interesting points

 

[Fuscus]

I have actually contacted them and received the following reply.

Thank you for your interest in the "Fear research" conducted at the School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia.

It's great to hear from someone who has extensive experience with snakes. It would be great if you could participate in our study! And it's perfectly fine for you to reprint the info about the study - in fact, I would be very appreciative of it.

Currently, we are running a series of experiments that investigate human fears and phobias. The main purpose is to investigate the attentional mechanisms that facilitate certain fears, such as fear of snakes and spiders.

In particular, we are interested in how snake and spider experts (i.e. anyone who has experience in handling snakes and/ or spiders frequently) process these animals.

In these studies, you will view pictures of animals and press buttons according to task instructions on a computer. There will also be questionnaires to be completed - everything in the study will be held strictly confidential.

Studies will take about 1.5 - 2 hours, and participants will be reimbursed $10 per hour for their time (total: $30, includes reimbursement for parking). The study will be conducted on campus at teh School of Psychology, St Lucia campus.

If you are interested in participating in this study, please reply this email with a few time preferences (3 hour blocks) from Monday to Friday. Weekend research timeslot arrangements are also possible. If you prefer for me to call you to arrange a meeting, please indicate this in your email reply.

Further information about getting to the University and research laboratory will be provided in a future email, should you decide to participate. The success of our research depends upon assistance of volunteers like yourself, and we are extremely grateful for your time and participation.

I will be participating.

 

[Flaviruthless]

I've emailed as well, yet to receive a reply

 

[saximus]

I've emailed as well, yet to receive a reply

Same

 

[Fuscus]

They answered promptly yesterday, perhaps the person monitoring the email is not at work today