FROM dogs and cats to pandas and penguins, lists of adorable animals can be very varied. However, when it comes to scary animals, the answers are often more or less the same - snakes and spiders are among the most dreadful ones for the majority of us. However, most of us have never been bitten by a snake or a spider. So does this mean we are born with a fear of certain things? Scientists have been actively looking into it for a long time. For example, studies have suggested that babies find live animals much more interesting than stuffed   ones. This interest continues even if those animals are snakes and spiders. A study published in Psychological Science in 2008 seemed to show that snakes did have a different impact on babies. When scientists presented babies with animal videos along with random sounds of happy or frightened human voices, they found that babies looked at snakes for longer than any other animal however the voices sounded. Now, a team from Rutgers University in New Jersey, US has tried to challenge the idea that babies are born with a fear of snakes and spiders. According to the BBC, the researchers measured babies' physiological   responses as they watched videos of snakes and elephants paired with both fearful and happy voices. Scientists then set out to surprise the babies to see how they would react. They presented them with an unexpected bright flash of light as they watched a video. As the BBC explained, a surprise like this would be more intense   if the babies were already scared, just like when we watch scary films and jump more if we are already scared. However, according to their findings, published recently in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, babies' surprised responses were not bigger when watching a video of a snake, even when it was shown with a fearful voice. Their heart response was also lower, which also made it seem that babies were not scared. "Children do not have an _ fear of snakes," concluded the study. Even if previous studies had suggested that babies have different responses to snakes, it isn't necessarily related to fear. "It's possible that paying more attention to something might make fear learning easier later on. It leads to fear learning," said research co-author Vanessa LoBue. She further explained that it was a good thing that humans didn't have an inborn fear of snakes because it would make a young infant's  desire to explore new things less strong. Instead, we have evolved to quickly learn to be afraid of something if it turns out to be dangerous. How did babies react when the researchers from Rutgers University surprised them while they were watching a video of a snake?
They paid more attention to the snakes when they heard a fearful voice. Babies' heart responses changed slightly when they heard a fearful voice. A fearful voice didn't make their surprised response become more intense. They became more scared when they experienced an unexpected bright flash of light.