Classical Conditioning Spiders
Most of the time, people are afraid of spiders because they've been trained to fear them by their parents and friends. Psychologists Bandera and Rosenthal felt fear reactions are acquired by modeling (Comer, p. 112). Classical conditioning and genetics also come into play (Comer, p. 111-113). I think it is wise to fear spiders; some spiders can inflict a nasty bite as with the brown recluse spider. I know there are ways to overcome your fears such as reconditioning and exposure therapy, but I have no interest in doing that. Exposure treatments that desensitize you are the standard treatments for phobias (Comer, p. 113). But why would anyone want to be exposed to spiders on purpose? If there happens to be a TV show on The National Geographic