Visual Cliff Experiment Essay

I was nearing the top of the cliff, take a step up the ladder, move the two carabiner clips, repeat, repeat, repeat. My hands were shaking and I was sweating way to much for a rather cool 64° afternoon despite climbing the cliff. “You sure this is safe?” I asked my guide knowing the rungs were drilled a foot or more into solid stone. He said that I was safe about ten times already and I believed him, so why was I still so scared? It was because of my fear of heights, or acrophobia.
There have been many studies conducted about whether a fear of heights is something you’re born with (innate) or it’s something that you learn. But one type of experiment stands out as the one to test this question, The Visual Cliff Experiment. This experiment is …show more content…
While the experiment does not prove that avoidance of the cliff is innate, tests done with infant animals, such as chicks & rats, yield different results. When chicks or lambs try the experiment at any age they can walk (sometimes even <24 hours old for chicks) they always avoid the cliff because one of their primary senses that they rely on is sight. But when rats try the experiment they are fine going over the cliff as long as their whiskers are touching the plexiglass because they rarely rely on sight as a sense due to the fact that rats have nocturnal habits.
I personally believe from the experiment I mentioned and my experiences regarding a fear of heights that it is an innate trait. The primary reason I believe this is that all people have at least some level of acrophobia, but that level varies greatly from individual to individual. Also, I don’t believe it is possible to 100% rid your mind of a fear of heights (although you can get extremely close). Another indicator of this is that within 24 hours of being born and with no experience regarding heights a chick will not go off the visual cliff, meaning it is not taught by the parents or learned via experience