SPIDER REPULSION AMONG STUDENTS LESSENS W ITH INCREASED CONTACT

Eleven groups of laboratories were observed. Each group was composed o f 20-25 students : some were in the third year of the university in ps ychology, others in the fourth year, studying natural history. In the laboratory, they studied the alimentary behaviour of the spider ; in e ach case, an index of repulsion was mesured at the beginning and at th e end of the class, using a questionnaire. This index demonstrated a s trong repulsion to spiders at the beginning, and was significantly dif ferent at the end, when the students were more indifferent or even att racted to the spiders. Contrarily to our hypothesis, the index was nev er different if we compared groups working on living animals and group s working on videotapes. From individual interviews of 28 students of the same group, the personal evolution was analyzed, as well as the re asons for the repulsion or attraction. The results are discussed : the ''didactic contract'' is strong, maximizing the cognitive aspects of the students' work and minimizing the affective aspects. This may expl ain the significant evolution of the initial repulsion.