Seeing things differently: The viewing time alternative to penile plethysmography

Abstract

This paper describes the use of viewing time (VT), how long a subject looks at a probable sexual stimulus, as an alternative to penile plethysmography (PPG). We then trace the history of VT to assess sexual interest from 1942 to the present. The first computer‐generated stimulus set for PPG was developed by Canadian researchers. This set was tested using VT by the second author and found valid. The unavailability of the set for further use resulted in the authors developing a new, computermodified set with an alternate form version. This required the modification and compositing of images of real people. The proposed research using this set is described. To avoid using real photographic imagery in the future we propose use of specialized computer software that permits development of images from scratch. VT is a limited technology and we close with descriptions of new ways to assess sexual interest and behaviour using virtual reality and virtual environments.

Vicarious Viewing Time: Prolonged Response Latencies for Sexually Attractive Targets as a Function of Task- or Stimulus-Specific Processing

“…The target stimuli were 80 computer-constructed photographs of male and female individuals taken from the Not Real People (NRP) picture set (Pacific Psychological Assessment Corporation, 2004; for examples, see Laws & Gress, 2004), which has been successfully employed in previous research (e.g., Banse et al, 2010;Imhoff et al, 2010) and which features male and female individuals belonging to five categories of sexual maturation (corresponding to categories defined by Tanner, 1978). The Tanner categories 1 to 3 depict prepubescent children of increasing physical maturity, Tanner category 4 post-pubescent adolescents, and Tanner category 5 young adults.…”

Virtual reality applications in forensic psychiatry

“…This lower reliability may be explained in part by the ability of those evaluated to falsify results, mainly by way of voluntary erectile control, but also by the type of stimuli used. These stimuli are often abstract and too far from reality to activate the SR mechanisms involved in the sexual offense process [12][16] [19] [20].…”

Viewing Time Effects Revisited: Prolonged Response Latencies for Sexually Attractive Targets Under Restricted Task Conditions

“…The response latency of this judgment is unobtrusively measured. Across studies, there is a very robust finding that the response latency is longer for sexually attractive as compared to sexually unattractive targets and, in turn, viewing time measures can be used to discriminate between participants with respect to sexual preference (Flak, Beech, & Fisher, 2007;Kalmus & Beech, 2005;Laws & Gress, 2004), including homosexual and heterosexual men (Zamansky, 1956), heterosexual men and women (Israel & Strassberg, 2009;Quinsey, Ketsetzis, Earls, & Karamanoukian, 1996), and child sex offenders and non-offenders (e.g., Banse, Schmidt, & Clarbour, in press;Gress, 2005;Harris et al, 1996).…”

“…In review articles, the viewing time effect is commonly introduced at the descriptive level without further theorizing. For example, Laws and Gress (2004) stated that "the rationale underlying the test is that clients will look longer at pictures they find sexually attractive" (p. 184). Others (e.g., Flak et al, 2007;Kalmus & Beech, 2005) categorize viewing time measures as "attentional techniques" and argue that "assessments measuring viewing time assume that individuals will look longer at images they consider attractive than they would view unattractive or neutral images", explicitly distinguishing it from other techniques that "discriminate the effect of increased attention upon information processing tasks" (Kalmus & Beech, 2005, p. 208).…”

“…The target stimuli were 40 computer-constructed photographs of male and female individuals taken from the Not Real People (NRP) picture Set (Subset B, Pacific Psychological Assessment Corporation, 2004; for examples, see Laws & Gress, 2004), featuring male and female individuals belonging to five categories of sexual maturation (corresponding to Tanner, 1978). The Tanner categories 1 to 3 depict pictures of prepubescent children of increasing maturity, Tanner category 4 adolescents, and Tanner category 5 young adults.…”