Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

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

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Archives of Sexual Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The amount of time an individual spends gazing at images is longer if the depicted person is sexually appealing. Despite an increasing use of such response latencies as a diagnostic tool in applied forensic settings, the underlying processes that drive the seemingly robust effect of longer response latencies for sexually attractive targets remain unknown. In the current study, two alternative explanations are presented and tested using an adapted viewing time paradigm that disentangled task- and stimulus-specific processes. Heterosexual and homosexual male participants were instructed to rate the sexual attractiveness of target persons differing in sex and sexual maturation from four experimentally assigned perspectives—heterosexual and homosexual perspectives for both sexes. This vicarious viewing time paradigm facilitated the estimation of the independent contributions of task (assigned perspective) and stimuli to viewing time effects. Results showed a large task-based effect as well as a relatively smaller stimulus-based effect. This pattern suggests that, when viewing time measures are used for the assessment of sexual interest, it should be taken into consideration that response latency patterns can be biased by judging images from a selected perspective.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Imhoff et al. (2010) showed that viewing time effects emerged even in the absence of the opportunity to actually watch the stimuli for longer. This exposes the term “viewing time” to the criticism that it is an inaccurate description of the effect at hand. However, due to its common use in research literature, we have decided to use the term throughout this article as the conventional technical term for the effect of prolonged response latencies for sexually attractive targets (PRELSAT).

References

  • Abel, G. G. (1995). The Abel assessment of interest in paraphilias. Atlanta, GA: Abel Screening, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abel, G. G., Huffman, J., Warberg, B., & Holland, C. L. (1998). Visual reaction time and plethysmography as measures of sexual interest in child molesters. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 10, 81–95. doi:10.1177/107906329801000202.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abel, G. G., Jordan, A., Hand, C. G., Holland, L. A., & Phipps, A. (2001). Classification models of child molesters utilising the Abel Assessment for Sexual Interest™. Child Abuse and Neglect, 25, 703–718. doi:10.1016/S0145-2134(01)00227-7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Banse, R., Schmidt, A. F., & Clarbour, J. (2010). Indirect measures of sexual interest in child sex offenders: A multimethod approach. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 37, 319–335. doi:10.1177/0093854809357598.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chivers, M. L., Rieger, G., Latty, E., & Bailey, J. M. (2004). A sex difference in the specificity of sexual arousal. Psychological Science, 15, 736–744. doi:10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00750.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Glasgow, D. V., Osborne, A., & Croxen, J. (2003). An assessment tool for investigating paedophile sexual interest using viewing time: An application of single case methodology. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 31, 96–102. doi:10.1046/j.1468-3156.2003.00180.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gress, L. (2005). Viewing time and sexual interest: Another piece in the puzzle. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 11, 117–125. doi:10.1080/13552600500063666.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, G. T., Rice, M. E., Quinsey, V. L., & Chaplin, T. C. (1996). Viewing time as a measure of sexual interest among child molesters and heterosexual men. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 34, 389–394. doi:10.1016/0005-7967(95)00070-4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Imhoff, R., Schmidt, A. F., Bernhardt, J., Dierksmeier, A., & Banse, R. (2011). An inkblot for sexual preference: A semantic variant of the Affect Misattribution Procedure. Cognition and Emotion, 25, 676–690. doi:10.1080/02699931.2010.508260.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Imhoff, R., Schmidt, A. F., Nordsiek, U., Luzar, C., Young, A. W., & Banse, R. (2010). Viewing time effects revisited: Prolonged response latencies for sexually attractive targets under restricted task conditions. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 1275–1288. doi:10.1007/s10508-009-9595-2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ishai, A. (2007). Sex, beauty and the orbifrontal cortex. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 63, 181–185. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2006.03.010.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Israel, E., & Strassberg, D. S. (2007). Viewing time as an objective measure of sexual interest in heterosexual men and women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38, 551–558. doi:10.1007/s10508-007-9246-4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kaine, A., Crim, M., & Mersereau, G. (1988). Faking sexual preference. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 33, 379–385.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalmus, E., & Beech, A. R. (2005). Forensic assessments of sexual interest: A review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 10, 193–217. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2003.12.002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karama, S., Lecours, A. R., Leroux, J.-M., Bourgoin, P., Beaudoin, G., Joubert, S., & Beauregard, M. (2002). Areas of brain activation in males and females during viewing of erotic film excerpts. Human Brain Mapping, 16, 1–13. doi:10.1002/hbm.10014.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Konopansky, R. J., & Konopansky, A. W. B. (2000). Remaking penile plethysmography. In D. R. Laws, S. M. Hudson, & T. Ward (Eds.), Remaking relapse prevention with sex offenders (pp. 257–284). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laws, D. R., & Gress, C. L. Z. (2004). Seeing things differently: The viewing time alternative to penile plethysmography. Legal and Criminal Psychology, 9, 183–196. doi:10.1348/1355325041719338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Logan, C. (2008). Sexual deviance in females: Psychopathology and theory. In D. R. Laws & W. T. O’Donohue (Eds.), Sexual deviance: Theory, assessment, and treatment (pp. 486–507). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mouras, H., Stoléru, S., Bittoun, J., Glutron, D., Pélégrini-Issac, M., Paradis, A.-L., & Burnod, Y. (2003). Brain processing of visual sexual stimuli in healthy men: A functional magnetic resonance imagining study. NeuroImage, 20, 855–869. doi:10.1016/S1053-8119(03)00408-7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pacific Psychological Assessment Cooperation. (2004). The not-real people stimulus set for assessment of sexual interest. Victoria, BC: PPAC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ponseti, J., Bosinski, H. A., Wolff, S., Peller, M., Jansen, O., Mehdorn, H. M., … Siebner, H. R. (2006). A functional endophenotype for sexual orientation in humans. NeuroImage, 23, 825–833. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.08.002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quinsey, V., Ketsetzis, M., Earls, C., & Karamanouikan, A. (1996). Viewing time as a measure of sexual interest. Ethology and Sociobiology, 17, 341–354. doi:10.1016/S0162-3095(96)00060-X.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Redouté, J., Stoléru, S., Grégoire, M.-C., Costes, N., Cinotti, L., Lavenne, F., … Pujol, J. F. (2000). Brain processing of visual sexual stimuli in human males. Human Brain Mapping, 11, 162–177. doi:10.1002/1097-0193(200011)11:3<162::AID-HBM30>3.0.CO;2-A.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenbloom, A. L., & Tanner, J. M. (1998). Misuse of tanner puberty stages to estimate chronologic age. Pediatrics, 102, 1494. doi:10.1542/peds.102.6.1494.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig, S. (1942). The photoscope as an objective device for evaluating sexual interest. Psychosomatic Medicine, 4, 150–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Safron, A., Barch, B., Bailey, J. M., Gitelman, D. R., Parrish, T. B., & Reber, P. J. (2007). Neural correlates of sexual arousal in homosexual and heterosexual men. Behavioral Neuroscience, 121, 237–248. doi:10.1037/0735-7044.121.2.237.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Santtila, P., Mokros, A., Viljanen, K., Koivisto, M., Sandnabba, N. K., Zappala, A., & Osterheider, M. (2009). Assessment of sexual interest using a choice reaction time task and priming: A feasibility study. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 14, 65–82. doi:10.1348/135532507X267040.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoléru, S., Grégoire, M.-C., Gérard, D., Decety, J., Lafarge, E., Cinotti, L., … Comar, D. (1999). Neuroanatomical correlates of visually evoked sexual arousal in human males. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 28, 1–21. doi:10.1023/A:1018733420467.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tanner, J. (1978). Fetus into man: Physical growth from conception to maturity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, D., & Laws, D. R. (2009). Cognitive approaches to the assessment of sexual interest in sex offenders. New York: Wiley. doi:10.1002/9780470747551.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Zamansky, H. S. (1956). A technique for measuring homosexual tendencies. Journal of Personality, 24, 436–448. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1956.tb01280.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social and Legal Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, Kaiser-Karl-Ring 9, 53111, Bonn, Germany

    Roland Imhoff, Alexander F. Schmidt, Simone Weiß & Rainer Banse

  2. Department of Psychology, University of York, York, UK

    Andrew W. Young

Authors
  1. Roland Imhoff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alexander F. Schmidt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Simone Weiß
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Andrew W. Young
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Rainer Banse
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roland Imhoff.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Imhoff, R., Schmidt, A.F., Weiß, S. et al. Vicarious Viewing Time: Prolonged Response Latencies for Sexually Attractive Targets as a Function of Task- or Stimulus-Specific Processing. Arch Sex Behav 41, 1389–1401 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-011-9879-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-011-9879-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation