Influence of the sex and gender in the sexual behavior of adolescents

The aim of this study is to evaluate the relation between gender and sex with the sexual behavior of adolescents. The sample comprised 815 teenagers (M=15.65, Sd.=1.42). The assessment instruments were the BEM Sex Role Inventory, the Sexual Opinion Survey, the Questionnaire of Risk Perception of Bayés and a questionnaire designed for the study. The results revealed that the majority of adolescents do not match the traditional gender stereotypes, defining themselves as adrogynes (34.4%). The teenagers who are defined as adrogynes or masculine carry out more sexual behaviors, and who display more erotophilia. The need to include the variable "gender" as a category of analysis in research on sexual behavior is indicated.     

Lateral masking in cycling displays: the relative importance of separation, flanker duration, and interstimulus interval for object-mediated updating

A central bar repeatedly presented in alternation with two flanking bars can lead to the disappearance of the central bar. Recently it has been suggested that this masking effect could be explained by object-mediated updating: the information from the central bar is integrated into the representation of the flankers, leading not only to the disappearance of the central bar as a separate object, but also to the perception of the flankers in apparent motion between their real position and the position of the central bar. This account suggests that the visibility of the central bar should depend on the same factors as those that influence the construction and maintenance of object representations. Therefore separation between central bar and flankers should not influence visibility as long as the time interval between them is adequate to make an interpretation of the scene in terms of one object moving from one location to the other possible location. We found that if the time interval between the central bar and the flankers is neither too short nor too long, the central bar becomes invisible even at large separations. These findings are inconsistent with traditional accounts of the cycling lateral masking displays in terms of local inhibitory mechanisms.     

Features,as well as space and time,guide object persistence

What role do surface features (e.g., color) play in the establishment and maintenance of episodic representations of objects (object files)? Mitroff and Alvarez (2007) showed that stimuli that were linked by a continuous spatiotemporal history yielded object-specific preview benefits—a standard index of object files—whereas stimuli linked only by shared surface features did not. Here, it is shown that abruptly changing the features of an object that has been established on the basis of spatiotemporal history can disrupt object-specific preview benefits (Experiments 1 and 2). Moreover, under some conditions, feature match alone can give rise to the preview benefits (Experiment 3). These results indicate that surface features, as well as spatiotemporal factors, play an important role in establishing and maintaining episodic object representations.     

Emotional dilution of the Stroop effect: a new tool for assessing attention under emotion

In order to gauge in a precise fashion the capture of attention by emotional stimuli, we developed a new tool that imports the classic Stroop effect into the realm of emotion. Strooping the typical emotion tasks enabled the derivation of a pure intraitem measure of attention under emotion. The results of two experiments showed that the classic Stroop effects were smaller with emotion than with neutral words, demonstrating the power of emotion to bias attention. This emotional dilution of the Stroop effect can serve as a general-purpose tool for assessing attention under emotion.     

Development of a fully automated system for delivering odors in an MRI environment

We describe the development and evaluation of a computer-controlled system for delivering odors in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) environment. The system allows a timely presentation of different odors in synchrony with MRI sequences and participant’s inspiration phase. The rise/fall time of odor deliverance has been optimized to generate prompt and strong stimulations. Equipped with a user-friendly programming interface, the system can be used reliably in a wide range of experimental paradigms. We have paid particular attention to developing a portable system that is relatively easy, rapid, and inexpensive to replicate. The equipment has been tested in a 3-Tesla MRI in a boxcar paradigm, in which stimulation conditions alternated with rest periods (no stimulation). The experiment demonstrated the good functioning of the device and its efficiency in producing the expected activation in the olfactory cortex; it also revealed some methodological and technical aspects to be improved.     

The role of self-control in resistance to persuasion

Four studies investigated a self-control theory of resistance to persuasion. This theory asserts that resistance to persuasion requires and consumes self-control resources. Study 1 showed that resistance to a persuasive message reduced the ability to engage in a subsequent self-control task. Studies 2 and 3 showed that self-control depletion leads to increased persuasion. Study 4 showed that self-control depletion increased persuasion, particularly under effortful resistance (i.e., strong arguments). Together, these findings suggest that self-control plays a vital role in the process of resistance to persuasion. People must have self-control resources to fend off persuasive appeals; without them, they become susceptible to influence.     

When disagreement gets ugly: perceptions of bias and the escalation of conflict

It is almost a truism that disagreement produces conflict. This article suggests that perceptions of bias can drive this relationship. First, these studies show that people perceive those who disagree with them as biased. Second, they show that the conflict-escalating approaches that people take toward those who disagree with them are mediated by people's tendency to perceive those who disagree with them as biased. Third, these studies manipulate the mediator and show that experimental manipulations that prompt people to perceive adversaries as biased lead them to respond more conflictually-and that such responding causes those who engage in it to be viewed as more biased and less worthy of cooperative gestures. In summary, this article provides evidence for a "bias-perception conflict spiral," whereby people who disagree perceive each other as biased, and those perceptions in turn lead them to take conflict-escalating actions against each other (which in turn engender further perceptions of bias, continuing the spiral).