Psychometric properties of an instrument for assessing cyber-sex addiction

Psychometric properties of an instrument for assessing cyber-sex addiction. Cyber-sex addiction is a ?new pathology? whose prevalence has grown rapidly in recent years. Therefore, it is important to have validated assessment instruments. The aim of this study was the adaptation and validation of the Internet Sex Screening Test (ISST) for its use in a Spanish population. The instrument was administered to 1239 Spanish college students. The results yielded five components that account for 47.5% of the variance. Internal consistency was .88 and temporal stability was .84. Moreover, the instrument had adequate convergent and discriminant validity and was related to other behaviors such as the use of pornography, internet addiction, number of hours online and sexual frequency. Therefore, this tool is proposed as an appropriate measure to assess cyber-sex addiction.     

Effects of computer‐aided instruction on the implementation of the MSWO stimulus preference assessment

This study evaluated a self‐instructional online training package to teach students and staff to conduct a stimulus preference assessment using the multiple‐stimulus without replacement procedure. The training package included a self‐instructional manual and video modeling and was delivered online. Training was evaluated using a multiple‐probe design across a total of six university students and four staff members. Overall, students improved from a mean of 35% correct in baseline to a mean of 94% correct following training, and staff improved from a mean of 23% correct in baseline to a mean of 87% correct following training. During retention and generalization simulated assessments conducted from 7 to 17 days following training, all participants performed considerably above baseline. The online delivery of the self‐instructional manual plus video modeling has tremendous potential for providing an effective method for teaching individuals to conduct stimulus preference assessments without face‐to‐face instruction.     

Sexuality in children 9-14 years old

The aim of this study was to analyze sexual behaviors and attitudes of children 9-14 years old in Spain. In this article we present data from 470 children of which 52% are boys and 48% girls. In order to evaluate the sample, Information, Attitudes and Behaviors related to Health Questionnaire (CIACS-II) was used. Results evidence that boys 9 years old already show behaviors that evidence their interest towards sexuality. 8% have sometimes masturbated and 9% have used pornography for becoming excited. 14% of children 11-12 years old have already had sexual relations and 38% state to have sexual fantasies. Girls start to masturbate and to have sexual relations later than boys and show a prevalence of sexual fantasies and use of pornography very lower. It is necessary sexual education programs to be implanted since early ages in schools.     

Cortical oscillations and sensory predictions

Many theories of perception are anchored in the central notion that the brain continuously updates an internal model of the world to infer the probable causes of sensory events. In this framework, the brain needs not only to predict the causes of sensory input, but also when they are most likely to happen. In this article, we review the neurophysiological bases of sensory predictions of "what' (predictive coding) and 'when' (predictive timing), with an emphasis on low-level oscillatory mechanisms. We argue that neural rhythms offer distinct and adapted computational solutions to predicting 'what' is going to happen in the sensory environment and 'when'.     

‘Good,you identified the suspect…but please ignore this feedback’: can warnings eliminate the effects of post‐identification feedback?

The present experiments focus on whether the post‐identification feedback effect can be reduced by providing participants with warnings. Participants viewed a crime on video and identified a suspect from a target‐absent lineup (Experiment 1) or target‐present lineup (Experiment 2). Participants then received positive feedback, negative feedback or no feedback. Half of the participants received a warning saying their feedback was randomly generated by the computer, and the other half received no warning. Robust post‐identification feedback effects were observed in both experiments in the no warning condition. These effects were largely eliminated when participants received a warning. In Experiments 3 and 4, we failed to find an ameliorative effect of a forensically realistic warning. These results indicate that warnings can reduce the effect of post‐identification feedback in principle, but the application of warnings in practice may be more difficult. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Compelling untruths: content borrowing and vivid false memories

False memories are sometimes accompanied by surprisingly vivid experiential detail that makes them difficult to distinguish from actual memories. Such strikingly real false memories may be produced by a process called content borrowing in which details from presented items are errantly borrowed to corroborate the occurrence of the false memory item. In 2 experiments using think-out-loud protocols at both study and test, evidence for content borrowing occurred for more than half of the false remember judgments participants reported. The present study also provides evidence consistent with recollection rejection and distinctiveness playing a role in false-memory editing.