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    A Behavior Analytically Modified Implicit Association Test for Measuring Sexual Categorization of Children


    Gavin, Amanda, Roche, Bryan, Ruiz, Maria R., Hogan, Maria and O'Reilly, Anthony (2012) A Behavior Analytically Modified Implicit Association Test for Measuring Sexual Categorization of Children. The Psychological record, 62 (1). pp. 55-68. ISSN 0033-2933

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    Abstract

    The current study assessed the sexual categorization of children among a random sample of adults from the general population. Twenty-seven males and 27 females (N = 54) were exposed to a categorization task that assessed their ability to discriminate adult- from child-related words and sexual from non-sexual words. Then, in a modified Implicit Association Test they were required to respond with a particular key press to individual child- and adult-related stimuli paired with either sexual or nonsexual stimuli. In another block of testing the pairs of stimuli requiring a common key response were juxtaposed. There was more effective acquisition of common response functions for child/nonsexual than for child/sexual stimulus pairs for all participants combined. This effect was also observed for female participants separately but not for males. These findings support the utility of behavior-analytic variations of the Implicit Association Test but raise important considerations regarding their use as forensic and diagnostic tools. (Contains 4 figures and 1 table.)
    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: Implicit Association Test; implicit cognition; sexual categorization; pedophilia;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology
    Item ID: 6813
    Depositing User: Dr. Bryan Roche
    Date Deposited: 15 Jan 2016 10:27
    Journal or Publication Title: The Psychological record
    Publisher: Springer Verlag
    Refereed: Yes
    URI: https://mu.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/6813
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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