title: Perceptual defense and vigilance to perinatal stimuli.
abstract: The presentation times (milliseconds on a computer screen followed by a masking grid) required for the correct identification of tachistoscopically presented perinatal stimuli were compared for 30 pregnant women and 25 perimenopausal women. Analysis indicated a differential facilitation or inhibition of perception in logical relation to subjects' closeness to pregnancy or menopause: pregnant women are quicker to identify stimuli related to pregnancy or babies but slower to recognize pictures of a pregnant woman with her father or mother. This supports the validity of measurements based on the theory of perceptual defense or vigilance.
authors.affiliation: Universities of Lausanne, Département universitaire de psychiatrie adulte, Switzerland.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Borgeat
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sauvageau
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: David
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Saucier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D001307:Auditory Perception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007743:Labor, Obstetric / Q000523:psychology; D008593:Menopause / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010298:Parity; D010467:Perceptual Defense; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000523:psychology*; D014796:Visual Perception