title: Sexual orientation biases attentional control: a possible gaydar mechanism.
abstract: Homosexuals are believed to have a "sixth sense" for recognizing each other, an ability referred to as gaydar. We considered that being a homosexual might rely on systematic practice of processing relatively specific, local perceptual features, which might lead to a corresponding chronic bias of attentional control. This was tested by comparing male and female homosexuals and heterosexuals - brought up in the same country and culture and matched in terms of race, intelligence, sex, mood, age, personality, religious background, educational style, and socio-economic situation - in their efficiency to process global and local features of hierarchically-constructed visual stimuli. Both homosexuals and heterosexuals showed better performance on global features - the standard global precedence effect. However, this effect was significantly reduced in homosexuals, suggesting a relative preference for detail. Findings are taken to demonstrate chronic, generalized biases in attentional control parameters that reflect the selective reward provided by the respective sexual orientation.
authors: Cognitive Psychology Unit, Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University Leiden, Netherlands.
authors: Lorenza S
authors: LS
authors: Colzato
authors: Linda
authors: L
authors: van Hooidonk
authors: Wery P M
authors: WP
authors: van den Wildenberg
authors: Fieke
authors: F
authors: Harinck
authors: Bernhard
authors: B
authors: Hommel
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