title: The virtual people set: developing computer-generated stimuli for the assessment of pedophilic sexual interest.
abstract: The implicit assessment of pedophilic sexual interest through viewing-time methods necessitates visual stimuli. There are grave ethical and legal concerns against using pictures of real children, however. The present report is a summary of findings on a new set of 108 computer-generated stimuli. The images vary in terms of gender (female/male), explicitness (naked/clothed), and physical maturity (prepubescent, pubescent, and adult) of the persons depicted. A series of three studies tested the internal and external validity of the picture set. Studies 1 and 2 yielded good-to-high estimates of observer agreement with regard to stimulus maturity levels by two methods (categorization and paired comparison). Study 3 extended these findings with regard to judgments made by convicted child sexual offenders.
authors.affiliation: University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dombert
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mokros
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brückner
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Schlegl
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Antfolk
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bäckström
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zappalà
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Osterheider
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Santtila
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010378:Pedophilia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D010991:Plethysmography / Q000379:methods*
keywords: assessment; computer-generated imaging; pedophilia; sexual interest; visual stimuli