Using behavior-analytic implicit tests to assess sexual interests among normal and sex-offender populations

The development of implicit tests for measuring biases and behavioral predispositions is a recent development within psychology. While such tests are usually researched within a social-cognitive paradigm, behavioral researchers have also begun to view these tests as potential tests of conditioning histories, including in the sexual domain. The objective of this paper is to illustrate the utility of a behavioral approach to implicit testing and means by which implicit tests can be built to the standards of behavioral psychologists. Research findings illustrating the short history of implicit testing within the experimental analysis of behavior are reviewed. Relevant parallel and overlapping research findings from the field of social cognition and on the Implicit Association Test are also outlined. New preliminary data obtained with both normal and sex offender populations are described in order to illustrate how behavior-analytically conceived implicit tests may have potential as investigative tools for assessing histories of sexual arousal conditioning and derived stimulus associations. It is concluded that popular implicit tests are likely sensitive to conditioned and derived stimulus associations in the history of the test-taker rather than 'unconscious cognitions', per se

Design criteria of neuron/electrode interface. The focused ion beam technology as an analytical method to investigate the effect of electrode surface morphology on neurocompatibility

"Neurocompatibility" is a broad definition which comprises aspects of biocompatibility, chemical and physical surface properties, and biostability of an artificial substrate interfaced with a neural tissue. The main issue coming from the analysis of the state of art of neuroprosthesis and neuron/electrode interfaces is the strong influence of electrode surface morphology on neurocompatibility. Enhanced functions of neurons have been observed on nano-structured materials. This paper proposes the use of focused ion beam (FIB) technology as high precision machining technique to modify the surface morphology of an interface material. By controlling the ion milling in three dimensions, the fabrication of a surface with any predefined morphology becomes possible with nanometric precision. In vitro tests on PC12 cells cultured on surfaces with different morphologies show that the surface morphology influences the cell adhesion. Experimental results suggest an enhancement of the interaction between cells and artificial surfaces at a specific scale (tens of nanometres) which is the typical scale of cellular interaction in the extra-cellular matrix (ECM) of living organisms