Preferencias sexuales típicas y atípicas según sexo y edad de los estímulos: utilidad de la técnica de rastreo ocular

Esta tesis doctoral presenta evidencia sobre la utilidad de los paradigmas atencionales y la técnica de rastreo ocular en la identificación de preferencias sexuales típicas y atípicas, estas últimas no desviadas y desviadas, como la pedofilia, altamente riesgosa para conductas sexuales como el abuso sexual infantil. El primer capítulo contiene una revisión conceptual y empírica general. Se divide en cinco partes. La primera parte describe el modelo de procesamiento de la información del arousal sexual que fundamenta el uso de paradigmas atencionales para acceder a procesos cognitivos tempranos y tardíos subyacentes a las preferencias sexuales. En la segunda parte se define la clasificación de la respuesta sexual de categoría específica y no-especifica, para entender las diferencias dependientes del género, en la correspondencia entre las preferencias sexuales y el arousal sexual. En la tercera parte, se presenta una delimitación conceptual de las preferencias sexuales atípicas, centrándose específicamente en la pedofilia y la agresión sexual. En la cuarta parte, se abordan las teorías explicativas del arousal sexual, profundizando en la hipótesis de la acción organizacional-activacional de las hormonas sexuales y su rol en la explicación de las preferencias sexuales. En la quinta parte, se describen los tipos de medidas de las preferencias sexuales: directas e indirectas, fundamentando el uso de la técnica de eye tracking en el estudio de las preferencias sexuales. El segundo capítulo incluye los principales objetivos e hipótesis de esta tesis y que se desarrollan a lo largo de los tres estudios empíricos presentados en los capítulos siguientes. El tercer capítulo presenta evidencia acerca de la utilidad de la técnica de eye tracking para identificar preferencias sexuales de categoría específica y no-específica en hombres y mujeres ginéfilos y andrófilos, utilizando un paradigma de visualización libre de estímulos sexuales en competencia en dos experimentos en los que se manipuló, en el primero, el sexo de los estímulos y en el segundo, la edad de los estímulos. En el cuarto capítulo se busca evidencia de la posible influencia de la exposición prenatal a la testosterona sobre la especificidad de la respuesta sexual, utilizando como marcador biológico la proporción 2D:4D. Específicamente se exploró la relación entre la proporción 2D:4D y la respuesta sexual de hombres y mujeres ginéfilos y andrófilos, medida a través del patrón de rastreo ocular sobre estímulos sexualmente preferidos. En el capítulo quinto, teniendo en cuenta la evidencia de la utilidad de la técnica de rastreo ocular en la identificación de preferencias sexuales típicas, se pone a prueba el paradigma de visualización de estímulos usando dicha técnica en la discriminación de agresores sexuales de niños, de otro tipo de agresores y comunidad general. El capítulo sexto contiene una discusión general y las principales conclusiones, limitaciones y propuestas futuras para la investigación relacionada con la técnica de eye tracking en el estudio de las preferencias sexuales típicas y atípicas. El capítulo séptimo incluye las conclusiones de la tesis y el capítulo final presenta las referencias bibliográficas.This doctoral thesis presents evidence on the usefulness of attentional paradigms and the eye tracking technique in the identification of typical and atypical sexual preferences, the latter no-deviants and deviants, like paedophilia, highly risky for sexual behaviours such as child sexual abuse. The first chapter contains a general conceptual and empirical review. It is divided into five parts. The first part describes the information processing model of sexual arousal that bases the use of attentional paradigms to access early and late cognitive processes underlying sexual preferences. In the second part, the classification of the sexual response of specific and non-specific categories are defined to understand the gender-dependent differences in the correspondence between sexual preferences and sexual arousal. In the third part, a conceptual delimitation of atypical sexual preferences is presented, focusing specifically on pedophilia and sexual aggression. In the fourth part, the explanatory theories of sexual arousal are discussed, deepening in the hypothesis of the organizational-activational action of the sexual hormones and their role in the explanation of sexual preferences. In the fifth part, the types of measures of sexual preferences are described in two categories: direct and indirect, based on the use of the eye tracking technique in the study of sexual preferences. The second chapter includes the main objectives and hypotheses of this thesis and that are developed throughout the three empirical studies presented in the following chapters. The third chapter presents evidence about the usefulness of the eye tracking technique to identify specific and non-specific categories of sexual preferences in gynephilic and androphilic men and women, using a free viewing paradigm of competing sexual stimuli in two experiments, manipulating the sex and age of the stimuli, respectively. In the fourth chapter, evidence is sought regarding the possible influence of prenatal testosterone exposure on the specificity of the sexual response, using the 2D:4D ratio as a biological marker. Specifically, the relationship between the 2D:4D ratio and the sexual response of gynephilic and androphilic men and women, measured through eye tracking patterns on sexually preferred stimuli, was explored. In chapter five, and considering the evidence of the usefulness of the eye tracking technique in the identification of typical sexual preferences, the paradigm of stimuli viewing using the eye tracking methodology in the discrimination of sexual offenders against children, from other types of offenders and general community is tested. The sixth chapter contains a general discussion, the main conclusions, limitations and suggestions for future research related to the technique of eye tracking in the study of typical and atypical sexual preferences. The seventh chapter includes the conclusions of the thesis and the final chapter presents the bibliographical references

¿Existen diferencias en la ratio 2D:4D entre delincuentes sexuales y no sexuales, y hombres no delincuentes? Un estudio en una muestra colombiana

One research line in criminal behavior studies 2D:4D ratio as predictor of aggression and violent behavior has been established, given that there are sexually dimorphic behaviors associated with the influence of testosterone on brain organization. However, results have been mixed. The aim of this study was to explore the differences in the 2D:4D ratio among offending and non-offending Colombian men in four groups (N = 139). A comparative study was conducted with three groups of offenders sentenced in a Colombian penitentiary: (1) sexual offenders against children (n = 34), (2) sexual offenders against adult women (n = 31), and (3) non-sexual violent offenders (n=26); as well as one group (4) men with no criminal record (n = 48). The 2D:4D ratio was measured using the hand scanning technique and three digital measurements were analyzed with the Autometric software: right hand ratio, left hand ratio, and difference between the right and left hand ratios (Dr -Iz). Although, in all groups, right-digit ratio was lower that left-digit ratio (negative Dr–l ratio) and, in non-offending men this difference was not significant, no strong significant differences were found between groups in any measure of 2D:4D ratio used (right hand, left hand or Dr−l). The results support the idea that these associations are too weak to consider them predictors of sexual or non-sexual criminal behavior. The risk factors determining sexual or non-sexual criminal behavior, seems to go beyond intra-uterine effects and involve complex interactions between heritability, epigenetics, and pre-natal and post-natal life events

To which world regions does the valence–dominance model of social perception apply?

Over the past 10 years, Oosterhof and Todorov’s valence–dominance model has emerged as the most prominent account of how people evaluate faces on social dimensions. In this model, two dimensions (valence and dominance) underpin social judgements of faces. Because this model has primarily been developed and tested in Western regions, it is unclear whether these findings apply to other regions. We addressed this question by replicating Oosterhof and Todorov’s methodology across 11 world regions, 41 countries and 11,570 participants. When we used Oosterhof and Todorov’s original analysis strategy, the valence–dominance model generalized across regions. When we used an alternative methodology to allow for correlated dimensions, we observed much less generalization. Collectively, these results suggest that, while the valence–dominance model generalizes very well across regions when dimensions are forced to be orthogonal, regional differences are revealed when we use different extraction methods and correlate and rotate the dimension reduction solution

A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world

Memorias / Book of Abstracts - CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL VIRTUAL DE NEUROCIENCIAS: CEREBRO Y COMPORTAMIENTO EN TIEMPOS DE COVID-19

Memorias del CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL VIRTUAL DE NEUROCIENCIAS: CEREBRO Y COMPORTAMIENTO EN TIEMPOS DE COVID-19 // Book of Abstracts for the ONLINE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF NEUROSCIENCES: BRAIN AND BEHAVIOUR IN TIMES OF COVID-1

Apego parental y su relación con el apego romántico y la dependencia afectiva en 119 universitarios de la ciudad de Ibagué.

En el presente estudio se examinó la relación entre el apego establecido con los padres, el apego adulto romántico y la dependencia afectiva en 119 universitarios de la ciudad de Ibagué –Colombia, siendo el 63.9% Mujeres, 36.1% Hombres, entre 18 y 40 años; mediante una investigación cuantitativa, descriptiva – correlacional de corte transversal. El análisis de datos se realizó en el programa SPSS20, utilizado los estadísticos descriptivos, correlación de Spearman y diferencias entre grupos (U Mann Withney y Kruskall Wallis). Se tomó como sustento teórico la teoría de apego de Bowlby (1979), el apego adulto romántico por Hazan, Shaver (1987), Bartholomew y Horowitz (1991) y la dependencia afectiva como posible consecuencia de las relaciones afectivas de la infancia (Castelló, 2000). Resultados: se encontró correlación negativa entre las dimensiones del apego percibido de la madre y algunos factores de dependencia emocional (p. <0,05), allí las comparaciones de género mostraron significancia (p<0,05) únicamente en la percepción de afecto de su madre: masculino (Media: 29,77), femenino (Media: 26,33); en cuanto al padre, se presentó correlación negativa entre el control percibido y la evitación en relaciones de pareja (Sig. ,020); en estas últimas, la dimensión ansiedad estuvo directamente relacionada con todos los factores de dependencia afectiva. Conclusiones: la madre es el eje que regula la manera en la que se relacionan los individuos a futuro, el control ejercido por el padre dosifica la evitación hacia la pareja, y los altos niveles de ansiedad experimentados en la relación de pareja se asocian a la dependencia afectiva

Contextualising courtship: Exploring male body odour effects on vocal modulation

Voice characteristics are important to communicate socially relevant information. Recent research has shown that individuals alter their voices depending on the context of social interactions and perceived characteristics of the audience, and this affects how they are perceived. Numerous studies have also shown that the presence of bodily odours can elicit psychological changes in people. Here, we tested whether the presence of male axillary odour would influence vocal modulations in courtship contexts. We analysed differences in vocal parameters and attractiveness ratings across 950 recordings from 80 participants as they responded to opposite-sex target stimuli. Using these, we tested whether men’s and women’s vocal parameters and perceived attractiveness differed in the presence or absence of the odour. We expected women to speak with increased voice F0, and men to lower their pitch, when exposed to male body odour, especially if it were of high quality. However, neither the presence of male odour, its quality, nor the addition of androstadienone produced any consistent changes in vocal parameters. Nevertheless, rated stimulus attractiveness was predicted by F0 and especially F0 variability, suggesting that this is a key parameter in signalling attraction during human courtship, and supporting the idea that vocal modulations are context-sensitive

Contextualising courtship: Exploring male body odour effects on vocal modulation

Men’s and women’s vocal changes (mean and variability (SD, CV) of voice fundamental frequency (F0), and similar measures of intensity) in the presence and absence of the odour (high- or low-quality, with or without added androstadienone) in responses to opposite-sex targets of varying attractiveness

Supplementary material for "Effects of stimulus emotional content on gaze pattern: an eye-tracking study"

This document includes supplementary materials for both the methodology and data analysis, including all code, step-by-step explanations of the analyses, figures and tables