Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Increasing Valid Profiles in Phallometric Assessment of Sex Offenders with Child Victims: Combining the Strengths of Audio Stimuli and Synthetic Characters

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Archives of Sexual Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Penile plethysmography (PPG) is a measure of sexual interests that relies heavily on the stimuli it uses to generate valid results. Ethical considerations surrounding the use of real images in PPG have further limited the content admissible for these stimuli. To palliate this limitation, the current study aimed to combine audio and visual stimuli by incorporating computer-generated characters to create new stimuli capable of accurately classifying sex offenders with child victims, while also increasing the number of valid profiles. Three modalities (audio, visual, and audiovisual) were compared using two groups (15 sex offenders with child victims and 15 non-offenders). Both the new visual and audiovisual stimuli resulted in a 13% increase in the number of valid profiles at 2.5 mm, when compared to the standard audio stimuli. Furthermore, the new audiovisual stimuli generated a 34% increase in penile responses. All three modalities were able to discriminate between the two groups by their responses to the adult and child stimuli. Lastly, sexual interest indices for all three modalities could accurately classify participants in their appropriate groups, as demonstrated by ROC curve analysis (i.e., audio AUC = .81, 95% CI [.60, 1.00]; visual AUC = .84, 95% CI [.66, 1.00], and audiovisual AUC = .83, 95% CI [.63, 1.00]). Results suggest that computer-generated characters allow accurate discrimination of sex offenders with child victims and can be added to already validated stimuli to increase the number of valid profiles. The implications of audiovisual stimuli using computer-generated characters and their possible use in PPG evaluations are also discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abel, G., Barlow, D., Blanchard, E., & Mavissakalian, M. (1975). Measurement of sexual arousal in male homosexuals: Effects of instructions and stimulus modality. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 4, 623–629. doi:10.1007/BF01544270.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Abel, G., Blanchard, E. B., & Barlow, D. H. (1981). Measurement of sexual arousal in several paraphilias: The effects of stimulus modality, instructional set and stimulus content on the objective. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 19, 25–33. doi:10.1016/0005-7967(81)90109-1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Abel, G., Huffman, J., Warberg, B., & Holland, C. (1998). Visual reaction time and plethysmography as measures of sexual interest in child molesters. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 10(2), 81–95. doi:10.1023/a:1022063214826.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akerman, G., & Beech, A. R. (2011). A systematic review of measures of deviant sexual interest and arousal. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 19, 118–143. doi:10.1080/13218719.2010.547161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers. (2001). Practice standards and guidelines for the members of the association for the treatment of sexual abusers. Beaverton, OR: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barbaree, H. E., & Marshall, W. L. (1988). Deviant sexual arousal, offense history, and demographic variables as predictors of reoffense among child molesters. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 6, 267–280. doi:10.1002/bsl.2370060209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barker, J. G., & Howell, R. J. (1992). The plethysmograph: A review of recent literature. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, 20(1), 13–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barsetti, I., Earls, C. M., Lalumière, M. L., & Bélanger, N. (1998). The differentiation of intrafamilial and extrafamilial heterosexual child molesters. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 13, 275–286. doi:10.1177/088626098013002007.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, R., Klassen, P., Dickey, R., Kuban, M. E., & Blak, T. (2001). Sensitivity and specificity of the phallometric test for pedophilia in non-admitting sex offenders. Psychological Assessment, 13(1), 118–126. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.13.1.118.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, R., Kolla, N., Cantor, J., Klassen, P., Dickey, R., Kuban, M., & Blak, T. (2007). IQ, handedness, and pedophilia in adult male patients stratified by referral source. Sexual Abuse A Journal of Research and Treatment, 19, 285–309. doi:10.1007/s11194-007-9049-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, R., Kuban, M. E., Blak, T., Cantor, J. M., Klassen, P. E., & Dickey, R. (2009a). Absolute versus relative ascertainment of pedophilia in men. Sexual Abuse A Journal of Research and Treatment, 21, 431–441. doi:10.1177/1079063209347906.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, R., Kuban, M., Blak, T., Klassen, P., Dickey, R., & Cantor, J. (2012). Sexual attraction to others: A comparison of two models of alloerotic responding in men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 13–29. doi:10.1007/s10508-010-9675-3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, R., Lykins, A., Wherrett, D., Kuban, M., Cantor, J., Blak, T., & Klassen, P. (2009b). Pedophilia, hebephilia, and the DSM-V. Archives Sexual Behavior, 38, 335–350. doi:10.1007/s10508-008-9399-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chaplin, T. C., Rice, M. E., & Harris, G. T. (1995). Salient victim suffering and the sexual responses of child molesters. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 249–255. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.63.2.249.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chartier, S., Renaud, P., Bouchard, S., Proulx, J., Rouleau, J. L., Fedoroff, P., & Bradford, J. P. (2006). Sexual preference classification from gaze behavior data using a multilayer perceptron. Annual Review of Cyber Therapy and Telemedecine, 4, 149–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clift, R. J. W., Rajlic, G., & Gretton, H. M. (2009). Discriminative and predictive validity of the penile plethysmograph in adolescent sex offenders. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 21, 335–362. doi:10.1177/1079063209338491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dennis, E., Rouleau, J.-L., Renaud, P., Nolet, K., & Saumur, C. (2014). A pilot development of virtual stimuli depicting affective dispositions for penile plethysmography assessment of sex offenders. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 23, 200–208. doi:10.3138/cjhs.2529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dombert, B., Mokros, A., Brückner, E., Schlegl, V., Antfolk, J., Bäckström, A., & Santtila, P. (2013). The virtual people set: Developing computer-generated stimuli for the assessment of pedophilic sexual interest. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 25, 557–582. doi:10.1177/1079063212469062.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Earls, C. M. (1983). Some issues in the assessment of sexual deviance. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 6, 431–441. doi:10.1016/0160-2527(83)90030-4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Earls, C. M., Quinsey, V. L., & Castonguay, L. G. (1987). A comparison of three methods of scoring penile circumference changes. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 16, 493–500. doi:10.1007/BF01541713.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Farrall, W. R., & Card, R. D. (1988). Advancements in physiological evaluation of assessment and treatment of the sexual aggressor. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 528, 261–273. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1988.tb50869.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez, Y. (2002). Phallometric testing with sexual offenders against female victims: Limits to its value. In Forum on corrections research (Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 7–12). Correctional Services of Canada.

  • Freund, K. (1963). A laboratory method for diagnosing predominance of homo- or hetero- erotic interest in the male. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 1, 85–93. doi:10.1016/0005-7967(63)90012-3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Freund, K., & Blanchard, R. (1989). Phallometric diagnosis of pedophilia. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 100–105. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.57.1.100.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Freund, K., Watson, R., Dickey, R., & Rienzo, D. (1991). Erotic gender differentiation in pedophilia. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 20, 555–566. doi:10.1007/BF01550954.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gaither, G. A., & Plaud, J. J. (1997). The effects of secondary stimulus characteristics on men’s sexual arousal. The Journal of Sex Research, 34, 231–236. doi:10.1080/00224499709551890.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goyette, M. (2012). Évaluation des intérêts sexuels auprès d’agresseurs sexuels d’enfants par la vidéooculographie et la présentation de stimuli générés par ordinateur (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1866/8714

  • Hall, G. C. N., Hirschman, R., & Oliver, L. L. (1995). Sexual arousal and arousability to pedophilic stimuli in a community sample of normal men. Behavior Therapy, 26, 681–694. doi:10.1016/S0005-7894(05)80039-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanley, J. A., & McNeil, B. J. (1982). The meaning and use of the area under a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Radiology, 143, 29–36. doi:10.1148/radiology.143.1.7063747.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hanley, J. A., & McNeil, B. J. (1983). A method of comparing the areas under receiver operating characteristic curves derived from the same cases. Radiology, 148, 839–843. doi:10.1148/radiology.148.3.6878708.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, G., Lalumière, M. L., Seto, M., Rice, M., & Chaplin, T. (2012). Explaining the erectile responses of rapists to rape stories: The contributions of sexual activity, non-consent, and violence with injury. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 221–229. doi:10.1007/s10508-012-9940-8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, G. T., Rice, M. E., Quinsey, V. L., Chaplin, T. C., & Earls, C. (1992). Maximizing the discriminant validity of phallometric assessment data. Psychological Assessment, 4, 502–511. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.4.4.502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hosmer, D. W., & Lemeshow, S. (2004). Applied logistic regression. New York, NY: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jamison, P. L., & Gebhard, P. H. (1988). Penis size increase between flaccid and erect states: an analysis of the Kinsey data. Journal of Sex Research, 24(1), 177–183. doi:10.1080/00224498809551408.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Julien, E., & Over, R. (1988). Male sexual arousal across five modes of erotic stimulation. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 17(2), 131–143. doi:10.1007/BF01542663.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kalmus, E., & Beech, A. R. (2005). Forensic assessment of sexual interest: A review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 10(2), 193–217. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2003.12.002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuban, M., Barbaree, H. E., & Blanchard, R. (1999). A comparison of volume and circumference phallometry: Response magnitude and method agreement. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 28(4), 345–359. doi:10.1023/a:1018700813140.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lalumière, M. L., & Harris, G. T. (1998). Common questions regarding the use of phallometric testing with sexual offenders. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 10, 227–237. doi:10.1177/107906329801000306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Launay, G. (1999). The phallometric assessment of sex offenders: An update. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 9, 254–274. doi:10.1002/cbm.317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laws, D. R. (1984). The assessment of dangerous sexual behavior in males. Medicine and Law, 3, 127–140.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laws, D. R., Hanson, R. K., Osborn, C. A., & Greenbaum, P. E. (2000). Classification of child molesters by plethysmographic assessment of sexual arousal and a self-report measure of sexual preference. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 15, 1297–1312. doi:10.1177/088626000015012004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malcolm, P. B., Andrews, D. A., & Quinsey, V. L. (1993). Discriminant and predictive validity of phallometrically measured sexual age and gender preference. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 8, 486–501. doi:10.1177/088626093008004004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, W. L., Barbaree, H. E., & Christophe, D. (1986). Sexual offenders against female children: Sexual preferences for age of victims and type of behaviour. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 18, 424–439. doi:10.1037/h0079966.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, W. L., & Fernandez, Y. M. (2000). Phallometric testing with sexual offenders: Limits to its value. Clinical Psychology Review, 20, 807–822. doi:10.1016/S0272-7358(99)00013-6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, W. L., & Fernandez, Y. M. (2003). Sexual preferences: Are they useful in the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders? Aggression and Violent Behavior, 8, 131–143. doi:10.1016/S1359-1789(01)00056-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McAnulty, R., & Adams, H. (1990). Patterns of sexual arousal of accused child molesters involved in custody disputes. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 19, 541–556. doi:10.1007/bf01542464.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, W., Haynes, M., Stalgaitis, S., & Flanagan, B. (1986). Differential sexual responding among four groups of sexual offenders against children. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 8, 339–353. doi:10.1007/BF00960731.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perkins, N. J., & Schisterman, E. F. (2006). The inconsistency of “optimal” cutpoints obtained using two criteria based on the receiver operating characteristic curve. American Journal of Epidemiology, 163, 670–675. doi:10.1093/aje/kwj063.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Proulx, J. (1989). Sexual preference assessment of sexual aggressors. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 12, 275–280. doi:10.1016/0160-2527(89)90019-8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Proulx, J., Pellerin, B., Paradis, Y., McKibben, A., Aubut, J., & Ouimet, M. (1997). Static and dynamic predictors of recidivism in sexual aggressors. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 9, 7–27. doi:10.1007/BF02674889.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quinsey, V. L., & Chaplin, T. C. (1988). Penile responses of child molesters and normals to descriptions of encounters with children involving sex and violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 3, 259–274. doi:10.1177/088626088003003001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quinsey, V. L., Rice, M. E., & Harris, G. T. (1995). Actuarial prediction of sexual recidivism. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 10(1), 85–105. doi:10.1177/088626095010001006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Renaud, P., Chartier, S., Rouleau, J.-L., Proulx, J., Décarie, J., Trottier, D., & Bouchard, S. (2009). Gaze behavior nonlinear dynamics assessed in virtual immersion as a diagnostic index of sexual deviancy: Preliminary results. Journal of Virtual Reality and Broadcasting, 6(3). doi:10.20385/1860-2037/6.2009.3.

  • Renaud, P., Rouleau, J.-L., Proulx, J., Trottier, D., Goyette, M., Bradford, J. P., & Bouchard, S. (2010). Virtual characters designed for forensic assessment and rehabilitation of sex offenders: standardized and made-to-measure. Journal of Virtual Reality and Broadcasting, 7. doi:10.20385/1860-2037/7.2010.5.

  • Rice, M. E., Quinsey, V. L., & Harris, G. T. (1991). Sexual recidivism among child molesters released from a maximum security psychiatric institution. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 381–386. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.59.3.381.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosen, R. C., & Keefe, F. J. (1978). The measurement of human penile tumescence. Psychophysiology, 15, 366–376. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1978.tb01393.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schmuckler, M. A. (2001). What is ecological validity? A dimensional analysis. Infancy, 2, 419–436. doi:10.1207/S15327078IN0204_02.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seto, M. C. (2007). Psychophysiological assessment of paraphilic sexual interests. In E. Janssen (Ed.), The psychophysiology of sex (pp. 475–491). Indianapolis: University of Indiana Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seto, M. C., & Lalumière, M. L. (2001). A brief screening scale to identify pedophilic interests among child molesters. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 13, 15–25. doi:10.1023/A:1009510328588.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stinson, J. D., Becker, J. V., & Sales, B. D. (2008). Self-regulation and the etiology of sexual deviance: Evaluating causal theory. Violence and Victims, 23, 35–51. doi:10.1891/0886-6708.23.1.35.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tanner, J. M., & Whitehouse, R. H. (1976). Clinical longitudinal standards for height, weight, height velocity, weight velocity, and stages of puberty. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 51, 170–179. doi:10.1136/adc.51.3.170.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, D., & Laws, D. R. (Eds.). (2009). Cognitive approaches to the assessment of sexual interest in sexual offenders. Chichester: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trottier, D. (2013). Les apports de la réalité virtuelle et de la vidéo-oculographie à l’évaluation des intérêts sexuels (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1866/9191

  • Trottier, D., Renaud, P., Rouleau, J.-L., Goyette, M., Saumur, C., Boukhalfi, T., & Bouchard, S. (2015). Erratum to: Using immersive virtual reality and anatomically correct computer-generated characters in the forensic assessment of deviant sexual preferences. Virtual Reality, 19, 303. doi:10.1007/s10055-015-0277-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trottier, D., Rouleau, J.-L., Renaud, P., & Goyette, M. (2014). Using eye tracking to identify faking attempts during penile plethysmography assessment. Journal of Sex Research, 51, 946–955. doi:10.1080/00224499.2013.832133.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zappalà, A., Antfolk, J., Bäckström, A., Dombert, B., Mokros, A., & Santtila, P. (2013). Differentiating sexual preference in men: Using dual task rapid serial visual presentation task. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 54, 320–327. doi:10.1111/sjop.12050.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerman, M. (1971). Physiological measures of sexual arousal in the human. Psychological Bulletin, 75, 297–329. doi:10.1037/h0030923.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge the financial support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Fonds de Recherche Société et Culture (Research Grant awarded to the first author).

Funding

This study was funded by the Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Grant number: 820-2010-0024) and the Fonds Québécois de Recherche en Science Humaine. (Grant Number 2014-SE-171329). Author A also received a student research grant from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Société et Culture (Grant Number 31071) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Grant Number 754-2015-1463).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Shawn Marschall-Lévesque & Joanne-Lucine Rouleau

  2. Centre de Recherche, Institut Philippe-Pinel de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Shawn Marschall-Lévesque, Joanne-Lucine Rouleau & Patrice Renaud

  3. Département de Psychoéducation et de Psychologie, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Gatineau, QC, Canada

    Patrice Renaud

  4. Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, 90 Avenue Vincent-D’indy & Boulevard Mont-Royal, Montréal, QC, H2V 2S9, Canada

    Shawn Marschall-Lévesque

Authors
  1. Shawn Marschall-Lévesque
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Joanne-Lucine Rouleau
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Patrice Renaud
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shawn Marschall-Lévesque.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

Authors A and B declare that they have no conflict of interest. Author C received a research grant from the Bell Telephone Company (no grant number) as well as the Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et des Exportations (no grant number). Author C partly owns the company BehaVRsolutions, which did not provide financial support for this study, but did provide the technologies necessary to create the visual stimuli used in the study.

Research involving Human Participants

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Marschall-Lévesque, S., Rouleau, JL. & Renaud, P. Increasing Valid Profiles in Phallometric Assessment of Sex Offenders with Child Victims: Combining the Strengths of Audio Stimuli and Synthetic Characters. Arch Sex Behav 47, 417–428 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-017-1053-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-017-1053-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation