Contingent negative variation as an indicator of sexual object preference: revisited

Abstract

This study attempted to replicate the finding of Costell et al. (1972) that contingent negative variation (CNV) in anticipation of opposite sex nudes is of greater amplitude than CNV in anticipation of same sex nudes. In order to control for variation in level of attention, which may have accounted for the result of Costell et al., a ‘match/mismatch’ CNV paradigm was used in which S2 was either identicak to S1 or differed from it. Subjects ( n = 6 males) were required to indicate a same/different judgement by button pressing at S2 offset. CNV in anticipation of opposite sex nudes was significantly greater amplitude than CNV in anticipation of same sex nudes, confirming the finding of Costell et al. This offers encouragement for the application of CNV to the assessment of sexual object preference in sex offenders.