THE PHOTOSCOPE AS AN OBJECTIVE DEVICE FOR EVALUATING SEXUAL INTEREST*

Abstract

SUMMARY The photoscope as an objective device for evaluating sexual interest has been described. The technique consists in observing quantitatively the amount of time which a subject spends in looking at each picture in an assorted sexual and nonsexual series and qualitatively the general behavior which he manifests in the process. An experiment with 20 schizophrenic patients, 10 of them rated by ward personnel as high and 10 of them as low in spontaneous sexual behavior, has shown that the method yields results that are sufficiently consistent (or reliable) and valid to warrant its use, especially in connection with other similar measures, where, as, e.g., in sex hormone experimentation, an assessment of changes in sexual interest is desired.