Realidad Virtual

Ahamba, G., Roberts, D., & Eachus, P. (2017).
Triggering and measuring social inhibitory
response in humans immersed in interactions with virtual humans. Annual Review of
CyberTherapy and Telemedicine, 15, 185-188. (2018-14248-031).
The aim of the proposed study is to determine if a virtual human can evoke a measurable
inhibitory response to anti-social stimuli within the prefrontal cortex. Justification,
protocol and demonstrator are described here. The work follows a previous study
demonstrating that neural inhibitory responses can be measured within an immersive
virtual reality display. We have adopted the approach of combining functional Near
Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) and virtual reality head-mounted display.
Haemodynamic changes will be measured in healthy participants and subsequently,
subjects with mental deficits, as both engage in interactions that seek to evoke a
response that would normally be inhibited. Disinhibition is an aspect of social response
exaggerated by several deficits of mind, including dementia, autism and Tourette’s
syndrome. This research could improve tools for understanding, diagnosis and treatment
of such condition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)
Ahmed, I., Pilny, A., & Poole, M. S. (2018). Understanding aggressive and nonaggressive
individual behaviors in massively multiplayer online games. En K. Lakkaraju, G.
Sukthankar, & R. T. Wigand (Eds.), Social interactions in virtual worlds: An
interdisciplinary perspective. (pp. 43-61). https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316422823.003
This chapter provides a brief description on understanding aggressive and nonaggressive
individual behaviors in massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs). It demonstrates
video games as a virtual space where an individual’s behavior reflects his or her
personality. The unique virtual aspect of MMOG space allows us to develop announced
understanding of how traits translate to behavior in virtual worlds. Aggression is a
widely researched topic in relation to media and technology. Human aggression can be
defined as «behavior that results in personal injury and physical destruction» Moreover,
’the greater the attribution of personal responsibility and injurious intent to the harm-
doer, the higher the likelihood that the behavior will be judged as aggressive. To
examine aggression, the chapter uses two sources of data. First, it uses anonymized
server-side data from the game EverQuest II (EQII), similar to other popular MMOGs,
an adventure game in which players are immersed in a virtual world. The second source
of data came from an online survey that was administered by Sony Online
Entertainment. To determine the predictors of aggressive individuals, the chapter uses
machine learning classification algorithms. The goal is to understand how behavior in
virtual worlds is related to already existing aggressive personalities. The results
challenge some of the prevailing research linking aggression with violent game habits
because the authors could not find any relationship between the two. (PsycINFO
Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)
Anderson, N. E., Maurer, J. M., Steele, V. R., & Kiehl, K. A. (2018). Psychopathic traits
associated with abnormal hemodynamic activity in salience and default mode networks
during auditory oddball task. Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience, 18(3),
564-580. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-018-0588-2
Psychopathy is a personality disorder accompanied by abnormalities in emotional processing
and attention. Recent theoretical applications of network-based models of cognition
have been used to explain the diverse range of abnormalities apparent in psychopathy.
Still, the physiological basis for these abnormalities is not well understood. A
significant body of work has examined psychopathy-related abnormalities in simple
attention-based tasks, but these studies have largely been performed using
electrocortical measures, such as event-related potentials (ERPs), and they often have
been carried out among individuals with low levels of psychopathic traits. In this study,
we examined neural activity during an auditory oddball task using functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI) during a simple auditory target detection (oddball) task
among 168 incarcerated adult males, with psychopathic traits assessed via the Hare
Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). Event-related contrasts demonstrated that the
largest psychopathy-related effects were apparent between the frequent standard
stimulus condition and a task-off, implicit baseline. Negative correlations with
interpersonal-affective dimensions (Factor 1) of the PCL-R were apparent in regions
comprising default mode and salience networks. These findings support models of
psychopathy describing impaired integration across functional networks. They
additionally corroborate reports which have implicated failures of efficient transition
between default mode and task-positive networks. Finally, they demonstrate a
neurophysiological basis for abnormal mobilization of attention and reduced
engagement with stimuli that have little motivational significance among those with
high psychopathic traits.;
Anderson, N. E., Steele, V. R., Maurer, J. M., Bernat, E. M., & Kiehl, K. A. (2015).
Psychopathy, attention, and oddball target detection: New insights from PCL-R facet
scores. Psychophysiology, 52(9), 1194-1204. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12441
Psychopathy is a disorder accompanied by cognitive deficits including abnormalities in
attention. Prior studies examining cognitive features of psychopaths using ERPs have
produced some inconsistent results. We examined psychopathy-related differences in
ERPs during an auditory oddball task in a sample of incarcerated adult males. We
extend previous work by deriving ERPs with principal component analysis (PCA) and
relate these to the four facets of Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R).
Features of psychopathy were associated with increased target N1 amplitude (facets 1,
4), decreased target P3 amplitude (facet 1), and reduced slow wave amplitude for
frequent standard stimuli (facets 1, 3, 4). We conclude that employing PCA and
examining PCL-R facets improve sensitivity and help clarify previously reported
associations. Furthermore, attenuated slow wave during standards may be a novel
marker for psychopaths’ abnormalities in attention.; © 2015 Society for
Psychophysiological Research.
Behm-Morawitz, E., & Schipper, S. (2016). Sexing the avatar: Gender, sexualization, and
cyber-harassment in a virtual world. Journal of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods,
and Applications, 28(4), 161-174. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000152
The present study explored the influence of avatar appearance on cyber-harassment in a
virtual world. Specifically, this research examined how avatar gender and sexualization
were related to the experience of sex- and non-sex-related harassment. An international
sample of Second Life users (N = 216) completed an online questionnaire about their
avatar’s appearance and virtual world experiences. Objectification theory and the
disinhibition effect were used as theoretical grounding for the study. Results revealed
disparate virtual experiences for male and female avatars and indicated that avatar
sexualization was related to experiences of cyber-harassment for female avatars. The
implications of this research extend beyond virtual worlds like Second Life to other
Web-based communication applications that utilize avatars. (PsycINFO Database
Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
Brookman, F., & Copes, H. (2018). Visualizing crime and deviance: Editors introduction.
Deviant Behavior, 39(4), 417-420. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2017.1407094
The editorial presents an introduction to the Journal of Deviant Behavior. The papers
presented in this collection have used distinct visual methods to explore a diverse range
of criminological research topics. Authors have organized the articles based on the
broad theoretical perspective beginning with those that are more positivist in orientation
to those that are more critical (with interpretivist approaches in the middle). The articles
include mainstream visual approaches such as the analysis of CCTV recordings of real-
life robbery events to examine offender violence and victim resistance in robbery, the
use of virtual reality simulations to better understand (and prevent) residential burglary,
the use of visual scenarios to explore guardian decision-making about intervening in
conflict situation, and the use of photo-elicitation interviews to explore the narratives of
people who use methamphetamine, through to more avant-garde approaches such as the
use of documentary criminology to depict, and help audiences relate to, harms against
species (in this instance, donkeys), the use of «spirit» photography to unearth redacted
or hidden sites and practices («black sites» of the rural) such as rural American prisons
and Contained Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), and the use of art history analysis
to understand the iconography of punishment. Authors conclude with a Coda of a single
image, which shows how photographs can be used to shed light on often hidden aspects
of crime and deviance. In this case, it is an image of the location of a homicide in
London taken days after the murder. This single image helps «to give memory to what
are mostly forgotten events, unseen places, landscapes where great violence has
occurred». (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
Casebier, M. W. (2015). Exploring leadership styles involved in preventing deviant
behaviors that affect the sustainability of virtual teams. ProQuest Information &
Learning. (2015-99030-135).
Virtual teams are not only widely utilized, but also rapidly expanding due to the synergistic
interaction between globalization and technological advances in communication and
information storage. The problem addressed is the deviant behaviors of virtual team
members potentially impacted by leadership style resulting in weakened project
financial performance and reduced levels of customer satisfaction. Workplace deviance

is a pervasive issue with nearly all organizations with an estimated 30% of business
failures and associated annual costs of up to $200 billion. Despite these considerable
impacts of deviance on organizations combined with nearly 75% of all employees
engaging in deviance, this is a practically untouched area of study. The leaders within
these virtual teams are pivotal to the successful outcomes of these employees and teams.
The behaviors of virtual team leaders identified through the full range leadership
theory’s combinations of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership
components provided a framework for this investigation into impacts upon specific
organizational deviance in virtual teams. This qualitative phenomenological study
explored the experiences of 18 participants, five virtual team leaders and 13 virtual team
subordinate front line managers. This purposeful sample was recruited through
convenience and snowball methods. The lived experiences of participants pertaining to
the impacts of leadership behaviors on deviance were captured by semi-structured in-
depth interviews. Transcripts and interviewer field notes were coded to discern themes
and key ideas. The resultant conclusions of this study included the emergence and type
of deviance in virtual teams, impacts and extent of deviance on virtual team
sustainability, validity of full range leadership theory as a framework for leadership
style combinations used in virtual teams, effects of leadership style combinations on
deviance in virtual teams, and mitigation effects on this deviance. These conclusions
added to current literature and provided a foundation for future research to establish
statistical quantification of the detailed relationships revealed in this investigation.
Recommendations were outlined for practitioners regarding understanding leadership
styles relative to virtual team deviance. Recommendations were additionally made for
future research pertaining to application of leadership style combinations to deviance

and continued research into full range leadership theory application in varied
environments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Chrétien, M., Giroux, I., Goulet, A., Jacques, C., & Bouchard, S. (2018). Using virtual reality
to elicit dysfunctional thoughts in individuals with gambling disorder. Journal of
Gambling Issues, 38, 169-189. (2018-33458-008).
Dysfunctional thoughts contribute to the development and maintenance of gambling
disorder. Although studies in the gambling field have mostly documented dysfunctional
thoughts specific to gambling (gambling-specific thoughts; GSTs), gamblers also
manifest thoughts that have been documented for other addictions (addiction-related
thoughts [ARTs]), such as relief-oriented thoughts. Improvements in the efficiency of
cognitive restructuring in gamblers requires better access to their dysfunctional
thoughts, which may be achieved through exposure to a gambling situation in virtual
reality (VR) or in imagination (IM). Although VR appears to present advantages in
prompting gamblers to verbalize dysfunctional thoughts, no studies have compared VR
to IM to verify these advantages. This study documents GSTs and ARTs as verbalized
by individuals with gambling disorder during a gambling session in VR (n = 16) or in
IM (n = 13). It also compares the number of GSTs and ARTs verbalized by gamblers in
both conditions, as well as the different types of GSTs. Qualitative data were first
analyzed and then transformed into quantitative data for frequency theme analyses and t
tests. Results show that exposure to a gambling situation in VR allows access to more
GSTs, as well as to a greater diversity of GSTs, than does exposure to gambling in IM;
however, VR does not allow access to more ARTs, which suggests that these thoughts
may be more automatic in gamblers, or that the VR environment was not designed to
evoke these thoughts. Overall, the findings suggest that VR in a clinical context could
help increase the efficiency of cognitive restructuring in gamblers. (PsycINFO Database
Cozens, P., McLeod, S., & Matthews, J. (2018). Visual representations in crime prevention:
Exploring the use of building information modelling (BIM) to investigate burglary and
crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED). Crime Prevention and
Community Safety, 20(2), 63-83. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41300-018-0039-6
Criminological research has long utilized visual representations of environments in seeking
to explore perceptions of crime and personal safety and to investigate the relevance of
specific design and security features. Much of this research has been in the field of
environmental psychology and crime prevention through environmental design
(CPTED). This paper traces the development of visual representations and the use of
environmental stimuli in criminological research. We briefly review the contributions
made by various visual media, including maps and drawings, photographs, models,
video, virtual reality and gaming engines. These developments in visualization, building
design and management technology have drastically improved the realism of
representations of environments, and the potential for more standardized, widespread
exploration and application of CPTED principles to reduce crime. To scope and
evaluate the future potential of such emergent technologies, we critically review the
literature concerned with virtual reality and building information technology (BIM),
outlining uses in practice and new opportunities for criminological research. We frame
the discussion with specific focus on analysing proposed residential dwellings to reduce
vulnerability to burglary. A layered exploration for how BIM technologies may assist in
implementing increasingly sophisticated assessments of crime vulnerability for
proposed residential building designs brings the paper to a close. These discussions
provide both a comprehensive overview for interested practitioners and chart specific
opportunities for further research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights
reserved)
Davis, M., Sheidow, A. J., McCart, M. R., & Perrault, R. T. (2018). Vocational coaches for
justice-involved emerging adults. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 41(4), 266-276.
https://doi.org/10.1037/prj0000323
Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether vocational supports for
emerging adults with serious mental health conditions who are at high risk for rearrest
are more effectively served within Multisystemic Therapy for Emerging Adults (MST-
EA) through vocationally enhanced MST-EA Coaches or through referral to state
vocational rehabilitation services. Method: A pilot randomized controlled trial examined
two MST-EA Coaching approaches. In the Standard Coach + VR condition (n = 16),
MST-EA Coaches delivered standard skills curricula to participants and referred them
to state vocational rehabilitation (VR) services for vocational supports. In the
Vocational Coach (VC) condition (n = 16), MST-EA Coaches delivered the standard
skills curricula enhanced with extensive education/employment components. Analyses
included pre- to posttreatment comparisons of vocational outcomes, and between groups
comparisons of fidelity, satisfaction, and services utilization. Results: Those in the VC
condition had a 12-fold increase in the odds of posttreatment vocational activity
compared with those in the Standard Coach + VR condition (92.9 vs. 57.1% employed
or in school, respectively). Subgroup analyses of those who engaged in Coaching
showed that there was specifically an increase in the odds of posttreatment educational
engagement among those in the VC condition compared with those in Standard Coach +
VR. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: Based on the strength of the findings in
this small pilot study the VC should be included in future clinical trials of MST-EA to
maximize treatment impact for supporting emerging adult vocational functioning and
thus reducing antisocial behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights
reserved)
Deb, S., Strawderman, L. J., & Carruth, D. W. (2018). Investigating pedestrian suggestions
for external features on fully autonomous vehicles: A virtual reality experiment.
Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 59(Part A), 135-
149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2018.08.016
The aim of this research was to identify potential external features on a fully autonomous
vehicle (FAV) and investigate which features would help pedestrians to understand the
intended behavior of a FAV at a crosswalk, improve their receptivity toward FAVs, and
affect their crossing behavior. In the case of a FAV, technology may be primarily
responsible for control of a vehicle, and therefore, interpersonal communication is not
possible. The researchers wanted to identify potential interface/s on FAVs to make
pedestrian-FAV interaction positive, in which pedestrians receive a clear message about
the vehicle’s intended action. In an experimental study, thirty participants walked across
a virtual crosswalk in front of a FAV. Four visual and four audible features were tested.
At the beginning of the study, the participants responded to a baseline receptivity
survey, and at the end, they replied to a demographic questionnaire and a pedestrian
behavior questionnaire, gave ratings for the features, and completed a personal
innovativeness scale and an after-study receptivity survey. Crossing time and waiting
time were collected from the simulator data. The results showed that pedestrians’
receptivity toward FAVs significantly increased with the inclusion of external features.
A walking silhouette or ‘braking’ in text were the most favored visual interfaces, while
a verbal message was found to be the preferred audible feature. Females and people
from 30+ age group reacted the most positively to the features. Those pedestrians who
often commit errors or who show aggressive behaviors toward other road users rated the
implementation of FAVs poorly, even with the external features. On the other hand,
pedestrians who intentionally violate traffic rules and those who get distracted on the
road were found to be more cautious in the presence of FAVs and appreciated the
inclusion of the external features. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights
reserved)
Ferreri, F., Bourla, A., Mouchabac, S., & Karila, L. (2018). E-addictology: An overview of
new technologies for assessing and intervening in addictive behaviors. Frontiers in
Psychiatry, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00051
Background: New technologies can profoundly change the way we understand psychiatric
pathologies and addictive disorders. New concepts are emerging with the development
of more accurate means of collecting live data, computerized questionnaires, and the use
of passive data. Digital phenotyping, a paradigmatic example, refers to the use of
computerized measurement tools to capture the characteristics of different psychiatric
disorders. Similarly, machine learning–a form of artificial intelligence–can improve the
classification of patients based on patterns that clinicians have not always considered in
the past. Remote or automated interventions (web-based or smartphone-based apps), as
well as virtual reality and neurofeedback, are already available or under development.
Objective: These recent changes have the potential to disrupt practices, as well as
practitioners’ beliefs, ethics and representations, and may even call into question their
professional culture. However, the impact of new technologies on health professionals’
practice in addictive disorder care has yet to be determined. In the present paper, we
therefore present an overview of new technology in the field of addiction medicine.
Method: Using the keywords [e-health], [m-health], [computer], [mobile],
[smartphone], [wearable], [digital], [machine learning], [ecological momentary
assessment], [biofeedback] and [virtual reality], we searched the PubMed database for
the most representative articles in the field of assessment and interventions in substance
use disorders. Results: We screened 595 abstracts and analyzed 92 articles, dividing
them into seven categories: e-health program and web-based interventions, machine
learning, computerized adaptive testing, wearable devices and digital phenotyping,
ecological momentary assessment, biofeedback, and virtual reality. Conclusion: This
overview shows that new technologies can improve assessment and interventions in the
field of addictive disorders. The precise role of connected devices, artificial intelligence
and remote monitoring remains to be defined. If they are to be used effectively, these
tools must be explained and adapted to the different profiles of physicians and patients.
The involvement of patients, caregivers and other health professionals is essential to
their design and assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights
reserved)
Gozlan, A. (2018a). Éléments pour une psychopathologie du virtuel: Le harcèlement virtuel
= Elements concerning psychopathology in the virtual sphere: Cyberbullying.
L’Évolution Psychiatrique, 83(3), 457-465.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evopsy.2018.03.003
Aim: Cyberbullying particularly affects teenagers, among whom 12% report being
victimized. Current research explores the psychopathogenic issues of cyberbullying, and
its risk factors, but little research has analysed the processual aspects of this
phenomenon and what differentiates cyberbullying from the more classic forms of
harassment. In this article we propose to determine the specific features and
mechanisms of cyberbullying. Method: The method is based on a review of the
literature including existing research and definitions of cyberbullying, on clinical
observation and on psychoanalytic metapsychology. Result: Cyberbullying differs from
classic bullying on two criteria: anonymity and the reversal from private to public. It is
also an effect of the characteristics of Web 2.0, namely the immediate diffusion of
content through the virtual community, where interactivity is very potent. Discussion:
The analysis of cyberbullying highlights three issues: viral otherness, the virtual
community and a toxic disinhibition relating to the mediation of the screen. However,
we cannot reduce cyberbullying to the sole digital sphere. There is a movement known
as virtualization-update, whereby the cyberbullying is rendered omnipresent via
harassment at school. Every sphere in the life of the bullied or harassed subject is thus
affected. Conclusions: A social network can become a place of transgression,
aggressiveness, even perversion, and a weapon of destruction of an individual.
Cyberbullying thus appears as a psychopathology of the virtual sphere in everyday life.
It forms from a traumatic experience, immersing the adolescent in a identity disorder
and in an impossible melancholic mourning. If the harassment is not checked in time,
the psychological consequences are catastrophic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018
APA, all rights reserved)
Gozlan, A. (2018b). Éléments pour une psychopathologie du virtuel: Le harcèlement virtuel
= Elements concerning psychopathology in the virtual sphere: Cyberbullying.
L’Évolution Psychiatrique, 83(3), 457-465.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evopsy.2018.03.003
Aim: Cyberbullying particularly affects teenagers, among whom 12% report being
victimized. Current research explores the psychopathogenic issues of cyberbullying, and
its risk factors, but little research has analysed the processual aspects of this
phenomenon and what differentiates cyberbullying from the more classic forms of
harassment. In this article we propose to determine the specific features and
mechanisms of cyberbullying. Method: The method is based on a review of the
literature including existing research and definitions of cyberbullying, on clinical

observation and on psychoanalytic metapsychology. Result: Cyberbullying differs from
classic bullying on two criteria: anonymity and the reversal from private to public. It is
also an effect of the characteristics of Web 2.0, namely the immediate diffusion of
content through the virtual community, where interactivity is very potent. Discussion:
The analysis of cyberbullying highlights three issues: viral otherness, the virtual
community and a toxic disinhibition relating to the mediation of the screen. However,
we cannot reduce cyberbullying to the sole digital sphere. There is a movement known
as virtualization-update, whereby the cyberbullying is rendered omnipresent via
harassment at school. Every sphere in the life of the bullied or harassed subject is thus
affected. Conclusions: A social network can become a place of transgression,
aggressiveness, even perversion, and a weapon of destruction of an individual.
Cyberbullying thus appears as a psychopathology of the virtual sphere in everyday life.
It forms from a traumatic experience, immersing the adolescent in a identity disorder
and in an impossible melancholic mourning. If the harassment is not checked in time,
the psychological consequences are catastrophic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018
Hilgard, J. (2019). Comment on Yoon and Vargas (2014): An implausibly large effect from
implausibly invariant data. Psychological Science, 30(7), 1099-1102.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797618815434
Comments on an article by G. Yoon & P. T. Vargas (see record [rid]2014-13629-024[/rid]).
Yoon and Vargas report that playing a video game for 5 min as one of three avatars had
large effects on participants’ subsequent aggressive and prosocial behavior, as measured
by the amount of chocolate chips or hot chili sauce they poured for another participant
to eat. These results have considerable theoretical importance for psychologists’
understanding of the effects of video games on behavior, the nature of self-

representation, and the causes of aggression. However, there are two concerns regarding
the accuracy of the data and, thus, the validity of the inferences. First, the effect size is
improbably large. Second, certain cells of the reported data contain remarkably little
variance. Together, these issues suggest that there may be some potentially invalidating
error in data collection or analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all
rights reserved)
Johnson, K. P. (2019). Video games, virtual reality, and aggression: Investigating the
revised-general aggression model. ProQuest Information & Learning. (2018-65236-
228).
Prior research (Bushman & Anderson, 2001) indicates that playing violent video games leads
to short-term, aggressive behavior by the player. In the revised-General Aggression
Model (revised-GAM), Lull and Bushman (2016) found that individuals who were
exposed to violent content, specifically violent video games, felt a sense of immersion
in the game along with several affective states that could ultimately result in aggressive
behavior. In this study, I examine the revised-GAM to investigate whether individuals
who play a violent VR video game report more angry feelings, feel more immersed, and
display more aggressive behavior than individuals who play a nonviolent VR or 2D
violent game. An emerging adult sample (i.e., ages 18-30) of 92 participants was used.
My study follows a quantitative research design and is one of the first to examine the
revised-GAM. Findings indicate that individuals who play violent VR video games
report more angry feelings and feel more immersed than individuals who play
nonviolent VR or 2D violent video games. Surprisingly, no significant differences are
observed in levels of aggression across all conditions. Implications are discussed, along
with how these findings are applicable to both clinical and social situations. (PsycINFO

Jouriles, E. N., Kleinsasser, A., Rosenfield, D., & McDonald, R. (2016). Measuring
bystander behavior to prevent sexual violence: Moving beyond self reports. Psychology
of Violence, 6(1), 73-81. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038230
Objective: This study presents an evaluation of a novel procedure designed to measure
bystander behavior to prevent sexual violence. Method: Ninety-one college students
participated in simulations conducted in an immersive virtual environment. The
simulations were designed to elicit and allow measurement of bystander behavior in
situations that could presumably escalate to sexual violence. Participants also completed
self-report measures of responsibility for intervening, efficacy for intervening, and
intent to intervene. In addition, self-reported bystander behavior was assessed
approximately 2 months later. Results: Bystander behavior in the simulations was
positively correlated with (a) responsibility for intervening, (b) efficacy for intervening,
(c) intent to intervene, and (d) self-reported bystander behavior. Conclusion: Our
findings support the validity of this virtual simulation procedure and lay the
groundwork for future research designed to evaluate effects of bystander intervention
programs and to study determinants of bystander behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record
(c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Jouriles, E. N., Rosenfield, D., Yule, K., Sargent, K. S., & McDonald, R. (2016). Predicting
high-school students’ bystander behavior in simulated dating violence situations.
Journal of Adolescent Health, 58(3), 345-351.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.11.009
Purpose: Dating violence among adolescents is associated with a variety of negative health
consequences for victims. Bystander programs are being developed and implemented
with the intention of preventing such violence, but determinants of high-school
students’ responsive bystander behavior remain unclear. The present study examines
hypothesized determinants of high-school students’ bystander behavior in simulated
situations of dating violence. Methods: Participants were 80 high-school students who
completed self-reports of hypothesized determinants of bystander behavior
(responsibility, efficacy, and perceived benefits for intervening) at a baseline
assessment. A virtual-reality paradigm was used to observationally assess bystander
behavior at 1-week and 6-month assessments after baseline. Results: Efficacy for
intervening was positively associated with observed bystander behavior at the 1-week
and 6-month assessments. Moreover, efficacy predicted bystander behavior over and
above feelings of responsibility and perceived benefits for intervening. Contrary to our
predictions, neither responsibility nor perceived benefits for intervening were associated
with observed bystander behavior. Conclusions: This research advances our
understanding of determinants of bystander behavior for high-school students and can
inform prevention programming for adolescents. The study also introduces an
innovative way to assess high-school students’ bystander behavior. (PsycINFO
Jouriles, E. N., Simpson Rowe, L., McDonald, R., & Kleinsasser, A. L. (2014). Women’s
expression of anger in response to unwanted sexual advances: Associations with sexual
victimization. Psychology of Violence, 4(2), 170-183. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033191
Objective: To examine the association between women’s prior sexual victimization and their
expression of anger in response to unwanted sexual advances. Method: Sixty-five
female undergraduate students participated in role plays with male actors. During the
role plays, which were conducted using virtual reality technology, the male actor made
unwanted sexual advances toward the participant. Participants’ expression of anger in
response to these advances was coded and analyzed. Results: Women with a history of
sexual victimization were observed to be less angry and used fewer anger words in
response to initial unwanted sexual advances, compared with women with no history of
sexual victimization. Conclusion: This study highlights the potential importance of
women’s expression of anger in response to unwanted sexual advances. Specifically,
anger expression might be important to consider in understanding women’s
vulnerability to victimization and revictimization, and as an intervention target for
programs designed to help women resist sexual violence. Finally, this study illustrates
the potential benefits of a unique methodology—role plays conducted using virtual
reality—for investigating women’s responses to unwanted sexual advances. (PsycINFO
Kiehl, K. A., Anderson, N. E., Aharoni, E., Maurer, J. M., Harenski, K. A., Rao, V., …
Steele, V. R. (2018). Age of gray matters: Neuroprediction of recidivism. Neuroimage.
Clinical, 19, 813-823. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2018.05.036
Age is one of the best predictors of antisocial behavior. Risk models of recidivism often
combine chronological age with demographic, social and psychological features to aid
in judicial decision-making. Here we use independent component analyses (ICA) and
machine learning techniques to demonstrate the utility of using brain-based measures of
cerebral aging to predict recidivism. First, we developed a brain-age model that predicts
chronological age based on structural MRI data from incarcerated males (n = 1332). We
then test the model’s ability to predict recidivism in a new sample of offenders with
longitudinal outcome data (n = 93). Consistent with hypotheses, inclusion of brain-age
measures of the inferior frontal cortex and anterior-medial temporal lobes (i.e.,
amygdala) improved prediction models when compared with models using
chronological age; and models that combined psychological, behavioral, and
neuroimaging measures provided the most robust prediction of recidivism. These results
verify the utility of brain measures in predicting future behavior, and suggest that brain-
based data may more precisely account for important variation when compared with
traditional proxy measures such as chronological age. This work also identifies new
brain systems that contribute to recidivism which has clinical implications for treatment
development.;
Kip, H., Bouman, Y. H. A., Kelders, S. M., & van Gemert-Pijnen, L. J. E. W. C. (2018).
eHealth in treatment of offenders in forensic mental health: A review of the current
state. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00042
Background: Treatment of offenders in forensic mental health is complex. Often, these in- or
outpatients have low treatment motivation, suffer from multiple disorders, and have
poor literacy skills. eHealth may be able to improve treatment outcomes because of its
potential to increase motivation and engagement, and it can overcome the predominant
one-size-fits-all approach by being tailored to individual patients. Objective: To
examine its potential, this systematic review studies the way that eHealth has been used
and studied in forensic mental health and identifies accompanying advantages and
disadvantages for both patients and treatment, including effectiveness. methods: A
systematic search in Scopus, PsycINFO, and Web of Science was performed up until
December 2017. Studies were included if they focused on technological interventions to
improve the treatment of forensic psychiatric patients. Results: The search resulted in 50
studies in which eHealth was used for treatment purposes. Multiple types of studies and
technologies were identified, such as virtual reality, web-based interventions, and
videoconferencing. The results confirmed the benefits of technology, for example, the
acquisition of unique information about offenders, effectiveness, and tailoring to
specific characteristics, but indicated that these are not fully taken advantage of.
Discussion: To overcome the barriers and obtain the benefits, eHealth has to have a
good fit with patients and the forensic psychiatric context. It has to be seamlessly
integrated in existing care and should not be added as an isolated element. To bridge the
gap between the current situation and eHealth’s potential, further research on
development, implementation, and evaluation should be conducted. (PsycINFO
Klatt, W. K., Chesham, A., & Lobmaier, J. S. (2016). Putting up a big front: Car design and
size affect road-crossing behaviour. PLoS ONE, 11(7). Recuperado de
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=psyh&AN=2016-39805-
001&site=ehost-live
Previous research suggests that people tend to see faces in car fronts and that they attribute
personality characteristics to car faces. In the present study we investigated whether car
design influences pedestrian road-crossing behaviour. An immersive virtual reality
environment with a zebra crossing scenario was used to determine a) whether the
minimum accepted distance for crossing the street is larger for cars with a dominant
appearance than for cars with a friendly appearance and b) whether the speed of
dominant-looking cars is overestimated as compared to friendly-looking cars.
Participants completed both tasks while either standing on the pavement or on the centre
island. We found that people started to cross the road later in front of friendly-looking
low-power cars compared to dominant-looking high-power cars, but only if the cars
were relatively large in size. For small cars we found no effect of power. The speed of
smaller cars was estimated to be higher compared to large cars (size-speed bias).
Furthermore, there was an effect of starting position: From the centre island,
participants entered the road significantly later (i. e. closer to the approaching car) and
left the road later than when starting from the pavement. Similarly, the speed of the cars
was estimated significantly lower when standing on the centre island compared to the
pavement. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that car fronts elicit
responses on a behavioural level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights
reserved)
Klein Tuente, S., Bogaerts, S., van IJzendoorn, S., & Veling, W. (2018). Effect of virtual
reality aggression prevention training for forensic psychiatric patients (VRAPT): Study
protocol of a multi-center RCT. BMC Psychiatry, 18(1), 251-251.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-018-1830-8
Background: Many patients residing in forensic psychiatric centers have difficulties
regulating their aggression in an adequate manner. Therefore, they are frequently
involved in conflicts. Evidenced-based aggression therapies in forensic psychiatry are
scarce, and due to the highly secured environment, it is hard to practice real-life
provocations. We have developed a Virtual Reality aggression prevention training
(VRAPT), providing safe virtual environments, in which patients can practice
controlling their aggressive behaviors in an adequate way. The main objective of this
study is to examine whether VRAPT is effective in reducing aggression among forensic
psychiatric inpatients.; Methods: Four forensic psychiatric centers in the Netherlands
are participating in this study. Participants will be randomly assigned to either VRAPT
or a waiting list. The two groups will be compared at several different time points:
baseline (12 weeks before intervention), pre-intervention, post-intervention and at
12 weeks follow-up. After follow-up measurements are completed, participants from the
waiting list will also receive VRAPT. The primary outcome is level of aggressive
behavior, consisting of staff-reported and self-reported measures. Secondary outcomes
are self-report questionnaires on e.g., anger, impulsivity and aggression.; Discussion: To
the best of our knowledge this is the first study to examine the effectiveness of a VR
aggression prevention training in forensic psychiatric centers. Further details on the

methodological issues are discussed in this paper.; Trial Registration: Dutch Trial
Register ( NTR, TC = 6340 ). Retrospectively registered 14-04-2017.;
Kniffin, T. C., Carlson, C. R., Ellzey, A., Eisenlohr-Moul, T., Beck, K. B., McDonald, R., &
Jouriles, E. N. (2014). Using virtual reality to explore self-regulation in high-risk
settings. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 15(4), 310-321.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838014521501
Virtual reality (VR) models allow investigators to explore high-risk situations carefully in
the laboratory using physiological assessment strategies and controlled conditions not
available in field settings. This article introduces the use of a virtual experience to
examine the influence of self-regulatory skills training on female participants’ reactions
to a high-risk encounter with an aggressive male. Sixty-three female participants were
recruited for the study. Demographic data indicated that 54% of the participants were
not currently in a relationship, 36.5% were in a committed relationship, and 9.5% were
occasionally dating. After obtaining informed consent, participants were assigned
randomly to either a diaphragmatic breathing training condition or an attention control
condition. Results indicated that both groups rated the virtual environment as equally
realistic; the aggressive advances of the male were also perceived as equally real across
the two experimental groups. Physiological data indicated that there were no differences
between the groups on respiration or cardiovascular measures during baseline or during
the VR task. After the VR experience, however, the participants in the breathing
training condition had lower respiration rates and higher heart rate variability measures
than those in the control condition. The results suggest that VR platforms provide a
realistic and challenging environment to examine how self-regulation procedures may
influence behavioral outcomes. Real-time dynamic engagement in a virtual setting
affords investigators with an opportunity to evaluate the utility of self-regulatory skills

training for improving safety in situations where there are uncertain and risky outcomes.
(PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Krahé, B. (2014). Media violence use as a risk factor for aggressive behaviour in
adolescence. European Review of Social Psychology, 25(1), 71-106.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2014.923177
Whether exposure to violence in the virtual reality of the media has an impact on users’
aggressive behaviour has been a controversial issue in academic as well as public
debate. This article summarises a programme of research conducted with adolescents in
Germany that presents cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence for the association
between violent media use and aggression. It provides experimental evidence in support
of mediating variables, such as hostile attributional style, increased normative
acceptance of aggression, and emotional desensitisation, which might explain the
pathways from media violence use to aggression. In addition it presents the
development and experimental evaluation of a theory-based intervention designed to
reduce media violence use and decrease its link with aggressive behaviour. The findings
are discussed in the context of a large international body of research that points to the
causal role of violent media use as a risk factor for aggressive behaviour. (PsycINFO
Krämer, N., Sobieraj, S., Feng, D., Trubina, E., & Marsella, S. (2018). Being bullied in
virtual environments: Experiences and reactions of male and female students to a male
or female oppressor. Frontiers in Psychology, 9.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00253
Bullying is a pressing societal problem. As such, it is important to gain a better
understanding of the mechanisms involved in bullying and of resilience factors which
might protect victims. Moreover, it is necessary to provide tools that can train potential
victims to strengthen their resilience. To facilitate both of these goals, the current study
tests a recently developed virtual environment that puts participants in the role of a
victim who is being oppressed by a superior. In a 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment (N
= 81), we measured the effects of gender of the oppressor and gender of the participant
on psychophysiological reactions, subjective experiences and willingness to report the
event. The results reveal that even when a male and a female bully show the exact same
behavior, the male bully is perceived as more threatening. In terms of gender of the
victim, the only difference that emerged was a more pronounced increase in heart rate in
males. The results were moderated by the personality factors social gender, neuroticism,
and need to belong, while self-esteem did not show any moderating influence.
Lakkaraju, K., Sukthankar, G., & Wigand, R. T. (2018). Social interactions in virtual
worlds: An interdisciplinary perspective (K. Lakkaraju, G. Sukthankar, & R. T.
Wigand, Eds.). https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316422823
Within the rapidly-growing arena of «virtual worlds» (VWs), such as Massively Multiplayer
Online Games (MMOGs), individuals behave in particular ways, influence one another,
and develop complex relationships. This broad-based book offers a comprehensive and
holistic perspective on the field. It brings together research findings from an
international team of experts in computer science (artificial intelligence, game design,
and social computing), psychology, and the social sciences to help researchers and
practitioners better understand the fundamental processes underpinning social behavior
in virtual worlds such as World of Warcraft, Rift, Eve Online, and Travian. The book is
organized into 14 chapters. Chapter one discusses the design, insights, and findings of a
multifaceted international research project, Virtual Environment Real User Study, that
examines the relationships between player activities in VWs or MMOGs on the one
hand and their real-world (RW) characteristics on the other. Chapter two talks about
understanding aggressive and nonaggressive individual behaviors in MMOGs. Chapter
three explores friendship practices in MMOGs. Chapter four discusses benefits,
challenges, and relational quality among romantic couples who game. Chapter five
describes virtual team communication norms. Chapters six and seven explore social
systems and behavioral norms in League of Legends and Guild Wars, and leadership in
virtual worlds. Chapter eight examines virtual organization and online games. Chapter
nine outlines how synthetic networked environments such as MMOGs and virtual social
worlds have recently been deployed as experimental platforms by behavioral
economists. Chapter ten describes simulated utopia. Chapter eleven discusses gaming in
multicultural classrooms. Chapters twelve and thirteen focus on how to identify;
quantify; and possibly leverage social features in online social games, and on behavior
profiling based on telemetry data. Chapter fourteen analyzes the dynamics of social
interactions using MMOGs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights
reserved)
Macey, J., & Hamari, J. (2018). Investigating relationships between video gaming, spectating
esports, and gambling. Computers in Human Behavior, 80, 344-353.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.11.027
An established body of research exists in which playing video games has been associated
with potentially problematic behaviours, such as gambling. An issue highlighted by the
recent emergence of game-based gambling practices such as loot boxes, social network
casinos, free-to-play game mechanics, and gambling using virtual goods and skins. This
study investigates relationships between a range of gambling activities and the
consumption of video games in general, and the newly emergent phenomenon of esports
in particular. In addition, these practices are considered in relation to established

measures assessing game addiction and problematic gambling. The study employs
Partial Least Squares modelling to investigate data gathered via an international online
survey (N = 613). Video game addiction was found to be negatively associated with
offline gambling, online gambling, and problem gambling. Video game consumption
had only small, positive association with video game-related gambling and problem
gambling. Consumption of esports had small to moderate association with video game-
related gambling, online gambling, and problem gambling. The primary finding of this
study are that contemporary video games are not, in themselves, associated with
increased potential for problematic gambling, indeed, the position that problem gaming
and problem gambling are fundamentally connected is questioned. (PsycINFO Database
Mallén, A. (2016). Stirring up virtual punishment: A case of citizen journalism, authenticity
and shaming. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention,
17(1), 3-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/14043858.2016.1157940
Film clips and still pictures captured by civilians are increasingly used as evidence to prove
specific accounts of events. This kind of visual data are not without problems, however.
The aim of this paper was to analyse how viewers perceived a citizen journalistic
mobile phone film clip as naturalistic data, enabling processes of shaming and
eventually a ‘justice’ process on the Internet, including virtual punishment of the person
filmed by the citizen journalist. In the clip, a taxi driver records video of an agitated
female customer whom he hinders from leaving the taxi. The film is then distributed on
YouTube, where it attracts remarkable negative attention. However, the citizen
journalist’s film clip is only one of several possible accounts of the filmed incident, as
demonstrated by the police crime report about the incident as an alternative account
showing that viewers cannot rely on the citizen journalistic film clip as objective,
naturalistic data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
Mancini, T., Caricati, L., Balestrieri, M. F., & Sibilla, F. (2018). How to reduce intergroup
hostility in virtual contexts: The role of alts in decreasing intergroup bias in World of
Warcraft. Computers in Human Behavior, 83, 8-15.
This survey investigated the effect of having multiple and crossed social identities on the
relationship between ingroup commitment and intergroup bias in a massively
multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). The survey involved 315 World of
Warcraft players, who were asked to indicate the faction to whom their main avatar
belonged and how many of their non-main avatars (alts) belonged to the same or to the
other faction. Commitment to the faction of the main avatar, and faction (ingroup) over
other faction (outgroup) favouritism were evaluated. Results confirmed that faction
commitment increased bias against the outgroup faction. The number of alts belonging
to the other faction moderated the relationship between faction commitment and
intergroup bias, showing that faction commitment was more strongly associated with
intergroup bias when the number of outgroup alts was low. Results are discussed in the
light of social identity theory and of the role that multiple crossed social identities could
have in preventing negative outcomes such as social discrimination and aggressive
behaviours in MMORPGs, thus improving virtual community wellbeing. (PsycINFO
Markey, P. M., & Ferguson, C. J. (2017). Moral combat: Why the war on violent video
games is wrong. Dallas, TX: BenBella Books. (2017-10788-000).
In family rooms across America, millions of children and teenagers are playing video games,
such as Call of Duty, Halo, and Grand Theft Auto, roaming violent virtual worlds—
with virtual guns in their hands. In what sometimes seems like an increasingly violent
world, it’s only natural to worry about the effects of all this pixelated gore. But is that
concern misplaced? Authors and psychologists Patrick M. Markey and Christopher J.
Ferguson say it is. The media and politicians have been sounding the alarm for years,
and with every fresh tragedy involving a young perpetrator comes another flurry of
articles about the dangers of violent media. The problem is this: Their fear isn’t
supported by the evidence. In fact, unlike the video game-trained murder machines
depicted in the press, school shooters are actually less likely to be interested in violent
games than their peers. In reality, most well-adjusted children and teenagers play violent
video games, all without ever exhibiting violent behavior in real life. What’s more,
spikes in sales of violent games actually correspond to decreased rates of violent crime.
If that surprises you, you’re not alone—the national dialogue on games and violence has
been hopelessly biased. But that’s beginning to change. Scholars are finding that not
only are violent games not one of society’s great evils, they may even be a force for
good. In Moral Combat, Markey and Ferguson explore how video games—even the
bloodiest—can have a positive impact on everything from social skills to stress, and
may even make us more morally sensitive. Tracing the rise of violent games from
arcades to online death matches, they have spent years on the front lines of the video
game debate and now offer a comprehensive overview of the scientific research on
gaming. With humor, complete honesty, and extensive research, they separate the myth
from the medium. Moral Combat is an irreverent and informative guide to the worries—
and wonders— of our violent virtual world. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017
Mascia, P., Neugebauer, N. M., Brown, J., Bubula, N., Nesbitt, K. M., Kennedy, R. T., &
Vezina, P. (2019). Exposure to conditions of uncertainty promotes the pursuit of

amphetamine. Neuropsychopharmacology, 44(2), 274-280.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-018-0099-4
Prior exposure to abused drugs leads to long-lasting neuroadaptations culminating in
excessive drug intake. Given the comorbidity between substance use and gambling
disorders, surprisingly little is known about the effects of exposure to reinforcement
contingencies experienced during games of chance. As it is a central feature of these
games, we characterized the effects of exposure to uncertainty on biochemical and
behavioral effects normally observed in rats exposed to amphetamine. Rats in different
groups were trained to nose-poke for saccharin under certain [fixed-ratio (FR)] or
uncertain conditions [variable-ratio (VR)] for 55 1-h sessions. Ratios were escalated on
successive sessions and rats maintained on the last ratio (FR/VR 20) for 20–25 days.
Two to three weeks later, rats were tested for their locomotor or nucleus accumbens
dopamine (NAcc DA) response to amphetamine or self-administration of the drug using
a lever press operant. NAcc DA overflow was also assessed in additional rats during the
saccharin sessions. Rats exposed to uncertainty subsequently showed a higher
locomotor and NAcc DA response to amphetamine and self-administered more drug
infusions relative to rats exposed to predictable reinforcement. NAcc DA levels during
the saccharin sessions tracked the variance of the scheduled ratios (a measure of
uncertainty). VR rats showed escalating DA overflow with increasing ratios. Exposure
to uncertainty triggered neuroadaptations similar to those produced by exposure to
abused drugs. As these were produced in drug naive rats both during and after exposure
to uncertainty, they provide a novel common pathway to drug and behavioral
addictions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
Maurer, J. M., Steele, V. R., Cope, L. M., Vincent, G. M., Stephen, J. M., Calhoun, V. D., &
Kiehl, K. A. (2016). Dysfunctional error-related processing in incarcerated youth with

elevated psychopathic traits. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 19, 70-77.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2016.02.006
Adult psychopathic offenders show an increased propensity towards violence, impulsivity,
and recidivism. A subsample of youth with elevated psychopathic traits represent a
particularly severe subgroup characterized by extreme behavioral problems and
comparable neurocognitive deficits as their adult counterparts, including perseveration
deficits. Here, we investigate response-locked event-related potential (ERP) components
(the error-related negativity [ERN/Ne] related to early error-monitoring processing and
the error-related positivity [Pe] involved in later error-related processing) in a sample of
incarcerated juvenile male offenders (n=100) who performed a response inhibition
Go/NoGo task. Psychopathic traits were assessed using the Hare Psychopathy
Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV). The ERN/Ne and Pe were analyzed with classic
windowed ERP components and principal component analysis (PCA). Using linear
regression analyses, PCL:YV scores were unrelated to the ERN/Ne, but were negatively
related to Pe mean amplitude. Specifically, the PCL:YV Facet 4 subscale reflecting
antisocial traits emerged as a significant predictor of reduced amplitude of a
subcomponent underlying the Pe identified with PCA. This is the first evidence to
suggest a negative relationship between adolescent psychopathy scores and Pe mean
amplitude.; Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Maurer, J. M., Steele, V. R., Edwards, B. G., Bernat, E. M., Calhoun, V. D., & Kiehl, K. A.
(2016). Dysfunctional error-related processing in female psychopathy. Social Cognitive
And Affective Neuroscience, 11(7), 1059-1068. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsv070
Neurocognitive studies of psychopathy have predominantly focused on male samples.
Studies have shown that female psychopaths exhibit similar affective deficits as their
male counterparts, but results are less consistent across cognitive domains including
response modulation. As such, there may be potential gender differences in error-related
processing in psychopathic personality. Here we investigate response-locked event-
related potential (ERP) components [the error-related negativity (ERN/Ne) related to
early error-detection processes and the error-related positivity (Pe) involved in later
post-error processing] in a sample of incarcerated adult female offenders (n = 121) who
performed a response inhibition Go/NoGo task. Psychopathy was assessed using the
Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). The ERN/Ne and Pe were analyzed with
classic windowed ERP components and principal component analysis (PCA).
Consistent with previous research performed in psychopathic males, female
psychopaths exhibited specific deficiencies in the neural correlates of post-error
processing (as indexed by reduced Pe amplitude) but not in error monitoring (as indexed
by intact ERN/Ne amplitude). Specifically, psychopathic traits reflecting interpersonal
and affective dysfunction remained significant predictors of both time-domain and PCA
measures reflecting reduced Pe mean amplitude. This is the first evidence to suggest
that incarcerated female psychopaths exhibit similar dysfunctional post-error processing
as male psychopaths.; © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press. For
Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Maurer, J. M., Steele, V. R., Fink, B. C., Vincent, G. M., Calhoun, V. D., & Kiehl, K. A.
(2018). Investigating error-related processing in incarcerated adolescents with self-
report psychopathy measures. Biological Psychology, 132, 96-105.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.11.009
Disparate results have been found in previous reports when incorporating both interview-
based and self-report measures of psychopathic traits within the same sample,
suggesting such assessments should not be used interchangeably. We previously found
Total and Facet 4 scores from Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV)
were negatively related to amplitude of the error-related positivity (Pe) event-related
potential (ERP) component. Here, we investigated using the same previously published
sample whether scores on four different self-report measures of adolescent psychopathic
traits (the Antisocial Process Screening Device [APSD], Child Psychopathy Scale
[CPS], Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits [ICU], and Youth Psychopathic Traits
Inventory [YPI]) were similarly associated with reduced Pe amplitude. Unlike our
previous results, adolescent self-report psychopathy scores were not associated with
reduced Pe amplitude in multiple regression analyses. Results obtained in the current
report support previous research observing incongruent findings when incorporating
different assessment types within the same sample.; Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V.
All rights reserved.
Mercer, D., & Parkinson, D. (2014). Video gaming and sexual violence: Rethinking forensic
nursing in a digital age. Journal of Forensic Nursing, 10(1), 27-35.
https://doi.org/10.1097/JFN.0000000000000017
This article reports findings from a qualitative study into how forensic nurses, and male
personality disordered sexual offenders, talked about «pornography» in one U.K. high-
security hospital. Research rationale was rooted in current professional and political
debates, adopting a discourse analytic design to situate the project in a clinical context.
Semistructured interviews, as co-constructed accounts, explored talk about sexual
media, offending, treatment, and risk. Data were analyzed using a version of discourse
analysis popular in healthcare research, identifying discursive repertoires, or collective
language use, characteristic of the institutional culture. Findings revealed that masculine
discourse marginalized female nurses and contradicted therapeutic goals, where men’s
talk about pornography, sex, and sexual crime represented discriminatory and gendered
language. Nursing definitions of pornography were constructed in the context of the

client group and an organizational need to manage risk. In a highly controlled
environment, with a long-stay population, priority in respondent talk was given to
mainstream commercial sexual media and everyday items/ images perceived to have
embedded sexual meaning. However, little mention was made of contemporary modes
of producing/distributing pornography, where sex and sexual violence are enacted in
virtual realities of cyberspace. Failure to engage with information technology, and
globally mediated sex, is discussed as a growing concern for forensic health workers.
Mudrak, G., & Semwal, S. K. (2015). Modeling aggression and bullying: A complex systems
approach. Annual Review of CyberTherapy and Telemedicine, 13, 187-191. (2016-
13187-033).
Almost daily, we read about the devastation and lasting consequences of bullying, and feel a
greater impact when we hear of another child taking their life or the lives of others.
What makes bullying behaviors so insidious is they cut across people, age, cultures and
nations. These behaviors remain difficult to study and direct experimentation remains
ethically and morally prohibitive. Therefore, we turn to computational models and
simulate the natural complex social systems using the human element. If approached
well, these models may yield emergent behaviors providing insight into the interactions
around bullying. This paper discusses our complex systems model, and evaluates the
viability of modeling bullying. Results of our implementation are described and future
opportunities are identified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights
reserved)
Nocentini, A., Zambuto, V., & Menesini, E. (2015). Anti-bullying programs and Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs): A systematic review. Aggression and Violent
Behavior, 23, 52-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2015.05.012

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) constitute suitable tools for
interventions with children and adolescents promoting their emotional, psychological
and social wellbeing. Recently, in the field of bullying and cyberbullying prevention,
some programs started to be implemented using the benefits offered by the virtual
environments. The current paper aims to carry out a systematic review on anti-bullying
ICT-mediated intervention, analyzing the characteristics of the main programs and the
evidence of their effectiveness. The review conducted on three databases (PsycINFO,
Scopus and PubMed) yielded 32 full text papers finally evaluated. Overall, considering
the enormous development of digital tools and the importance of this experience for
young students, the review underlines that ICT tools are generally under-used in
prevention and intervention against bullying and cyberbullying (13 programs emerged
from the search). In recent years some advances in this direction can be found with the
use of different ICTs (serious game, virtual reality, online platforms, internet activities,
technological solution). The need for scientific studies on the effectiveness of these
virtual interventions is evident from this review and necessary in order to assist
practitioners, policy makers, and administrators in deciding which interventions can
work or not and why. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
Pegram, S. E., Abbey, A., Helmers, B. R., Benbouriche, M., Jilani, Z., & Woerner, J. (2018).
Men Who Sexually Assault Drinking Women: Similarities and Differences With Men
Who Sexually Assault Sober Women and Nonperpetrators. Violence Against Women,
24(11), 1327-1348. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801218787927
Little is known about the attributes of men who sexually assault drinking women as
compared with men who sexually assault sober women and nonperpetrators. Findings
from a cross-sectional survey of 548 men and a laboratory computer-simulated date
completed by a subset ( n = 87) support the hypothesis that both groups of perpetrators
would share some common risk factors and differ regarding alcohol beliefs and
consumption. Men who had previously assaulted a drinking woman gave their
simulated date more alcohol to drink and perceived her as being more disinhibited.
These findings demonstrate the power of alcohol expectancies and stereotypes about
drinking women.;
Potier, R. (2014). Narcissism on social networks. En A. Besser (Ed.), Handbook of the
psychology of narcissism: Diverse perspectives. (pp. 249-258). Hauppauge, NY: Nova
Science Publishers. (2015-12815-012).
Social networks such as Facebook have seen an increasing amount of use. This use brings
out the best and the worst in Internet users and, therefore, merits particular and specific
attention that takes into account the virtual character of these experiences. The concept
of the narcissism of small differences is altogether pertinent when it comes to thinking
about what is played out on these social networks. It allows us to grasp the narcissistic
stakes of the surface a-conflictuality that appears to be borne out by this type of
interface. The staging of the self in these spaces also joins up with a concern for
visibility that is illustrated by the viral metaphor borrowed from the field of marketing.
Under the clinical spotlight, this relation to the image of the self reveals a very
particular interplay of the gaze. We examined the concept of narcissism in the context
of the novelty that is typified by relational modalities that are linked to the virtual
dimension. Psychoanalysis can thus seize upon the pluri-disciplinary dialogue centered
on Facebook, in order to articulate it, using clinical cases, with the psychical issues
mobilized in the context of the virtual as it is experienced on a day-to-day basis.

Rizzo, A., Villa, L. D., & Crisi, A. (2015). Can the Problematic Internet Use evolve in a pre-
psychotic state? A single case study with the Wartegg. Computers in Human Behavior,
51(Pt A), 532-538. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.04.063
This study consists in a single case report. A 17 year old boy was hospitalized for 80 days at
the Psychiatric Service of Diagnosis and Treatment (SPDC), due to his overwhelming
anxiety of going mad. From the anamnesis results that around the age of 13 begun a
slow but progressive retirement in the virtual world. For his psychological evaluation,
during hospitalization, were used: the Social Adaptation Self-evaluation Scale (SASS),
the Scale for rapid dimensional assessment (SVARAD), the Base-Symptom
Questionnaire (FBF), the Kleinian Psychoanalytic Diagnostic Scale (KPDS) and the
Wartegg projective method, analyzed with the Crisi’s Wartegg System (CWS). The
analysis of the questionnaires and the psychological interpretations – in the light of the
individual clinical history – suggest that the withdrawal in cyber dependence could have
represent a first sign of the pre-psychotic state. The implications for clinical practice and
research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Rosenblum, A. (2016). Warped Reality. Psychology Today, 49(5), 35-39. Recuperado de
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=pbh&AN=117640191&site=ehost-live
This article discusses violent video games like the «Call of Duty» and their implications for
players’ mental health. Mentioned are studies on violent video games and virtual reality
(VR) from Victor Strasburger, a professor of pediatrics at the University of New
Mexiuco, Brad Bushman, a Ohio State University psychologist and colleagues, and
Jeremy Bailenson, a cognitive psychologist at the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at
Stanford University.Mentioned are VR devices like Oculus Rift headset.

Rowe, L. S., Jouriles, E. N., & McDonald, R. (2015). Reducing sexual victimization among
adolescent girls: A randomized controlled pilot trial of My Voice, My Choice. Behavior
Therapy, 46(3), 315-327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2014.11.003
Despite extensive efforts to develop and implement programs to prevent sexual violence, few
programs have empirically-demonstrated efficacy. The primary exceptions are programs
that emphasize risk-reduction skills; yet even these programs are not consistently
effective. This study seeks to add to the literature by evaluating the effects of My Voice,
My Choice (MVMC), a 90-minute assertive resistance training program that emphasizes
skill practice in an immersive virtual environment (IVE). We hypothesized that MVMC
would reduce male-to-female sexual victimization among adolescent girls over a 3-
month follow-up period. We also examined whether these results would generalize to
other forms of male-to-female relationship violence and to girls’ psychological distress.
Eighty-three female students from an urban public high school were randomized to
MVMC (n =47) or to a wait-list control condition (n =36); 78 provided data over the 3-
month follow-up period. Participants assigned to MVMC were less likely than control
participants to report sexual victimization during the follow-up period. Our results also
suggest that MVMC reduced risk for psychological victimization and for psychological
distress among participants with greater prior victimization at baseline. The promising
results of this pilot trial suggest that MVMC may help girls evade male-to-female
relationship violence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
Sargent, K. S., Jouriles, E. N., Chmielewski, M., & McDonald, R. (2018). Using virtual
reality to create an observational assessment of adolescent resistance to antisocial peer
pressure. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2018.1504296
Resistance to antisocial peer pressure consistently relates to adolescent adjustment. However,
it is typically measured via a mono-method, self-report approach. The current study
introduces a virtual reality (VR) protocol to create an observational measure of
adolescents’ responses to peer pressure to engage in antisocial activities. Data on the
reliability and validity of the assessment procedure are presented. Participants (N = 264,
46% male, Mage = 18.17 years, 81% White) provided self-reports of susceptibility to
antisocial peer pressure, antisocial behavior, dating violence perpetration, and
depressive symptoms. Participants also engaged in 9 VR simulations, 4 of which
involved antisocial peer pressure. Participant behavior in the VR simulations was coded
for resistance to antisocial peer pressure. Approximately half the sample repeated the
VR simulations at a 2-month follow-up. Resistance to antisocial peer pressure in 4 VR
simulations evidenced item/simulation-level convergent validity with one another and
discriminant validity against scores in 5 VR bystander behavior simulations. When
scores from the 4 antisocial peer pressure VR simulations were summed into a total
scale score, they demonstrated acceptable internal consistency, 2-month test–retest
correlations, convergent validity with self-reports of susceptibility to antisocial peer
pressure, and criterion validity with self-reports of antisocial behavior and dating
violence perpetration. Associations with antisocial behavior and dating violence
perpetration held after accounting for self-reports of susceptibility to antisocial peer
pressure and participant gender. Results provide evidence that VR simulations may
offer a psychometrically sound addition to self-report measures as a method for
assessing responses to antisocial peer pressure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018

Schneider, E., & Betrus, A. (2016). User delinquency and instructional conditions:
Undesirable behaviour in open virtual worlds. Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds,
8(3), 265-278. https://doi.org/10.1386/jgvw.8.3.265_1
Virtual environments are becoming an increasingly common tool for instructional designers,
but the creative freedom of these digital worlds can come with an increased risk of
deviant behaviour from users. The scenarios at the centre of this research explore the
impact different instructional conditions have on unwanted virtual behaviour.
Participants in these scenarios were asked to play modified versions of the game Grand
Theft Auto 3 (Rockstar Games, 2001) under one of three different instructional
conditions. The goal was to measure which instructional conditions had the greatest
impact on player behaviour, with an emphasis on investigating which set of conditions
resulted in the least amount of deviancy in the experiment’s play period. Deviancy was
measured through quantifying negative actions, such as killing computer controlled
characters in the virtual space and reckless driving. The final results show that the
instructional conditions given to users can have a major impact on behaviour, and thus
have a major impact on potential learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA,
all rights reserved)
Secco, L., Letourneau, N., & Collins, E. (2016). ‘My eyes were open’: Awakened maternal
identity and leaving violent relationships for the infant/children. Journal of Family
Violence, 31(5), 639-645. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-016-9799-x
A qualitative secondary analysis explored stories of mothers (n = 49) who left violent
relationships (VRs) through a lens of maternal identity. Constant comparative method
identified a theory of Awakened Maternal Identity (AMI) and Leaving VR for the
Infant/Children. Mothers described how the VR diminished their maternal identity
(DMI). Partners controlled the VR though unrealistic infant care expectations, criticisms
of infant care, harsh parenting, and control over mothering decisions. DMI lowered the
mother’s capacity to provide emotionally nurturing infant care. Over time, mothers
experienced AMI- as their ‘eyes were opened’ they experienced a stronger sense of
mothering responsibility, focused more on the infants and children, and eventually
prioritized their relationship with the infants and children over the partner. AMI seemed
a turning point that led to leaving the VR for the infants/children. Recommendations
offered for professionals to foster AMI as potential means to initiate the leaving VRs.
Seinfeld, S., Arroyo-Palacios, J., Iruretagoyena, G., Hortensius, R., Zapata, L. E., Borland,
D., … Sanchez-Vives, M. V. (2018). Offenders become the victim in virtual reality:
Impact of changing perspective in domestic violence. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 2692-
2692. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-19987-7
The role of empathy and perspective-taking in preventing aggressive behaviors has been
highlighted in several theoretical models. In this study, we used immersive virtual
reality to induce a full body ownership illusion that allows offenders to be in the body
of a victim of domestic abuse. A group of male domestic violence offenders and a
control group without a history of violence experienced a virtual scene of abuse in first-
person perspective. During the virtual encounter, the participants’ real bodies were
replaced with a life-sized virtual female body that moved synchronously with their own
real movements. Participants’ emotion recognition skills were assessed before and after
the virtual experience. Our results revealed that offenders have a significantly lower
ability to recognize fear in female faces compared to controls, with a bias towards
classifying fearful faces as happy. After being embodied in a female victim, offenders
improved their ability to recognize fearful female faces and reduced their bias towards
recognizing fearful faces as happy. For the first time, we demonstrate that changing the
perspective of an aggressive population through immersive virtual reality can modify
socio-perceptual processes such as emotion recognition, thought to underlie this specific
form of aggressive behaviors.;
Shin, Y.-B., Kim, J.-J., Kim, M.-K., Kyeong, S., Jung, Y. H., Eom, H., & Kim, E. (2018).
Development of an effective virtual environment in eliciting craving in adolescents and
young adults with internet gaming disorder. PLoS ONE, 13(4). (2018-19532-001).
Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is a new disorder that warrants further investigation, as
recently noted in the research criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, Fifth Edition. Offering controlled environments that increase cue-induced
craving, virtual reality cue-exposure therapy has been shown to be effective for some
addiction disorders. To assess the feasibility of virtual reality for patients with IGD, this
study aimed to develop virtual environments that represent risk situations for inducing
craving, and assess the effect of virtual reality in cue reactivity. A total of 64 male
adolescents and young adults (34 with IGD and 30 without) were recruited for
participation. We developed a virtual internet café environment and the participants
were exposed to four different tasks. As the primary feasibility outcome, cravings were
measured with a visual analogue scale measuring current urge to play a game after
exposure to each task. The virtual internet cafeé induced significantly greater cravings
in patients with IGD compared to controls. Additionally, patients exhibited a
significantly higher acceptance rate of an avatar’s invitation to play a game together
than that of controls. In IGD, craving response to the tasks was positively associated
with the symptom severity score as measured by Young’s Internet Addiction Test.
These findings reveal that virtual reality laden with complex game-related cues could
evoke game craving in patients with IGD and could be used in the treatment of IGD as a
cue-exposure therapy tool for eliciting craving. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019
Smeijers, D., & Koole, S. L. (2019). Testing the Effects of a Virtual Reality Game for
Aggressive Impulse Management (VR-GAIME): Study Protocol. Frontiers In
Psychiatry, 10, 83-83. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00083
Background: Prior laboratory findings indicate that training avoidance movements to angry
faces may lower anger and aggression among healthy participants, especially those high
in trait anger. To enrich this training and make it more suitable for clinical applications,
it has been developed into a Virtual Reality Game for Aggressive Impulse Management
(VR-GAIME). Methods: The proposed study will examine the effects of this training in
a randomized controlled trial among forensic psychiatric outpatients with aggression
regulation problems (N = 60). In addition to the aggression replacement training,
participants will play either the VR-GAIME or a control game. Anger will be assessed
using self-report. Aggressive impulses will be measured via self-report, a validated
laboratory paradigm, and rated by clinicians. Discussion: The authors hypothesize that
the combination of the VR-GAIME and regular aggression treatment will be more
successful in reducing aggressive behavior. One of the strengths of the proposed study
is that it is the first to examine the effects of a motivational intervention in a clinical
sample characterized by problems in regulating anger and aggression. Another strength
of the proposed study is that the VR-GAIME will be implemented as a multi-session
intervention. Additionally, the VR-GAIME applies, for the first time, serious gaming
and virtual reality on an avoidance motivation intervention. If positive results are found,
the VR-GAIME may be systematically deployed in forensic psychiatric settings. Trial
registration: The trial is registered with The Netherlands National Trial Register,
number: NTR6986.;
Smith, M. J., Bell, M. D., Wright, M. A., Humm, L. B., Olsen, D., & Fleming, M. F. (2016).
Virtual reality job interview training and 6-month employment outcomes for individuals
with substance use disorders seeking employment. Journal of Vocational
Rehabilitation, 44(3), 323-332. https://doi.org/10.3233/JVR-160802
Background: Individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) have low employment rates
and job interviewing is a critical barrier to employment for them. Virtual reality training
is efficacious at improving interview skills and vocational outcomes for several clinical
populations. Objective: This study evaluated the acceptability and efficacy of virtual
reality job interview training (VR-JIT) at improving interview skills and vocational
outcomes among individuals with SUDs via a small randomized controlled trial (n = 14
VR-JIT trainees, n = 11 treatment-as-usual (TAU) controls). Methods: Trainees
completed up to 10 hours of virtual interviews, while controls received services as
usual. Primary outcome measures included two pre-test and two post-test video-
recorded role-play interviews and vocational outcomes at six-month follow-up. Results:
Trainees reported that the intervention was easy-to-use and helped prepared them for
future interviews. While co-varying for pre-test role-play performance, trainees had
higher post-test role-play scores than controls at the trend level (p < 0.10). At 6-month
follow-up, trainees were more likely than controls to attain a competitive position
(78.6% vs. 44.4%, p < 0.05, respectively). Trainees had greater odds of attaining a
competitive position by 6 month follow-up compared to controls (OR: 5.67, p < 0.05).
VR-JIT participation was associated with fewer weeks searching for a position (r = –
0.36, p < 0.05). Conclusion: There is preliminary evidence that VR-JIT is acceptable to
trainees with SUDs. Moreover, VR-JIT led to better vocational outcomes with trainees
having greater odds of attaining a competitive position by 6-month follow-up. Future

studies could evaluate the effectiveness of VR-JIT within community-based services.
Steele, V. R., Maurer, J. M., Bernat, E. M., Calhoun, V. D., & Kiehl, K. A. (2016). Error-
related processing in adult males with elevated psychopathic traits. Personality
Disorders, 7(1), 80-90. https://doi.org/10.1037/per0000143
Psychopathy is a serious personality disorder characterized by dysfunctional affective and
behavioral symptoms. In incarcerated populations, elevated psychopathic traits have
been linked to increased rates of violent recidivism. Cognitive processes related to error
processing have been shown to differentiate individuals with high and low psychopathic
traits and may contribute to poor decision making that increases the risk of recidivism.
Error processing abnormalities related to psychopathy may be attributable to error-
monitoring (error detection) or posterror processing (error evaluation). A recent
«bottleneck» theory predicts deficiencies in posterror processing in individuals with
high psychopathic traits. In the current study, incarcerated males (n = 93) performed a
Go/NoGo response inhibition task while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded.
Classic time-domain windowed component and principal component analyses were
used to measure error-monitoring (as measured with the error-related negativity
[ERN/Ne]) and posterror processing (as measured with the error positivity [Pe]).
Psychopathic traits were assessed using Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-
R). PCL-R Total score, Factor 1 (interpersonal-affective traits), and Facet 3 (lifestyle
traits) scores were positively related to posterror processes (i.e., increased Pe amplitude)
but unrelated to error-monitoring processes (i.e., ERN/Ne). These results support the
attentional bottleneck theory and further describe deficiencies related to elevated
psychopathic traits that could be beneficial for new treatment strategies for
psychopathy.; (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Steele, V. R., Rao, V., Calhoun, V. D., & Kiehl, K. A. (2017). Machine learning of structural
magnetic resonance imaging predicts psychopathic traits in adolescent offenders.
Neuroimage, 145(Pt B), 265-273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.12.013
Classification models are becoming useful tools for finding patterns in neuroimaging data
sets that are not observable to the naked eye. Many of these models are applied to
discriminating clinical groups such as schizophrenic patients from healthy controls or
from patients with bipolar disorder. A more nuanced model might be to discriminate
between levels of personality traits. Here, as a proof of concept, we take an initial step
toward developing prediction models to differentiate individuals based on a personality
disorder: psychopathy. We included three groups of adolescent participants:
incarcerated youth with elevated psychopathic traits (i.e., callous and unemotional traits
and conduct disordered traits; n=71), incarcerated youth with low psychopathic traits
(n=72), and non-incarcerated youth as healthy controls (n=21). Support vector machine
(SVM) learning models were developed to separate these groups using an out-of-sample
cross-validation method on voxel-based morphometry (VBM) data. Regions of interest
from the paralimbic system, identified in an independent forensic sample, were
successful in differentiating youth groups. Models seeking to classify incarcerated
individuals to have high or low psychopathic traits achieved 69.23% overall accuracy.
As expected, accuracy increased in models differentiating healthy controls from
individuals with high psychopathic traits (82.61%) and low psychopathic traits
(80.65%). Here we have laid the foundation for using neural correlates of personality
traits to identify group membership within and beyond psychopathy. This is only the
first step, of many, toward prediction models using neural measures as a proxy for
personality traits. As these methods are improved, prediction models with neural
measures of personality traits could have far-reaching impact on diagnosis, treatment,
and prediction of future behavior.; Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Verplaetse, J., & De Smet, D. (2016a). Mental beliefs about blood, and not its smell, affect
presence in a violent computer game. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 928-937.
Presence in virtual reality—the feeling that one is inside mediated reality—has fascinated
academics in the field of virtual reality from its onset. While conceptual analyses and
empirical research unequivocally stressed the importance of immersion through sensory
input, agent-related aspects such as mental beliefs received less attention. We are the
first to examine the separate and combined effects of being exposed to the smell of a
particular stimulus and/or having a representation of this stimulus in mind. Blood was
considered to be interesting to work with, because of widespread folk ideas about its
capacity to induce aggression in violent contexts. Using a violent computer game in a
between-subjects design, male subjects were tested for the immersive impact of blood,
first as an olfactory cue, and second as a mental belief, i.e. the true or false belief that
one is smelling ‘blood’. Lower skin conductance and game scores showed that ‘blood’
served as a distractor hindering the subject’s spontaneous engagement. Subjects higher
in dispositional aggressiveness, however, got more immersed during the ‘blood’ game
rounds, by displaying more combativeness. We discuss our results in light of the
undervalued importance of subjective realism in research on presence, and explain the
relevance of this work for applications in virtual training in the military and for clinical
intervention in combat-related PTSD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all
rights reserved)
Verplaetse, J., & De Smet, D. (2016b). Mental beliefs about blood, and not its smell, affect
presence in a violent computer game. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 928-937.
Presence in virtual reality—the feeling that one is inside mediated reality—has fascinated
academics in the field of virtual reality from its onset. While conceptual analyses and
empirical research unequivocally stressed the importance of immersion through sensory
input, agent-related aspects such as mental beliefs received less attention. We are the
first to examine the separate and combined effects of being exposed to the smell of a
particular stimulus and/or having a representation of this stimulus in mind. Blood was
considered to be interesting to work with, because of widespread folk ideas about its
capacity to induce aggression in violent contexts. Using a violent computer game in a
between-subjects design, male subjects were tested for the immersive impact of blood,
first as an olfactory cue, and second as a mental belief, i.e. the true or false belief that
one is smelling ‘blood’. Lower skin conductance and game scores showed that ‘blood’
served as a distractor hindering the subject’s spontaneous engagement. Subjects higher
in dispositional aggressiveness, however, got more immersed during the ‘blood’ game
rounds, by displaying more combativeness. We discuss our results in light of the
undervalued importance of subjective realism in research on presence, and explain the
relevance of this work for applications in virtual training in the military and for clinical
intervention in combat-related PTSD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all
rights reserved)
Vlachopoulou, X. (2018). Addiction au virtuel: L’inquiétante étrangeté, le pharmakon et le
corps = Addiction to virtual reality: The uncanny, the pharmakon and the body.
L’Évolution Psychiatrique, 83(1), 67-76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evopsy.2017.10.002

Aims: There are numerous concerns about the increasing use of screens: do screens isolate
us, make us violent, or addicted? The aim of this paper is to propose sound theoretical
foundations and to open up reflection on the often disproportionate concerns about the
use of technical and scientific virtual objects. Methodology: We base our apprehension
of virtual reality and its uses on the valuable contributions of philosophy and
psychoanalysis. We propose a return to the notions of the uncanny and the pharmakon,
and we also look at the place of tools in the history of humanity. The notion of addiction
is then discussed, and a review of the contributions of contemporary authors to the
literature is proposed. Results: The notions of the uncanny and the pharmakon highlight
an essential aspect in the misunderstandings around the psychopathology of virtual
reality: it is often apprehended without taking into account the personal involvement of
the clinician via his own approach to virtual realities. These new digital objects are
envisaged as tools with a place in the history of technology, and also as cultural objects.
The psychopathological issue is apprehended by defining its contours, to avoid the
approximations that often characterise the manner in which it is approached. The body
emerges as an essential axis in the way the psychopathology of virtual reality is
apprehended, in particular in the asceticism that can be seen in the avoidance of offline
contact. Discussion: The theoretical proposals made here provide new insight into the
notion of addiction, which is often misused, creating epistemological confusion. The
psychopathologies of virtual reality should be considered with caution, taking into
consideration commonplace reliance on tools, the uncanny and the balance between
remedy and poison in the pharmakon. Conclusion: This article explores addiction to
virtual worlds through the prism of psychoanalysis, also including other disciplines and
approaches via the literature review on the issue. It provides to the reader with the
possibility of envisaging virtual reality while at the same time disengaging himself from
technophobic preconceptions on this subject. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018
Weisel, A. (2015). Virtual reality and the psyche Some psychoanalytic approaches to media
addiction. The Journal of Analytical Psychology, 60(2), 198-219.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5922.12144
This paper explores the ramifications of excessive use of media on personality development,
the development of symbolic and thinking functions and on psychic reality. In doing so,
the questions of whether there are specific media objects possessing an intrinsic
symbolic quality, and which attachments in the inner world of a child/adolescent can be
mobilized or destroyed are discussed. By selecting specific material, computer gamers
use their game to activate the field of a personal psychic reality. Hereby, they attempt
some kind of self‐healing. However, after leaving the game, conflicts and traumata re‐
enacted but unresolved in the game disappear from their temporary representation
without generating any resonance in the gamer’s psychic experience. Consequently,
although states of mind and affects are activated in the computer game, their processing
and integration fail; the game results in a compulsive repetition. The construction and
consolidation of retrievable maturation and structural development, the representation of
the unrepresentable, succeed in the context of the triangulating analytic relationship,
initially through a jointly performed symbolic and narrative re‐experience or the
recreation of the game. Theoretical considerations are illustrated by means of clinical
vignettes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Yoon, G., & Vargas, P. T. (2014). Know thy avatar: The unintended effect of virtual-self
representation on behavior. Psychological Science, 25(4), 1043-1045.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613519271
Virtual environments enable people to experience extraordinary identities or circumstances.
People can take on superhero or super-villain roles using digital avatars in virtual space.
By acting as these avatars, individuals may learn new behaviors and model their own,
real-life behaviors after them (Bandura, 1977; Bem, 1972). The virtual environment is,
thus, a vehicle for observation, imitation, and modeling; players’ avatars may fuel these
processes. Recent empirical research confirms that the behavior of players’ avatars can
affect players’ self-concepts, cognitions, and feelings (Gentile et al., 2009; Greitemeyer
& Osswald, 2010). Thus, concepts related to avatar behaviors in general (e.g., fighting
against evil) or to particular avatars (e.g., Superman) may affect subsequent behavior
(e.g., good deeds). Identification with an avatar is correlated with avatar-consistent
behavior in the real world (Rosenberg, Baughman, & Bailenson, 2013). In the
experiments reported here, we investigated whether certain types of avatars and avatars’
behaviors could promote pro- or antisocial actions in everyday behavior. (PsycINFO
You, S., Kim, E., & Lee, D. (2017). Virtually real: Exploring avatar identification in game
addiction among massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) players.
Games and Culture: A Journal of Interactive Media, 12(1), 56-71.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412015581087
Research interest has increasingly focused on the psychosocial factors related to online game
addiction. This study examines the relationship of various psychosocial variables to
online game addiction, and the mediation effect of avatar identification on the
relationship. Questionnaires assessing self-esteem, depression, social skills, game
addiction, and avatar identification were completed by 163 third-year middle school
students. Correlation and structural equation modeling analyses were conducted. Results
indicated (a) that self-esteem and social skills had significant negative correlations with
game addiction, while depression had a significant positive correlation with game
addiction, (b) that depression had an indirect effect on game addiction via avatar
identification, and (c) that social skills had both indirect (via avatar identification) and
direct effects on game addiction. Implications and future directions are discussed.
Yücel, M., Carter, A., Allen, A. R., Balleine, B., Clark, L., Dowling, N. A., … Hall, W.
(2017). Neuroscience in gambling policy and treatment: An interdisciplinary
perspective. The Lancet Psychiatry, 4(6), 501-506. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-
0366(16)30369-8
Neuroscientific explanations of gambling disorder can help people make sense of their
experiences and guide the development of psychosocial interventions. However, the
societal perceptions and implications of these explanations are not always clear or
helpful. Two workshops in 2013 and 2014 brought together multidisciplinary
researchers aiming to improve the clinical and policy-related effects of neuroscience
research on gambling. The workshops revealed that neuroscience can be used to
improve identification of the dangers of products used in gambling. Additionally, there
was optimism associated with the diagnostic and prognostic uses of neuroscience in
problem gambling and the provision of novel tools (eg, virtual reality) to assess the
effectiveness of new policy interventions before their implementation. Other messages
from these workshops were that neuroscientific models of decision making could
provide a strong rationale for precommitment strategies and that interdisciplinary
collaborations are needed to reduce the harms of gambling. (PsycINFO Database
Zeeb, F. D., Li, Z., Fisher, D. C., Zack, M. H., & Fletcher, P. J. (2017). Uncertainty exposure
causes behavioural sensitization and increases risky decision-making in male rats:

Toward modelling gambling disorder. Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience, 42(6),
404-413. https://doi.org/10.1503/jpn.170003
Background: An animal model of gambling disorder, previously known as pathological
gambling, could advance our understanding of the disorder and help with treatment
development. We hypothesized that repeated exposure to uncertainty during gambling
induces behavioural and dopamine (DA) sensitization—similar to chronic exposure to
drugs of abuse. Uncertainty exposure (UE) may also increase risky decision-making in
an animal model of gambling disorder. Methods: Male Sprague Dawley rats received 56
UE sessions, during which animals responded for saccharin according to an
unpredictable, variable ratio schedule of reinforcement (VR group). Control animals
responded on a predictable, fixed ratio schedule (FR group). Rats yoked to receive
unpredictable reward were also included (Y group). Animals were then tested on the Rat
Gambling Task (rGT), an analogue of the Iowa Gambling Task, to measure decision-
making. Results: Compared with the FR group, the VR and Y groups experienced a
greater locomotor response following administration of amphetamine. On the rGT, the
FR and Y groups preferred the advantageous options over the risky, disadvantageous
options throughout testing (40 sessions). However, rats in the VR group did not have a
significant preference for the advantageous options during sessions 20–40.
Amphetamine had a small, but significant, effect on decision-making only in the VR
group. After rGT testing, only the VR group showed greater hyperactivity following
administration of amphetamine compared with the FR group. Limitations: Reward
uncertainty was the only gambling feature modelled. Conclusion: Actively responding
for uncertain reward likely sensitized the DA system and impaired the ability to make
optimal decisions, modelling some aspects of gambling disorder. (PsycINFO Database

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Ahamba, G., Roberts, D., & Eachus, P. (2017).

Triggering and measuring social inhibitory

response in humans immersed in interactions with virtual humans. Annual Review of

CyberTherapy and Telemedicine, 15, 185-188. (2018-14248-031).

inhibitory response to anti-social stimuli within the prefrontal cortex. Justification,

demonstrating that neural inhibitory responses can be measured within an immersive

Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) and virtual reality head-mounted display.

Haemodynamic changes will be measured in healthy participants and subsequently,

response that would normally be inhibited. Disinhibition is an aspect of social response

exaggerated by several deficits of mind, including dementia, autism and Tourette’s

individual behaviors in massively multiplayer online games. En K. Lakkaraju, G.

Sukthankar, & R. T. Wigand (Eds.), Social interactions in virtual worlds: An

interdisciplinary perspective. (pp. 43-61). https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316422823.003

This chapter provides a brief description on understanding aggressive and nonaggressive

individual behaviors in massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs). It demonstrates

understanding of how traits translate to behavior in virtual worlds. Aggression is a

Entertainment. To determine the predictors of aggressive individuals, the chapter uses

machine learning classification algorithms. The goal is to understand how behavior in

virtual worlds is related to already existing aggressive personalities. The results

Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)

Psychopathy is a personality disorder accompanied by abnormalities in emotional processing

and attention. Recent theoretical applications of network-based models of cognition

significant body of work has examined psychopathy-related abnormalities in simple

Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). Event-related contrasts demonstrated that the

largest psychopathy-related effects were apparent between the frequent standard

stimulus condition and a task-off, implicit baseline. Negative correlations with

interpersonal-affective dimensions (Factor 1) of the PCL-R were apparent in regions

psychopathy describing impaired integration across functional networks. They

additionally corroborate reports which have implicated failures of efficient transition

between default mode and task-positive networks. Finally, they demonstrate a

neurophysiological basis for abnormal mobilization of attention and reduced

high psychopathic traits.;

scores. Psychophysiology, 52(9), 1194-1204. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12441

Psychopathy is a disorder accompanied by cognitive deficits including abnormalities in

produced some inconsistent results. We examined psychopathy-related differences in

ERPs during an auditory oddball task in a sample of incarcerated adult males. We

Features of psychopathy were associated with increased target N1 amplitude (facets 1,

associations. Furthermore, attenuated slow wave during standards may be a novel

marker for psychopaths’ abnormalities in attention.; © 2015 Society for

cyber-harassment in a virtual world. Journal of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods,

and Applications, 28(4), 161-174. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000152

The present study explored the influence of avatar appearance on cyber-harassment in a

were related to the experience of sex- and non-sex-related harassment. An international

sexualization was related to experiences of cyber-harassment for female avatars. The

Web-based communication applications that utilize avatars. (PsycINFO Database

Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)

Deviant Behavior, 39(4), 417-420. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2017.1407094

the use of visual scenarios to explore guardian decision-making about intervening in

to understand the iconography of punishment. Authors conclude with a Coda of a single

of crime and deviance. In this case, it is an image of the location of a homicide in

Casebier, M. W. (2015). Exploring leadership styles involved in preventing deviant

interaction between globalization and technological advances in communication and

members potentially impacted by leadership style resulting in weakened project

financial performance and reduced levels of customer satisfaction. Workplace deviance

impacts of deviance on organizations combined with nearly 75% of all employees

theory’s combinations of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership

organizational deviance in virtual teams. This qualitative phenomenological study

convenience and snowball methods. The lived experiences of participants pertaining to

the impacts of leadership behaviors on deviance were captured by semi-structured in-

of deviance in virtual teams, impacts and extent of deviance on virtual team

sustainability, validity of full range leadership theory as a framework for leadership

style combinations used in virtual teams, effects of leadership style combinations on

statistical quantification of the detailed relationships revealed in this investigation.