Thoughts on Sex: What Does Cognitive Psychology Have to Offer Human Sexuality Research? Seminar

Although serious scientific inquiry into human sexual behaviour started more than 70 years ago, much of what we know is based on self-report methodology. Given that one's sexual interests and behaviours can be sensitive and private topics, the validity of the data obtained in these types of studies is always somewhat of a concern. Cognitive psychology and neuropsychology methodologies can circumvent the drawbacks of self-report and allow us access to information about people's attention, cognitions, memories, and information processing related to their sexual interests, behaviours, and decision-making. In this presentation, I will discuss my work in this area related to visual attention to sexual information-and how this varies by presence/absence of sexual dysfunction and sexual orientation-and cognitive aspects of decision-making about sex.