Validation of the Orgasm Rating Scale in Context of Sexual Relationships of Gay and Lesbian Adults

Currently, no validated instrument exists for assessing the subjective experience of orgasm in the gay population. The Orgasm Rating Scale (ORS), previously validated in the heterosexual population, comprises four dimensions: Affective, Sensory, Intimacy, and Rewards. This study validated it for sexual relationships in the gay population by obtaining its factorial invariance by sexual orientation and sex, its internal consistency reliability, and evidence of validity in its relationship with other variables. We assessed 1600 cisgender Spanish adults–heterosexuals, gays, and lesbians–divided into 4, sex-based groups of 400 each, according to the Kinsey scale scores. Participants reported recent experiences of orgasm in the context of sexual relationships and responded to the ORS and other scales assessing attitude toward sexual fantasies and sexual functioning. The ORS structure showed a strict multigroup-level invariance by sexual orientation and sex, confirming its four-dimensional structure. The subjective orgasm intensity was associated with a positive attitude toward sexual fantasies and sexual functioning. Scores obtained on the Affective, Intimacy, and Rewards dimensions confirmed the ability to discriminate between gay people with and without orgasmic difficulties. The ORS’s Spanish version presents good psychometric properties as a validated scale to evaluate the subjective experience of orgasm in the gay population.

Characterizing Daily-Life Social Interactions in Adolescents and Young Adults with Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Comparison Between Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders and 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome

Social impairments are common features of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) allowed access to daily-life information in order to explore the phenomenology of social interactions. 32 individuals with 22q11DS, 26 individuals with ASD and 44 typically developing peers (TD) aged 12–30 were assessed during 6 days 8 times a day using a mobile app. Participants with 22q11DS and ASD did not spend more time alone but showed distinct implication in the social sphere than TD. Distinct profiles emerged between the two conditions regarding the subjective experience of aloneness and the subjective experience of social interactions. This study highlights distinct social functioning profiles in daily-life in 22q11DS and ASD that points towards different therapeutic targets.

Generating High-Quality Panorama by View Synthesis Based on Optical Flow Estimation

Generating high-quality panorama is a key element in promoting the development of VR content. The panoramas generated by the traditional image stitching algorithm have some limitations, such as artifacts and irregular shapes. We consider solving this problem from the perspective of view synthesis. We propose a view synthesis approach based on optical flow to generate a high-quality omnidirectional panorama. In the first stage, we present a novel optical flow estimation algorithm to establish a dense correspondence between the overlapping areas of the left and right views. The result obtained can be approximated as the parallax of the scene. In the second stage, the reconstructed version of the left and the right views is generated by warping the pixels under the guidance of optical flow, and the alpha blending algorithm is used to synthesize the final novel view. Experimental results demonstrate that the subjective experience obtained by our approach is better than the comparison algorithm without cracks or artifacts. Besides the commonly used image quality assessment PSNR and SSIM, we also calculate MP-PSNR, which can provide accurate high-quality predictions for synthesized views. Our approach can achieve an improvement of about 1 dB in MP-PSNR and PSNR and 25% in SSIM, respectively.

Auxiliary Teaching of Badminton Basic Movements Based on Wireless Network Communication and Kinect

Badminton is a sport with relatively delicate and complicated technical movements, which is widely welcomed in China. In order to study the specific impact of the sports game teaching method and traditional teaching method on the three aspects of the badminton learning technology mastery level, interest level, and subjective experience, with the reference of the wireless network to the students and Kinect on the students, in a three-month group teaching of students without foundation in a medical school in this city, the badminton action is broken down and the doubling of the badminton action is detected by WiFi and Kinect, to compare the traditional pedagogy and the method with this paper before and the lesson and to draw out conclusions. The results of the study found that badminton-assisted teaching based on wireless network communication and Kinect can achieve good results. The learning efficiency of students is significantly higher than that of traditional teaching methods, and badminton teaching based on wireless network communication and Kinect can effectively improve students’ interest in learning, 24% higher than the traditional method. This shows that wireless network communication and Kinect technology can play an important role in badminton teaching.

Effect of the subjective intensity of fatigue and interoception on perceptual regulation and performance during sustained physical activity

Background The subjective experience of fatigue impairs an individual’s ability to sustain physical endurance performance. However, precise understanding of the specific role perceived fatigue plays in the central regulation of performance remains unclear. Here, we examined whether the subjective intensity of a perceived state of fatigue, pre-induced through prior upper body activity, differentially impacted performance and altered perceived effort and affect experienced during a sustained, isometric contraction in lower body. We also explored whether (cardiac) interoception predicted the intensity of experienced perceptual and affective responses and moderated the relationships between constructs during physical activity. Methods Using a repeated-measures study design, thirty male participants completed three experimental conditions, with the intensity of a pre-induced state of fatigue manipulated to evoke moderate (MOD), severe (SEV) and minimal (control; CON) intensity of perceptions prior to performance of the sustained contraction. Results Performance of the sustained contraction was significantly impaired under a perceived state of fatigue, with reductions of 10% and 14% observed in the MOD and SEV conditions, respectively. Performance impairment was accompanied by greater perceived effort and more negative affective valence reported during the contraction. However, effects were limited to comparisons to CON, with no difference evident between the two experimental trials (i.e. MOD vs. SEV). Individuals’ awareness of their accuracy in judging resting heartbeats was shown to predict the subjective intensity of fatigue experienced during the endurance task. However, interoception did not moderate the relationships evident between fatigue and both perceived effort and affective valence. Conclusions A perceived state of fatigue limits endurance performance, influencing both how effortful activity is perceived to be and the affective experience of activity. Though awareness of interoceptive representations of bodily states may be important to the subjective experience of fatigue, interoception does not modulate the relationships between perceived fatigue and other perceptual (i.e. effort) and affective constructs.

Character Customization With Cosmetic Microtransactions in Games: Subjective Experience and Objective Performance

Free games that are monetized by selling virtual items, such as cosmetic microtransactions for one’s avatar, seem to offer a better gaming experience to paying players. To experimentally explore this phenomenon, the effects of character customization with cosmetic microtransactions on objective and self-estimated player performance, subjective identification with the avatar, fun and the players’ perceived competence were examined in the game League of Legends. This study introduces a new laboratory-based, experimental task to objectively measure within-game player performance. Each participant performed this game-based task in two different conditions: With a character that was customized using a provided set of cosmetic microtransactions and with a default character. Results showed that customization increased subjective identification with the player character. However, objective performance measures were unaffected by this manipulation although the novel experimental approach provided reliable performance results. Additionally, identification was positively related to perceived competence, fun, and self-estimated performance. Implications for the design of cosmetic microtransactions and their influence on competitive gaming are discussed.

The rosy future paradox: Positive future thinking without task relevance enhances negative biases and anxiety for aversive events

Expectations have an important role in guiding behavior and the interpretation of novel information, but can contain negative biases such as is the case in anxiety disorders. Positive future thinking may provide an accessible way to attenuate these negatively biases. However, much is still unclear about the optimal form of such positive interventions, and it is unknown if the effects go beyond subjective experience. Here, we used a positive future thinking intervention to adapt the way a stressful event is experienced. Participants imagined either task-relevant (N = 21) or irrelevant (N = 21) positive future events before being subjected to the Trier Social Stress Task, or did not receive the intervention (N= 20). We recorded resting state EEG during the anticipation and recovery phases of the TSST to assess intervention and trait anxiety related differences in the level of frontal delta-beta coupling, which is considered a neurobiological substrate of emotion regulation. Results show that the intervention reduces event-related stress and anxiety, and increases social fixation behavior and task performance, but only if future thinking is task relevant. Paradoxically, task-irrelevant positive future thoughts enhance negative perceptual biases and stress reactivity. This increase in stress reactivity in the task-irrelevant group was corroborated by the elevated levels frontal delta-beta coupling during event anticipation, especially for those with high trait anxiety. This suggests an increased demand for emotion regulation following the task-irrelevant intervention, possibly due to the contextual incongruence between positive imagery and the stressor. Together, these results show that positive future thinking can mitigate the negative emotional, behavioral and neurobiological consequences of a stressful event, but that it should not be applied indiscriminately. Task-relevant positive future thinking can be an accessible way to boost efficacy of exposure therapy for pathological anxiety, and can help people deal with negative anticipation in daily life.

The Potential Impact of Adjunct Digital Tools and Technology to Help Distressed and Suicidal Men: An Integrative Review

Suicidal men feel the need to be self-reliant and that they cannot find another way out of relationship or socioeconomic issues. Suicide prevention is of crucial importance worldwide. The much higher rate of suicide in men engenders action. The prelude is a subjective experience that can be very isolating and severely distressing. Men may not realize a change in their thinking and behaviors, which makes it more difficult to seek and get help, thereby interrupting a “downward spiral”. Stoicism often prevents men from admitting to their personal struggle. The lack of “quality” connections and “non-tailored” therapies has led to a high number of men “walking out” on traditional clinical approaches. But there are complicated relationships in motivations and formative behaviors of suicide with regards to emotional state, psychiatric disorders, interpersonal life events and suicidal behavior method selection. Middle-aged and older men have alternated as the most at-risk of suicide. There is no one solution that applies to all men, but digital tools may be of assistance (e.g., video conferences, social networks, telephone calls, and emails). Digital interventions require higher levels of effectiveness for distress and suicidality but self-guided approaches may be the most suitable for men especially where linked with an integrated online suicide prevention platform (e.g., quick response with online chats, phone calls, and emails). Furthermore, technology-enabled models of care offer promise to advance appropriate linking to mental health services through better and faster understanding of the specific needs of individuals (e.g., socio-cultural) and the type and level of suicidality experienced. Long-term evidence for suicidality and its evaluation may benefit from progressing human computer-interaction and providing impetus for an eminent integrated digital platform.

A semi-standardized music therapy intervention for girls with Rett syndrome: A descriptive essay

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder resulting in a wide range of functional impairments and therefore greatly impacts the lives of both patients and their families. While genetic and medical aspects have been studied for several decades, rehabilitation intervention research is still in its infancy. In this study, the investigating researchers have presented a rehabilitative framework by using music therapy for girls with RTT. This model is founded upon the use of music therapy in light of Stern’s proposal of subjective experience and affect attunement; it also refers to Rosenbaum’s family-centered rehabilitation medicine perspective. This study both describes the theory behind this intervention and presents a newly developed outcome measure. This novel tool may have future clinical and research applications. Music therapy for patients with RTT has not been well researched yet, and as a result, is not universally recommended. However this study’s findings suggest that music therapy is an important component of multidisciplinary therapy. Further collaborative research should be encouraged in order to study and implement the use of music therapy in the treatment of severe disabilities. Projects such as the Enablin+program with the support from the European Commission constitute fundamental tools in promoting integrative medical research and international networks.

A Point of View About Fluency

Purpose: This article presents several potential concerns with the common usage of the term fluency in the study of stuttering and people who stutter (or, as many speakers now prefer, stutterers ). Our goal is to bridge gaps between clinicians, researchers, and stutterers to foster a greater sense of collaboration and understanding regarding the words that are used and meanings that are intended. Method: We begin by reviewing the history of the term fluency . We then explore its usage and current connotations to examine whether the term meaningfully describes constructs that are relevant to the study of the stuttering condition. Results: By highlighting current research and perspectives of stutterers, we conclude that the term fluency (a) is not fully inclusive, (b) encourages the use of misleading measurement procedures, (c) constrains the subjective experience of stuttering within a false binary categorization, and (d) perpetuates a cycle of stigma that is detrimental to stutterers and to the stuttering community as a whole. Conclusions: We recommend that researchers and clinicians cease referring to stuttering as a fluency disorder and simply refer to it as stuttering . Furthermore, we recommend that researchers and clinicians distinguish between moments of stuttering (i.e., what stutterers experience when they lose control of their speech or feel stuck) and the overall lived experience of the stuttering condition.