Method Participants Thirty University of Utah students and staff members (17 men and 13 women) who ranged in age from 18 to 54 years old (M = 27, SD = 2.4), volunteered to participate in this experiment. Of the 30 volunteers 18 were Caucasian, 6 were Asian and 5 were African-American. No color-blind or visually impaired students and staff members were included in the experiment in order than all participants could see the stimuli presented clearly and effectively. The experiment took 1.5 hours (per participant). Participants were given the option of 1.5 participant pool class credit hours, or $15.00 to compensate their time. Informed consent was obtained from all of the participants. Fifteen of the participants were randomly assigned to the control condition C1, and 15 were randomly assigned to the …show more content…
The chair was placed in the middle of the room, and at a distance of 5 feet from the projector screen. A total of 50 total images were used. Twenty-five of these images were of various nature scenes and landscapes, while the other 25 images were sexual explicit images of men and women. Two 5 minute videos were also shown. The first video was a nature documentary on butterfly migration. The second video was a pornographic sex clip. The 25 nature related images, and 5 minute butterfly migration video were shown on the projector screen in the first room. While the 25 explicit images and 5 minute pornography video were shown in the second room. The third and fourth room contained a desk with an chair by it and a computer, keyboard and mouse on it. The Beck’s Depression Inventory, a self-report questionnaire containing 21 groups of statements that measures levels and symptoms of depression, (BDI, Beck, et al., 1961) was utilized via the computer in the third and four room. Examples of the types of questions administered can be seen in Appendix