The influence of presession factors in the assessment of deviant arousal.

Mount et al. (2011) worked with three adult sex offenders who had developmental delays. The team tested two quick tricks done right before an arousal test.

One man masturbated in private ten minutes before the test. Two others got short self-talk tips like "think of baseball." Then staff measured penile responses to deviant and non-deviant slides.

The brief masturbation cut the man's arousal to deviant slides almost to zero. The two men who used mental tricks also showed lower arousal, but the drop was smaller and lasted only a few minutes.

All three men kept normal arousal to appropriate slides, so the tricks did not wipe out healthy interest.

Andrade et al. (2014) ran almost the same test and got the same result: men with ID can shrink deviant arousal on command. Their study adds that some men can do it without also killing appropriate arousal.

McSweeney et al. (2000) showed that giving lots of attention right before a reinforcer test pumps up how powerful attention looks. The lesson is the same: what you do minutes before an assessment can tilt the numbers.

Rispoli et al. (2016) found that handing out toys before class keeps problem behavior low for about an hour. Again, presession events have a short shelf life, so time your next steps carefully.

If you assess arousal for risk decisions, schedule the probe after the same routine each time. Consider letting clients use a quick mental or physical suppression tool right before the test; it may give a cleaner picture of their self-control skills. Track how long the effect lasts so you know when to re-test or add booster training.