Physiological and cognitive responses were assessed in a 12-year-old fire-setting child during exposure to slides depicting both fire-setting and nonfire-setting scenes. Results from physiological measures (heart rate and skin potential) were useful in establishing a hierarchy of responses to different aspects of fire-setting activities. Cognitive data indicated that thoughts of negative evaluation tended to be associated with fire-setting scenes, whereas thoughts of positive evaluation were associated with nonfire-setting stimuli. The potential utility of a multidimensional approach to assessing fire-setting is discussed.
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