WEB BASED BODY IMAGE TESTS One of the goals of the Virtual Body project is the development of web based body image assessment tools. The rationale of this approach is: First of all, even though it is by now possible to choose between a wide range of different tests for the assessment of body image, we are still far from a culture free form, since every research is usually carried out in just one or two institutions, and in perfect isolation from the rest of the world. The developed tools being designed to both run on any local desktop computer and on the Internet in VRML and Quicktime format, would soon provide a powerful tool to quickly standardize its results, eg. by an immediate feedback given on-line right after the assessment session. This way, we could rapidly raise an international multi-cultural database, susceptible of further data splitting, when needed. The second reason for the tools to be developed is that this approach can add the third dimension to the body size silhouettes presented in the test, so improving its effectiveness. Using 3D it is easier for the subject to perceive the differences between the silhouettes, expecially for specific body areas (breasts, stomach, hips and thighs). A third reason, finally, is the extremely low cost of the system, where related to the costs of either a traditional assessment or a computer assisted assessment developed to run on machines other than small personal computers. CHECK THEM NOW!

The construction of measurement procedures for the assessment of body image has proliferated in the recent years (Thompson, 1990). Generally, researchers and clinicians have focused on two aspects of body image: a perceptual component, commonly referred to as "size perception accuracy", and a subjective component which entails aspects such as body size/weight and physical appearance (Cash & Brown, 1987). There are two broad categories of procedures used for the assessment of size perception accuracy (Thompson, 1990): body-site and whole-image procedures. Body-site estimation procedures require that subjects match the width of the distance between two points to their own estimation of the width of a specific body site. For instance, Slade and Russell (1973) constructed the movable caliper technique (MCT), which consisted of a horizontal bar with two lights mounted onto a track. The subject could adjust the width between the two lights to match her/his estimate of the width of a given body site. The comparison of estimations with actual body widths, measured with body calipers, was used to derive a percentage of over- or under-estimation. For these and other size estimation procedures, an assessment of the subject's actual width (measured with body calipers) is compared with the subject's estimate, and a ratio of over- or under-estimation of size is computed. Generally, the great majority of subjects overestimate all body sites; however, some data suggests that the waist is overestimated to the greatest degree (Thompson & Spana, 1988). Because the estimates of the sites are highly correlated, some researchers sum across sites, giving a generic index of overestimation. It may be advisable, given the experimental or clinical purpose of the assessment, however, to evaluate each estimation site individually. The whole-image adjustment methods constitute a second major category of size estimation procedures. With these procedures, the individual is confronted with a real-life image, presented via videotape, photographic image, or mirror feedback. The experiment is able to modify the representation to make it objectively smaller or larger than reality. The measure of perceptual inaccuracy is the degree of discrepancy between the actual real-life image and the one selected by the subject. The schematic figures or silhouettes of different body sizes are the most widely used measure for the assessment of subjective components of body image disturbance (Fallon & Rozin, 1985; Thompson & Psaltis, 1988; Thompson, 1990). With this methodology, subjects are asked to choose the figures that they think reflect their current and their ideal body sizes. The discrepancy between these two measures is taken as an indication of level of dissatisfaction. A recent technical improvement of the figural/schematic rating procedure involves the presentation of body schemas on a computer screen (Dickson-Parnell, Jones, & Braddy, 1987). With this method, subjects can adjust the sizes of nine body sites to arrive at the exact image representation that they believe fits their own dimensions. Again, a measure of generic satisfaction with the body can be obtained by asking subjects to create an ideal to compare with their selection of their own current image. A computer based test was also presented by Schlundt & Bell (1988). They have developed a microcomputer program for assessing cognitive and affettive components of body image called the Body Image Testing Systems (BITS). The program, that is written in Turbo Pascal language for IBM PC, generates frontal view and side view silhouettes of a human body. Subjects can make the body silhouette image grow smaller or larger for nine independent body regions via the computer control system.