Sexual Arousal and Response
Chapter 5
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Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Sexual Arousal and Response
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Making Sense of Sex: The Role of the Senses
in Sexual Arousal
Aphrodisiacs: Of Spanish Flies and Rhino
Horns
Sexual Response and the Brain: Cerebral Sex?
Sex Hormones: Do They “Goad” Us into Sex?
Sexual Response
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Making Sense of Sex
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All the senses can be responsive to stimuli
that enhance or diminish one’s sexual arousal.
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Vision
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Visual stimuli are very important to human sexual
arousal and response.
Smell
Odors can be sexually attractive, or off-putting
 Pheromones: odorless chemicals detected by the
nose, that may induce mating behavior
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Contributes to menstrual synchrony in women
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Making Sense of Sex
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The Skin Senses
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Erogenous zones are areas of the body that are especially
sensitive to stimulation such as strokes and caresses.
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Taste
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Primary erogenous zones have a large number of nerve endings and
include the genitals, breasts, and mouth.
Secondary erogenous zones are areas of the body that become associated
with sexual experiences, perhaps shoulders or backs.
Tastes seem to play a minimal role in sexual arousal and
response
Hearing
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Auditory stimuli can have a strong influence on sexual arousal
and behavior
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A person’s voice, certain music, certain “dirty” words, etc.
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Aphrodisiacs
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Aphrodisiacs
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Substances that cause arousal or increase a
person’s capacity for sexual pleasure or
response
Foods resembling male genitals
 Drugs that affect the brain’s receptors for
dopamine
 Testosterone
 Good nutrition and exercise
 Novelty
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Aphrodisiacs
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Anaphrodisiacs
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Substances that inhibit or destroy sexual
arousal and response
Tranquilizers and barbiturates, which depress the
central nervous system
 Drugs for hypertension
 Some antidepressants
 Nicotine
 Antiandrogen drugs, substances that decrease the
level of androgens in the bloodstream
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Aphrodisiacs
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Psychoactive Drugs
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Alcohol
A small amount can be stimulating, but large
amounts often curb sexual arousal & response
 Reduces sexual inhibitions
 Binge drinking associated with high-risk sexual
behavior
 Can create feelings of euphoria
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Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Aphrodisiacs
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Hallucinogens
No proven connection between such drugs and
sexual arousal and response.
 Effects may depend on prior use,
attitudes/expectations , and amount
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Stimulants
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Activate the central nervous system, but may not
have specific sexual effects
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Can elevate mood, which could increase sexual pleasure
Regular users may need the drug to become sexually
aroused or may lose the ability to enjoy sex.
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Sexual Response and the Brain
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Brain Mechanisms in Sexual Functioning
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The cerebral cortex: the part of the brain that
is active when people engage in sexual
thoughts, images, wishes, and fantasies.
The limbic system: structures active in
memory, motivation, and emotion
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Hypothalamus: Regulates body temperature,
drives, hormones, and emotion
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Sexual Response and the Brain
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INSERT FIGURE 5.1 HERE
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Sexual Response and the Brain
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Are There Pleasure Centers in the Brain?
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Electrical stimulation of certain parts of the
limbic system has led to reports of sensations
similar to sexual gratification.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Sex Hormones
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Hormones
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Substances that are secreted by endocrine
glands and regulate various body functions
The bodies of both men and women
manufacture small amounts of the other
gender’s hormones.
The testes produce small amounts of estrogen and
progesterone.
 The ovaries produce small amounts of androgens.
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Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Sex Hormones
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Sex hormones at puberty result in the
development of secondary sex characteristics,
which are the physical traits that differentiate
males from females but are not directly involved
in reproduction.
Sex Hormones and Sexual Behavior
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Sex hormones have organizing influences (they
influence the type of behavior expressed) and
activating influences (e.g., testosterone influences the
motivation to engage in the behavior).
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Sex Hormones
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Prenatal sex hormones affect sexual
differentiation of the genitalia and of the
hypothalamus and may explain why some
people are transsexual.
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A person with a gender-identity disorder who
feels that he or she is really a member of the
other gender and has the body of the wrong
gender
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Sex Hormones
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Sex Hormones and Male Sexual Behavior
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Male hormones influence sex drive & response
Men who are surgically or chemically castrated
typically show a gradual decline in sexual desire.
Hypogonadism, a condition characterized by
abnormally low levels of testosterone production,
results in a loss of sexual interest and a reduction in
sexual activity.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Sex Hormones
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Sex Hormones and Female Sexual Behavior
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Estrogen and progesterone activate changes that
occur during puberty and regulate the menstrual
cycle, but do not seem to influence sexual
motivation or response in human females.
Women who have ovarietomies (surgical removal of
the ovaries) continue to be sexually active.
Androgens appear to have more of an effect on both
men’s and women’s sexual response.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Sexual Response
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Sexual Response Cycle
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Masters and Johnson’s model of sexual response
consists of four phases:
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Excitement phase
Plateau phase
Orgasmic phase
Resolution phase
Both women and men experience vasocongestion
(swelling of the genital tissues with blood) and
myotonia (muscle tension) early in the response
cycle.
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Sexual Response
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Excitement Phase
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The first phase of the sexual response cycle and is
characterized by:
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Erections in men
Vaginal lubrication and genital swelling in women
Muscle tension and increases in heart rate in both females
and males
Sex flush is a reddish rash that may appear on the
chest or breasts late in the excitement phase.
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Sexual Response
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Plateau Phase
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The second phase of the sexual response cycle and is
characterized by:
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Increases in vasocongestion, muscle tension, heart rate, and
blood pressure
Orgasmic platform, which is the thickening of the walls of
the outer third of the vagina, due to vasocongestion
Sex skin, which is the reddening of the labia minora
Rapid breathing and heart rate, blood pressure increases
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Sexual Response
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Orgasmic Phase
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Male orgasms consist of two stages of muscular
contractions.
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1st stage: contractions push seminal fluid into urethral bulb
2nd stage: ejaculation
Female orgasms involve contractions in the pelvic
muscles, uterus, and anal sphincter.
In both men and women, muscle spasms occur
throughout the body and blood pressure and heart
rate peak.
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Sexual Response
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Resolution Phase
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The fourth phase of the sexual response cycle, during
which the body gradually returns to its prearoused
state
Refractory period, which men undergo to varying
degrees, is a period of time following an orgasm
during which an individual is no longer responsive to
sexual stimulation.
Resolution takes longer when people do not reach
orgasm.
Blood is released from engorged areas, myotonia
dissipates, and blood pressure, heart rate, &
respirations return to normal
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Sexual Response
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Sexual Response
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Kaplan’s Three Stages of Sexual Response: An
Alternative Model
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Desire
Excitement
Orgasm
The stages are independent and their sequence is
variable.
This model is notable for identifying desire as a
separate phase of sexual response.
Useful for identifying and treating sexual
dysfunctions
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Sexual Response
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Controversies about Orgasms
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Multiple Orgasms
One or more additional orgasms following the
first, which occur within a short period of time and
before the body has returned to a preplateau level
of arousal
 Women are more capable of multiple orgasms, by
definition, than men are because they do not
experience a refractory period.
 Men may experience multiple orgasms if they are
dry orgasms
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Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Sexual Response
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Controversies about Orgasms
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How many kinds of orgasms do women have?
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Freud:
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Masters & Johnson
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Only one type of orgasm
Singers
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Clitoral orgasms
Vaginal orgams
Vulval orgasm
Uterine orgasm
Blended orgasm
No consensus yet
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon