Developmental psychology.pdf

Social Motivation and Emotion 325
In approaching this topic at all, many people felt that Kinsey was degrading the family
and advocating promiscuity. Supporters thought he had begun a revolution, and indeed
that was the case. He did for sex what Columbus did for geography (Ernst & Loth,
1948).
Through careful laboratory studies of the physiology of sex, we know today
that underlying the great variety of human sexual experiences is a response common
to almost everyone, males and females alike. It is the basis of our sexual behavior and
involves two major changes in the body. There is first an increased flow of blood into
the pelvic area, made possible by the dilation of the blood vessels. This reaction, known
as vasocongestion, has diverse repercussions in males and females, especially engorgement
of the sexual organs. In addition there is myotonia, which involves contractions
of muscles throughout the body, resulting in facial expressions, voluntary contractions
in the limbs, and involuntary spasms in the genital areas (Masters, Johnson, & Kolodny,
1982).
Male Response The reaction of the male is a continuous process that is best
understood in four stages: excitement, plateau, orgasm, and restoration. Physiological
changes take place during each phase, although there is no necessarily obvious shift
from one phase to another.
In the excitement phase vasocongestion produces erection of the penis, possibly
erection in the nipples, and perhaps a sex flush as well, in which the skin shows
increased color. There is a rise in pulse rate, respiration, muscular tension, and blood
pressure until the plateau phase, during which the peak of sexual arousal is reached.
The orgasm provides a release of this tension, and it occurs in two substages. In the
first, the inevitability of ejaculation is experienced in the contraction of the seminal
vesicles, vas deferens, and prostate gland. The actual ejaculation, at intervals of .8
second, constitutes the second substage, and it is these contractions that are most closely
associated with the pleasurable aspects of orgasm.
Following the orgasm, there is a gradual return to the nonaroused state. This
restoration phase, during which vasocongestion and myotonia disappear, involves a loss
of sexual responsiveness. The capacity for full sexual arousal, including erection, does
not return immediately. Its reappearance varies a great deal from one individual to
another, lasting up to 24 hours in some instances. Good night, Stephen.
Female Response Like the return of arousability in males, the whole cycle in
females is highly variable from one person to another. Most females show the fourstage
response, but in some women the excitement and orgasm stages are closely merged,
as in a series of orgasms. In others there may be no discernible plateau. The four-step
model is only representative of a typical sequence.
The important changes in the excitement phase include vasocongestion of the
clitoris and seepage of vaginal fluid through the vaginal walls. This seepage, prompted
by the blood engorgement of the genitals, furnishes the lubrication necessary for intercourse.
It may be accompanied by the sex flush and a swelling and erection of the
nipples, resulting from vasocongestion and myotonia. These changes become intensified
in the plateau phase, producing the tension necessary for orgasmic experience.
Again, the rhythmic contractions in orgasm occur at approximately .8-second intervals,
but compared to the male's ejaculation, there is less evidence of orgasm.
Afterward, there is no clear period of sexual inexcitability. With sufficient
stimulation a woman can experience another orgasm, but otherwise arousal is diminished
during the restoration phase. Sweet dreams. Dawn.
Sexual Preference
Superimposed on these bodily responses are countless opportunities for learning, which
can be enormously influential in sexual behavior. In recounting her sexual history, Dawn
reported that she had tried self-stimulation in high school, sometimes in the company