Problem 3
Part 1 Learning goals
- What is the sexual response cycle?
o What are the different stages?
o How does it differentiate in males and females?
- What factors influence the sexual response cycle?
o How do different factors result in different outcomes?
BANCROFT – SEXUAL AROUSAL AND RESPONSE, THE PSYCHOSOMATIC CIRCLE (check
stuvia notes for this chapter again, ask about which parts are relevant bc this is a very
scattered and detailed chapter)
Information processing: response to sexual stimuli
- experimental literature show that men and women can produce genital responses at
will by focusing on sexual thoughts or fantasies
Visual stimuli:
o most frequently used stimuli in studies
o moving visuals (e.g. movies) elicit more powerful responses in men than
fantasies or non-moving stimuli
o what’s sexually attractive in terms of visual appearance is very complex and
has different criteria for men and women
Non-visual stimuli:
Smell (pheromones)
- 2 types of olfactory effect:
o olfactory priming: olfactory stimulus has gradual effect on the physiology of
the recipient over time
e.g. human females synchronize their menstrual cycles with one
another via olfactory priming
o olfactory signaling: olfactory stimuli have a more immediate effect on the
behavior of the recipient
e.g. vaginal odors in mammals indicate the female is fertile and
attractive
this has not been demonstrated in humans
- sleeping with a male partner increases incidence of ovulation by the effect of axillary
odors from the male
- we don’t know the proportion of people affected by olfaction or whether there’s a
sex difference in the sensitivity to olfaction
Touch
- change in the erotic tactile sensitivity of genitalia during vasocongestive responses
- touch is not confined to genitalia, tactile stimulation of many parts of the body can
be erotic
, - sensory information is processed centrally and is influenced in the spinal cord,
inhibition of erotic sensory input and failure to reduce inhibitory control takes place
in the cord or above
Effects of feedback and performance demand
- spectator role has been blamed for causing or maintaining sexual dysfunction
- giving men and women provisional feedback of erectile/vaginal response has a
beneficial effect on voluntary production of an erectile/vaginal response
o dysfunctional men don’t differ from normal men
- visual feedback: good sexual response is sexually arousing and perceiving poor
response is sexually inhibiting
o dysfunctional men are negatively affected by demand for a response, normal
men are not
- effects of partner’s response
o both groups of men respond better by concentrating on their own responses
than their partner’s
o if partner has high arousal, normal men respond better by focusing on the
partner
o if partner has high arousal, dysfunctional men responded worse when
focusing on partner
- Overall: effect of awareness, feedback, being a spectator and performance demand
depend on circumstances and how they are interpreted by the individual, can result
in both negative or positive feedback loops
Models of information processing
- Explicit vs implicit memory
o explicit, conscious memory is mediated by the hippocampus
o fear memory system involves the amygdala
o not clear which systems are involved in the implicit, unconscious sexual
memory
- Automatic vs attentional processing
o 2 components:
automatic/unconscious processing: rapid, dynamic
attentional/conscious processing: involves attention, has 3 systems:
orienting to sensory stimuli, activation of ideas from memory and
maintaining alertness
o initial automatic appraisal of sexual stimuli leads to an emotional response
which involves incentive motivation and a sexual response (genital)
o then attentional component attributes sexual meaning and appraises specific
or non-specific responses to the original stimulus
o this completes the psychosomatic circle as the emotional response becomes
part of the sexual stimulus
o the automatic pre-attentive response is assumed to depend on implicit
memory
o 4 types of evidence for the information processing of sexual stimulus:
cognitive manipulations, EEG, brain imaging, conditioning
, Cognitive manipulations
- Sexual context-induced delay
o in both men and women, a delay completing a task occurs when an erotic
element is present
o it’s unclear to what extent this delay is due to distracting effects of automatic
processing or inhibitory mechanisms
- Physiological responses to information processing
o in both men and women, during observation of sexual, anxiety-provoking and
sexually threatening film there was enhancement of the T (tendon) reflect
(evidence of spinal excitability reflecting early motor preparation for
motivated action)
- Subliminal priming
o unexpectedly found erectile response to be less following sexual than neutral
primes
- Effects of distraction
o dichotic listening task: the more difficult the task, the lower the erectile
response to an auditory sexual stimulus
o distraction is ineffective for reducing responses to visual stimuli in men, but
for women both auditory and visual stimuli responses are reduced
o distraction impairs erectile response in functional men but has no effect on
dysfunctional men because they are already distracted by non-erotic cues
o increasing degrees of distraction: reduces erectile response but doesn’t affect
subjective arousal
o referential system of emotional responding: quickly assess likes and dislikes,
makes distinction between the need to approach or avoid, requires little
cognitive effort
o expectancy system of emotional responding: identifies predictors of
significant events, and prepares for a cost-effective method of responding,
requires attentional capacity
o the genital response is part of the expectancy system whereas subjective
sexual arousal is a less demanding referent response
o in dysfunctional women: same with men, increasing distraction reduced
genital response
- Effects of misattribution and misinformation
o inactive pill telling them it will increase sexual response they attribute
responses to pill and minimize their own subjective arousal
o inactive pill telling them it will decrease response participants impressed
by any response and report greater subjective arousal
this effect found in actual erectile response but not subjective arousal
for dysfunctional men: when they were told the pill would decrease
their response, their erectile response actually decreased but not their
subjective arousal
o unclear whether differences in genital and subjective responses are
unconscious or controlled
- False feedback
o importance of attribution to cause for a perceived sexual failure
Part 1 Learning goals
- What is the sexual response cycle?
o What are the different stages?
o How does it differentiate in males and females?
- What factors influence the sexual response cycle?
o How do different factors result in different outcomes?
BANCROFT – SEXUAL AROUSAL AND RESPONSE, THE PSYCHOSOMATIC CIRCLE (check
stuvia notes for this chapter again, ask about which parts are relevant bc this is a very
scattered and detailed chapter)
Information processing: response to sexual stimuli
- experimental literature show that men and women can produce genital responses at
will by focusing on sexual thoughts or fantasies
Visual stimuli:
o most frequently used stimuli in studies
o moving visuals (e.g. movies) elicit more powerful responses in men than
fantasies or non-moving stimuli
o what’s sexually attractive in terms of visual appearance is very complex and
has different criteria for men and women
Non-visual stimuli:
Smell (pheromones)
- 2 types of olfactory effect:
o olfactory priming: olfactory stimulus has gradual effect on the physiology of
the recipient over time
e.g. human females synchronize their menstrual cycles with one
another via olfactory priming
o olfactory signaling: olfactory stimuli have a more immediate effect on the
behavior of the recipient
e.g. vaginal odors in mammals indicate the female is fertile and
attractive
this has not been demonstrated in humans
- sleeping with a male partner increases incidence of ovulation by the effect of axillary
odors from the male
- we don’t know the proportion of people affected by olfaction or whether there’s a
sex difference in the sensitivity to olfaction
Touch
- change in the erotic tactile sensitivity of genitalia during vasocongestive responses
- touch is not confined to genitalia, tactile stimulation of many parts of the body can
be erotic
, - sensory information is processed centrally and is influenced in the spinal cord,
inhibition of erotic sensory input and failure to reduce inhibitory control takes place
in the cord or above
Effects of feedback and performance demand
- spectator role has been blamed for causing or maintaining sexual dysfunction
- giving men and women provisional feedback of erectile/vaginal response has a
beneficial effect on voluntary production of an erectile/vaginal response
o dysfunctional men don’t differ from normal men
- visual feedback: good sexual response is sexually arousing and perceiving poor
response is sexually inhibiting
o dysfunctional men are negatively affected by demand for a response, normal
men are not
- effects of partner’s response
o both groups of men respond better by concentrating on their own responses
than their partner’s
o if partner has high arousal, normal men respond better by focusing on the
partner
o if partner has high arousal, dysfunctional men responded worse when
focusing on partner
- Overall: effect of awareness, feedback, being a spectator and performance demand
depend on circumstances and how they are interpreted by the individual, can result
in both negative or positive feedback loops
Models of information processing
- Explicit vs implicit memory
o explicit, conscious memory is mediated by the hippocampus
o fear memory system involves the amygdala
o not clear which systems are involved in the implicit, unconscious sexual
memory
- Automatic vs attentional processing
o 2 components:
automatic/unconscious processing: rapid, dynamic
attentional/conscious processing: involves attention, has 3 systems:
orienting to sensory stimuli, activation of ideas from memory and
maintaining alertness
o initial automatic appraisal of sexual stimuli leads to an emotional response
which involves incentive motivation and a sexual response (genital)
o then attentional component attributes sexual meaning and appraises specific
or non-specific responses to the original stimulus
o this completes the psychosomatic circle as the emotional response becomes
part of the sexual stimulus
o the automatic pre-attentive response is assumed to depend on implicit
memory
o 4 types of evidence for the information processing of sexual stimulus:
cognitive manipulations, EEG, brain imaging, conditioning
, Cognitive manipulations
- Sexual context-induced delay
o in both men and women, a delay completing a task occurs when an erotic
element is present
o it’s unclear to what extent this delay is due to distracting effects of automatic
processing or inhibitory mechanisms
- Physiological responses to information processing
o in both men and women, during observation of sexual, anxiety-provoking and
sexually threatening film there was enhancement of the T (tendon) reflect
(evidence of spinal excitability reflecting early motor preparation for
motivated action)
- Subliminal priming
o unexpectedly found erectile response to be less following sexual than neutral
primes
- Effects of distraction
o dichotic listening task: the more difficult the task, the lower the erectile
response to an auditory sexual stimulus
o distraction is ineffective for reducing responses to visual stimuli in men, but
for women both auditory and visual stimuli responses are reduced
o distraction impairs erectile response in functional men but has no effect on
dysfunctional men because they are already distracted by non-erotic cues
o increasing degrees of distraction: reduces erectile response but doesn’t affect
subjective arousal
o referential system of emotional responding: quickly assess likes and dislikes,
makes distinction between the need to approach or avoid, requires little
cognitive effort
o expectancy system of emotional responding: identifies predictors of
significant events, and prepares for a cost-effective method of responding,
requires attentional capacity
o the genital response is part of the expectancy system whereas subjective
sexual arousal is a less demanding referent response
o in dysfunctional women: same with men, increasing distraction reduced
genital response
- Effects of misattribution and misinformation
o inactive pill telling them it will increase sexual response they attribute
responses to pill and minimize their own subjective arousal
o inactive pill telling them it will decrease response participants impressed
by any response and report greater subjective arousal
this effect found in actual erectile response but not subjective arousal
for dysfunctional men: when they were told the pill would decrease
their response, their erectile response actually decreased but not their
subjective arousal
o unclear whether differences in genital and subjective responses are
unconscious or controlled
- False feedback
o importance of attribution to cause for a perceived sexual failure
