Chapter 8 Flashcards & Key Terms
- aphrodisiac
- A substance believed to improve sexual performance, enhance sexual pleasure, or stimulate desire or love.
- asexual
- Describes a person who never experiences sexual attraction.
- classical (Pavlovian) conditioning
- A form of behavioral learning in which a novel stimulus is tied to a pre-existing reflex.
- Coolidge effect
- The revival of sexual arousal caused by the presence of a novel partner.
- excitement phase
- The beginning phase of the sexual response cycle.
- fantasy
- An imagined experience, sexual or otherwise.
- fluctuating asymmetry
- A difference between the left and right sides of the body that results from random perturbations of development.
- habituation
- A psychological or physio- logical process that reduces a person’s response to a stimulus or drug after repeated or prolonged exposure.
- homophily
- The tendency to be attracted to people who resemble oneself.
- hypogonadal
- Producing insufficient levels of sex hormones.
- misattribution of arousal
- The tendency of nonsexual arousal, such as fear, to facilitate sexual arousal.
- myotonia
- A general increase in muscle tension.
- orgasm
- The intense, pleasurable sensations at sexual climax and the physiological processes that accompany them.
- orgasmic platform
- The outer portion of the vagina and surrounding tissues, which thicken and tense during sexual arousal.
- oxytocin
- A hormone secreted by the pituitary gland that stimulates uterine contractions and the secretion of milk.
- plateau phase
- The phase of the sexual response cycle during which arousal is maintained at a high level.
- refractory period
- A period of reduced or absent sexual arousability after orgasm.
- resolution phase
- The phase of the sexual response cycle during which physiological arousal subsides.
- sexual response cycle
- The sequence of physiological processes that accompany sexual behavior.
- status orgasmus
- An orgasm or uninterrupted sequence of orgasms that last from 20 seconds up to a minute or more.
- waist-to-hip ratio
- The ratio of the width of the body at the waist to the width at the hip.
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