title: Habituation of female sexual arousal to slides and film.
abstract: The habituation of genital and subjective sexual arousal in women was assessed. In a first experiment 32 women were randomly assigned to either a constant stimulus condition in which subjects were exposed to the same erotic slide on repeated trials within one session, or to a varied stimuli condition in which subjects were exposed to various erotic slides. A second experiment assessed habituation of sexual responses of 42 women to erotic film excerpts. In both experiments repeated erotic stimulation was followed by a novel erotic stimulus to study the effect of novel stimulation to a sequence of uniform stimulation. In the first experiment a floor effect was found in response to the first three trials that prevented a valid interpretation of responding on subsequent trials. We conclude that slides yield too little sexual arousal in female subjects. In the second experiment only a slight decline in genital responding was observed. Women sustained considerable levels of genital arousal even after 21 trials of uniform stimulation. Facial EMG was used as a physiological marker of emotional experience. Zygomatic activity decreased over trials, suggesting decreasing positive affect as a result of uniform stimulation. Results are discussed in the context of selective attention, characteristics of the habituation stimulus, and novelty.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, Universiteit van Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Laan
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Everaerd
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004576:Electromyography; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D004882:Erotica; D005152:Facial Muscles / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007989:Libido / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D017156:Photoplethysmography; D014621:Vagina / Q000502:physiology