The role of absorption in women's sexual response to erotica: a cognitive-affective investigation.

This study examined the effect of absorption on women's emotional and cognitive processing of erotic film. Absorption was experimentally manipulated using 2 different sets of test session instructions. The first, participant-oriented, instruction set directed participants to absorb themselves in the erotic film presentation, imagining that they were active participants in the sexual activities depicted.

Psychological correlates of perception of sexual intent in women.

In a sample of 183 men and 186 women, the authors assessed (a) the relative contributions of gender and level of nonverbal social cues to the perception of a female actor's sexual intent during a videotaped social interaction with a man and (b) the association between those variables and personality traits implicated in faulty sexual-information processing. The authors assessed those variables while the participants viewed 1 of 3 film segments depicting a female-male interaction. The authors experimentally manipulated eye contact, touch, physical proximity, and female clothing.

Habituation of male sexual arousal: effects of attentional focus.

Three experiments are reported demonstrating that levels of penile tumescence and subjective sexual arousal are greater when men employ participant-oriented rather than spectator-oriented attentional focus while viewing an erotic film segment. Under each instructional set, there was a reduction in sexual arousal during repeated erotic stimulation. As sexual arousal habituated, the men reported feeling less absorbed during erotic stimulation.

Sexual and emotional variables influencing sexual response to erotica: a psychophysiological investigation.

The relative contribution of attentional and emotional factors to the physiological and subjective sexual arousal elicited by erotic film was evaluated. Sexual arousal, attentional, and emotional responses were measured while 30 men were presented with a series of erotic film segments. Levels of physiological and subjective sexual arousal were higher when subjects became absorbed in the activities portrayed in the film and when they experienced the depicted erotic encounters as appetitive, than when they were distracted and perceived the encounters as aversive.

Changes in the magnitude of the eyeblink startle response during habituation of sexual arousal.

Modulation of the startle response was used to examine emotional processing of sexual stimulation across trials within a session. Eyeblink startle was elicited by a probe (burst of intense white noise) presented intermittently while men were viewing an erotic film segment. Repeated display of the film segment resulted in a progressive decrease in sexual arousal.

Allocation of attentional resources during habituation and dishabituation of male sexual arousal.

A secondary-task probe (tone) was presented intermittently while men viewed erotic film segments across a session involving 18 trials with the same film segment (habituation), then 2 trials with different film segments (novelty) and 2 trials with reinstatement of the original segment (dishabituation). Reaction time to the tone (an index of the extent processing resources were being committed to the erotic stimulus) shifted during the session in parallel with changes that occurred in penile tumescence and subjective sexual arousal. The decrease in sexual arousal over the first 18 trials in the session was accompanied by a progressively faster reaction to the tone, novel stimulation led to recovery of sexual arousal and a slower reaction to the tone, and on trials 21 and 22 sexual arousal and reaction time levels were above the values that prevailed immediately prior to novel stimulation.

Temporomandibular disorders: Part II. A comparison of psychologic profiles in Australian and Finnish patients.

Recent recommendations regard musculoskeletal disorders of the masticatory system as dual-axis disorders, but little comparative data of psychologic factors across different pain populations are available. In this study, presenting psychologic profiles were assessed in 40 Australian and 42 Finnish patients diagnosed with temporomandibular disorders. Findings were compared with those of a group of Australian patients reporting acute dental pain and with reference to response to conservative management.

Sexual and emotional variables influencing sexual response to erotica.

This study was designed to evaluate the relative contribution of attention and emotional responses to the sexual response to erotica. Self reported levels of sexual arousal, attention, and emotional responses were measured after 20 men and 20 women viewed a series of erotic film segments. Men and women reported greater sexual arousal to erotica when they became absorbed in the activities portrayed in the film and when they experienced the erotic encounters as appetitive, than when they were distracted and perceived the encounters as aversive.

Temporomandibular disorders. Part I: A comparison of symptom profiles in Australian and Finnish patients.

Variability in the assessment methods of patients seeking treatment for musculoskeletal disorders of the masticatory system confounds comparative assessment of different studies. In this study, presenting symptom profiles were assessed in 40 Australian and 42 Finnish patients with temporomandibular disorders. The symptom parameters of these patients were compared with those of 40 Australians reporting acute dental pain and were assessed with reference to response to conservative management.

Habituation and dishabituation of male sexual arousal.

Sixteen men were tested under conditions where they viewed the same segment of erotic film on many occasions or engaged repeatedly in the same erotic fantasy. Decrements in penile tumescence and subjective sexual arousal over trials were accompanied by reports from Ss that they felt less absorbed in the events depicted in film or fantasy (and in the case of fantasy, that the images they formed became less vivid). Analysis of covariance showed that habituation (reduction in physiological and subjective measures of sexual arousal over trials) was less when allowance was made for the manner in which absorption (and in vividness of imagery in the case of fantasy) changed during erotic stimulation.