Psychology Chapter 8 03 11 2013 21 20 00 Jaclyn Spielsinger Psychology Chapter 8 Sex Drugs and Rock n Roll The Pleasure Center Motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain Rewarding pleasure Aversive pain would be advantageous Pleasure Center Our brain is designed to deliver the experience of pleasure when it encounters things that o Let us know when something is enjoyable o Reinforces the desire for us to perform the same pleasurable action again o Reward circuit Includes all kind of pleasure Sex Laughter Drug uses Brain areas impacted by pleasure include Amygdala regulates emotions Nucleus accumbens controls release of dopamine Ventral tegmental area releases dopamine Cerebellum controls muscle function Pituitary gland releases beta endorphins which decrease pain oxytocin which increases feelings of trust and vasopressin which increases bonding o Used PET scans to illustrate different areas of the brain that would light up and shut off during sexual activity o Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex o Periaqueductal gray PAG Brain region behind the left eye that shuts down during orgasm Part of the brain stem activated when a woman has sex Control fight or flight response o Monkey Orgasm Button Found in male monkeys that there were separate systems for erection for ejaculation and orgasm Had orgasms every 3 minutes for sixteen hours Sexual Selection Fittest survive and reproduce o Obtaining food o Avoiding threats Natural Selection o Those with the genes that make them successful at survival are the ones that create the next generation of survivors Sexual Reproduction o Offspring is comprised of the genetic material of one parent and of the other o Creatures are motivated to find good genes to mix with own o Certain traits and preferences have evolved via sexual selection those with the genes that make them successful at attracting a mate are those ones that create the next generation of attractive creatures o Traits usually directly signal fitness would also be the ones that are sexually selected Other cases it may seem unpredictable Peacock Female birds usually select a mate based on certain properties of its tail Symmetry Size Distribution opposite sex Sexual selection leads to the ability to produce progeny Also can be physical confrontation to win favor with the Female choose a mate that has a desirable train and therefore the males traits are passed on and survive in the offspring Traits surviving sexual selection do not enhance the survival rate of the individual organism and may actually decrease it o Human Mating Strategies mates chances of survival each other Sexual selection refers to the evolution of what is attractive to potential Survival selection refers to the idea of what is attractive always increases Intrasexual members of one sex engaged in competitive battles with Intersexual process involves the preferences of members of one sex for members of the opposite sex who possess certain qualities Females of a species tend to be more selective with who they mate with because successfully raising offspring will require a greater investment of Universally desired by both males and females their energy Dependable Intelligent Kind Understanding Strong work ethic Desired by females Desired by males Physically attractive Potential to secure financial resources General assumption is that both men and women have evolved to prefer long term mates with characteristics that Increase their own chances of survival Need to be protected in order to survive Increase their own chances of reproductive success Males prefer different aged women depending on the male s age General preference exist cross culturally Actual marriages Men do choose younger women As men get older if they get divorced and remarry they tend to marry women who increasingly younger than they are Personal ads Women mentioning physical attractiveness and young age as part of their self description in their ads receive significantly higher response rates than women who are older or who fail to mention anything about their physical attractiveness Men who mention excellent financial resources in their self descriptions in their ads received higher response rate from women than man who fail to mention this attribute Behavioral Tactics Women tend to put more effort into appearance enhancement in mate attraction and mate retention and when they derogate their rivals they focus on the rival s physical flaws Men tend to display and bestow resources on the women they are trying to attract and retain They tend to denigrate their rivals by impugning the rival s professional prospects such as mentioning the rival is lazy lack ambition or lacks clear goals in life Clarke and Hatfield s study found that men tend to have more permissive attitudes towards casual sex Research on jealousy has often found that across various cultures Men react more to sexual infidelity than to emotional infidelity Women react more to emotional infidelity than to sexual infidelity Male Poaching Behavior designed to lure someone who is already in a romantic relationship either temporarily for a brief sexual liaison or more permanently for a long term mating Married men tend to engage in especially vigorous mate retention efforts when their spouse in young in age and physically attractive Women tend to engage in especially vigorous mate retention efforts when married to men who have good jobs high incomes and devote Studies debunked many myths about sexuality Hundreds of males and females participated in studies of sexual behavior Excitement General characteristics of this phase which can last from a few minutes to several hours include the following o Muscle tension increases o Heart rate quickens and breathing is accelerated o Nipples become hardened or erect o Blood flow to the genitals increases resulting in swelling of the woman s clitoris and labia minora inner lips and erection of the man s penis a lot of time to status striving The Sexual Response Cycle o William Masters and Virginia Johnson o Vaginal lubrication begins o The woman s breasts become fuller and the vaginal walls begin to swell Plateau General characteristics of this phase which extends to the brink of orgasm include the following o The changes begun in phase 1 are intensified o The vagina continues to swell from increased blood flow and the vaginal walls turn a dark purple o The woman s clitoris becomes highly sensitive may even be painful to touch and retracts under the clitoral hood to
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