Behar. Res. The-r. Vol. 28, No. 3. pp. 217-226, 1990 0005-7967/90 $3.00 + 0.00 Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved Copyright ICI 1990 Pergamon Press plc HABITUATION AND DISHABITUATION OF FEMALE SEXUAL AROUSAL INGRID MEUWISSEN and RAY OVER* Department of Psychology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia (Received I2 October 1989) Summary-Measures of subjective and physiological sexual arousal were taken within a session while women either viewed the same segment of erotic film on many occasions or employed the same sexual fantasy over a number of trials. For both film and fantasy there were significant reductions in subjective sexual arousal and average pulse amplitude during the course of repeated erotic stimulation. Subsequent presentation of novel erotic stimuli led to recovery in sexual arousal. Bases for habituation and dishabituation of female sexual arousal are discussed. An issue of continuing concern in the debate about the effects of pornography has been whether erotic film, slides, text and fantasy become less sexually arousing during the course of repeated or extended presentation (see Report, 1970). This question has been addressed in research employing designs in which erotic stimulation is repeated on either a between-session basis or a within-session basis. Neither strategy has yielded unequivocal results. Several investigators have demonstrated reduction in male sexual arousal as erotic stimulation is repeated over sessions. As an example, Howard, Reifler and Liptzein (1970) recorded penile response during an erotic film shown before the men in the sample had viewed pornography for 90 min a day over 3 weeks, at the end of the 3-week period, and 8 weeks later. Tumescence levels were compared with measures taken at comparable points in time from control Ss. Extended exposure to pornography reduced sexual arousal, although the effects were short-lived since there was full recovery on testing 8 weeks later. In some subsequent studies (e.g. Rosen, 1973 Rubin & Henson, 1976 Julien & Over, 1984 Smith & Over, 1987a), there was no diminuation of male sexual response with repeated erotic stimulation. When stimulation varied in content over sessions, novelty may have operated against a decrement. However, Rubin, Henson, Falvo and High (1979) found no reduction in penile tumescence across 6 sessions, 3-5 days apart, in which men viewed the same film. Reduction in response when the same stimulus is repeatedly presented within a session is traditionally referred to as habituation, provided the decrement is not attributable simply to neural adaptation or fatigue (Thompson & Spencer, 1966). O���Donohue and Geer (1985) found habituation in sexual arousal when men viewed a series of erotic slides, each for 1 min with a 1 min interstimulus interval. Although the reduction in penile tumescence and subjective arousal was more rapid when the men viewed the same slide than different slides on successive trials, the extent of decrement was similar for same-slide and varied-slide presentation over the 27 trials in the session. In contrast to these effects demonstrated with slides, Smith and Over (1987b) found no decline in physiological or subjective arousal when men engaged in structured fantasy over repeated trials within a session. Arousal remained at a stable level irrespective of whether the content of the fantasy remained fixed over trials or was varied. There has been limited study of the effect of repeated erotic stimulation on female sexual arousal. Zillman and Bryant (1988) found that women as well as men were less satisfied with their current partner after exposure to pornography for 1 hi-/week over 6 weeks, while Kelley and Musialowski (1986) reported a decline in sexual arousal over 4 sessions, each 1 day apart, during which women viewed the same erotic film. However, satisfaction and arousal were assessed in these studies only through self reports. In a psychophysiological study, Heiman (1977) measured vaginal pulse amplitude over two sessions, 2 weeks apart, during which women listened to erotic tapes and *To whom all correspondence should be addressed. 217

218 INCRID MEUWISSEN and RAY OVER engaged in fantasy. Arousal levels were lower in the second session than in the first. However, in other studies where physiological as well as subjective measures of female sexual arousal have been taken over 2 or more sessions there was no significant decrement in level of arousal over sessions (Henson, Rubin & Henson, 1979 Morokoff & Heiman, 1980 Wilson & Lawson, 1976 Wincze, Hoon & Hoon, 1978 Hoon, Bruce & Kinchloe, 1982 Morrell, Dixon, Carter & Davidson, 1984). At the same time, none of these studies had been designed to test for repeated exposure effects, and there were differences in methodology between studies (for example, whether stimulation was constant or varied between sessions) that may have affected outcome. There has not to date been a study assessing whether female sexual arousal habituates with repeated erotic stimulation on a within-session basis. The aim of the present research is to establish whether there is cumulative decline in physiological and subjective sexual arousal when women are presented with the same erotic stimulus on repeated trials within a session. Since habituation of male sexual arousal has been demonstrated with visual stimuli (O���Donohue & Geer, 1985) but not with fantasy (Smith & Over, 1987b), the question of whether female sexual arousal habituates is addressed in the present study in relation to film and fantasy. There are claims in the literature that at least some sexual fantasies retain high erotic saliency despite repeated use. For example, Crepault and Couture (1980) drew attention to primary fantasies, which ���. . .have a very strong erotic valency and generally are not subject to extinction. Once found. they keep their erotic drive and become almost permanent��� (p. 566). Masters, Johnson and Kolodny ( 1982) claimed that, ���Among the most common varieties of sexual fantasies are those that can be described as old familiar stories. . . . The person using this fantasy finds it particularly pleasing and returns to it again and again��� (p. 337). In the present study women viewed the same film segment on many occasions within one session, and in another session they engaged repeatedly in the same structured fantasy. The order of testing for film and fantasy was counterbalanced across Ss. The objective was to determine whether within-session decrement in female sexual arousal is found for fantasy as well as for film. The effects of repeated stimulation on arousal can be assessed more powerfully by establishing whether dishabituation occurs in conjunction with habituation. Dishabituation is defined opera- tionally as recovery in response when a novel stimulus is presented after there has been habituation to a sequence of uniform stimulation. If arousal has decreased over repeated trials (habituation), it should be possible to reverse this effect through introduction of a stimulus which is discernibly different from that to which the S was repeatedly exposed (dishabituation). Demonstrating dishabituation in addition to habituation eliminates the possibility that the response decrement found over repeated trials can be attributed to neural adaptation or fatigue. In their study of male sexual arousal O���Donohue and Geer (1985) did not test for dishabituation. Smith and Over (1987b) found that the arousal level increased when the structured fantasy in which the S was to engage changed suddenly after 18 trials. Since the Ss had not demonstrated habituation over the preceding 18 trials, Smith and Over interpreted the increase in arousal as a novelty effect rather than a dishabituation effect. The present study of female sexual arousal was designed to assess whether dishabituation as well as habituation occurs. Habituation was assessed by determining whether physiological and subjective sexual arousal declines over 18 uniform presentations of a film segment or a structured fantasy within I session. The content of the film segment or the structured fantasy was changed on the 19th and 20th trials within the session in order to test for dishabituation. Vividness of imagery was monitored on a trial-by-trial basis in the fantasy session in order to establish whether habituation and dishabituation in sexual arousal were associated with systematic changes in the cognitive saliency of the erotic stimuli. METHOD Subjects Eight undergraduate women reporting exclusive heterosexual orientation were tested. All eight women had participated in earlier psychophysiological research in the same laboratory. It was decided to use experienced Ss to ensure that response decrements over repeated trials reflected habituation to the erotic stimuli rather than processes such as reduction in anxiety or adjustment