Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

D I V E R S I T Y
Female Circumcision: A Celebration 
of Culture—or Genital Mutilation?
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K E Y T E R M S 
 Module 
33 
Understanding Human Sexual Response: The Facts of Life 
361
R E C A P / E V A L U A T E / R E T H I N K
R E C A P 
Why, and under what circumstances, do we become sexually 
aroused?
• Biological factors, such as the presence of androgens 
(male sex hormones) and estrogens and progesterone 
(female sex hormones), prime people for sex. But almost 
any kind of stimulus can produce sexual arousal, 
depending on a person’s prior experience. (p. 356)
• People’s sexual responses follow a regular pattern con-
sisting of four phases: excitement, plateau, orgasm, and 
resolution. (p. 356)
E VA LU AT E
1.
Match the phase of sexual arousal with its characteristics.
1.
Excitement phase
a.
Maximum level of sexual arousal
2.
Plateau phase
b. 
Erection and lubrication 
3.
Orgasm phase
c.
Rhythmic muscular contractions
4.
Resolution phase
and ejaculation
d.
Return of body to resting state
2.
Men are generally thought to enter a 
period 
after sex, in which orgasm is impossible for a varying pe-
riod of time.
3.
Whereas men are interested in sexual activity regardless of 
their biological cycles, women are truly receptive to sex 
only during ovulation, when the production of their sex 
hormones is greatest. True or false?