William Master and Virgina Johnson

Physician and Assistant (and Lover)

• First studies done in 1954; research lab was created in the 1960s at Washington University at St. Louis
• Laboratories studied human sexuality- the first subjects to be recruited were recruited for their promiscuity…i.e. prostitutes
• set up plethysmograph (don’t need to know that) to measure blood congestion
• had women masturbate with a dildo equipped with a camera
• after a while, they recruited were “normal” but had to be successful at masturbation (i.e. reached orgasm)
• looked at 10000 episodes
• some diseases may never be cured
• wrote the Human Sexual Response Cycle (accomplishment #1): excitement, plateau, orgasm, resolution

Excitement

• general body arousal: heart rate, blood pressure and breathing increases, “sex flush” is present, sweating of the mucus membrane, vasocongestion

Plateau

• additional body changes or intensification of those changes in the excitement phase
• women: distention and lengthening of the vaginal wall, outer 1/3 of the wall becomes engorged, more vaginal tightness, creation of a smoothness in the muscle, clitoris flattens and hides beneath the clitoral hood
• men: blood flows into the penis, penis doubles in size, muscle tension increases greatly, possible tightening and lifting of the scrotum