PCN-530 Sexual Response Cycle Chart

Masters and Johnson’s Human Sexual Response Cycle

Kaplan’sThree Stages of Sexual Response

Detailed Description of Phases:

• Arousal Stage : During this stage the heart rate increases, skin becomes flushed like, blood pressure increases.
• Plateau Phase- When the muscles contract, heart rate and blood pressure increase more, and breathing gets harder
• Orgasm Phase- This is known as the climax, where the male ejaculates and the female contractions of the vagina occur.
• Resolution Phase- body resumes normal state as it was prior to first stage although there is a euphoria feeling.

Detailed Description of Phases:

• Desire- thoughts, feelings of fantasies, and wishes to have intercourse or other sexual activity.
• Sexual Arousal- During this stage the heart rate increases, skin becomes flushed like, blood pressure increases
• Sexual Orgasm- This is known as the climax, where the male ejaculates and the female contractions of the vagina occur.

Similarities:
Both men and women will have increased heart rate and blood pressure during the arousal stage in both models listed above.  Both men and women achieve arousal phase after desire would take place whether it is a thought that comes to mind, attraction to their partner, image or movie they are watching and so on.  Orgasm phase is also very similar in men and women which would occur when stimulated and arousal reaches the highest peak intensity. Resolution Phase is also another similarity as both men and women body’s will resume the normal state where breathing, heart rate and blood pressure will reach it’s normal state. Men and women will also have that feeling of release or euphoria at this stage.
Differences:
Men and women differ in the processes of arousal. Blood flow increases to the males penis causing it to erect, while women have this in there clitoris, the vagina is a bit different. Women begin to release small about of fluid from the vagina that increases during the arousal stage all the way through the orgasm phase, where men only ejaculate releasing their fluid during the orgasm phase. Women do not always reach the orgasm phase during sexual activity and men need to ejaculate to have the feeling of release. Women at times can have multiple orgasms and men cannot, their fluid needs to rebuild in the penis before they are able to ejaculate again. In addition, the arousal phase can also differ in men and women as different things will arouse each of them. Fantasies will differ and so on. Men may get an arousal from seeing a magazine, or someone attractive walk by, while women need more of an emotional response at times to arouse them. Women may need different things from other women to arouse them and men need mostly the same things such as watching an adult film, magazines and so on.