Human Sexuality Test 1

Sex

sexual anatomy and sexual behavior

Gender

the state of being male or female

Gender binary

gender has only two categories, male and female

Sexual behavior

produces an arousal and increases the chance of orgasm

Cultivation Theory

exposure to the mass media makes people think that what they see there represents the mainstream of what really occurs

Framing Theory

the media draws attention to certain topics and not to others, suggesting how we should think about or frame the issues

Social cognitive theory

the media provides role models whom we imitate

Selectivity

the principle that people select and pay attention only to certain media and ignore others

Reinforcing spiral theory

one's social identities and ideologies predict one's media use and, in turn, media use affects one's identity an beliefs

Differential susceptibility model

some people are more susceptible than others to certain types of media

Culture

the part of the environment created by humans, including the set of meaning that a group adopts

Individualistic cultures

stress independence, autonomy, and individual rights

Collectivistic cultures

emphasize interdependence and connections among people

Honor culture

stress "face"- that is, individuals' reputation and the respect or honor shown

Ethnocentrism

tends to influence our understanding of human sexual behavior

Incest taboos

regulations prohibiting sexual interaction between blood relatives, are nearly universal

Masturbation

sexual self-stimulation of the genitals

Latinos

people of Latin American heritage

Latinx

a term for Latinos that gets around the gender designations of Latino and Latina and includes people outside the gender binary

Familismo

among Latinx, a strong cultural valuing of one's nuclear and extended family

Racial microaggressions

subtle insults directed at people of color and often done unconsciously

Sexual health

is a state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being in relation to sexuality

Sexual rights

all persons must be respected, protected, and fulfilled

Sociobiology

the application of evolutionary biology to understanding the social behavior of animals, including humans

Evolution

a theory that all living things have acquired their present forms through gradual changes in their genetic endowment over successive generations

Natural selection

a process in nature resulting in greater rates of survival of those plants and animals that are best adapted to their environment

Parental investment

behaviors or other investments in the offspring by the parent that increase the offspring's chance of survival

Sexual selection

a specific type of selection that creates differences between males and females

Evolutionary psychology

focuses on psychological mechanisms that have been shaped by evolution

Psychoanalytic theory

contains a basic assumption that part of human personality is unconscious

Libido

the sex energy or sex drive

Erogenous zones

libido is focused in various regions of the body

Id

the part of the personality containing the libido; operates on the pleasure principle

Ego

the part of the personality that helps the person have realistic, rational interactions; operates on the reality principle

Superego

the part of the personality containing the conscience; operated on idealism

Oral stage (birth-one year)

child's chief pleasure is derived from sucking and otherwise stimulating the lips and mouth

Anal stage (second year)

child's interest is focused on elimination

Phallic stage (to age 5 or 6)

boy's interest is focused on his phallus (penis) and he derives pleasure from masturbating

Latency

in which sexual impulses are repressed or are in a quiescent state until adolescence

Genital stage

sexual urges reawaken with purberty

Oedipus complex

a sexual attraction for his mother

Electra complex

a sexual attraction for her father

Classical conditioning

a previously neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus) is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits an unconditioned response that is eventually evoked by the conditioned stimulus itself

Operant conditioning

changing the frequency of a behavior (the operant) by following it with positive reinforcement or punishment

Behavior modification

a set of operant conditioning techniques used to modify human behavior

Self-efficacy

a sense of competence at performing an activity

Social exchange theory

based on the principle of reinforcement, assumes that people will choose actions that maximize rewards and minimize costs

Equity

participants in a relationship believe the rewards they receive are proportional to the costs

Matching hypothesis

men and women will choose as mates people who match them on physical and social characteristics

Schema

a general knowledge framework a person has a particular topic

Gender Schema

a set of attributes that we associate with males and females

Intersectionality

we should simultaneously consider a person's multiple group memberships and identities, including gender, race, social class, and sexual orientation

Heteronormativity

the belief that heterosexuality is the only pattern of sexuality that is normal and natural

Performativity

a concept that comes out of feminist theory and queer theory, refers to ways in which we perform gender or sexuality based on society's norms

Symbolic interaction theory

human nature and the social order are products of symbolic communication among people

Scripts

plans that people carry in their heads for what they are going to do

Medicalization of sexuality

certain sexual behaviors or conditions are defined in terms of health and illness; and problematic experiences or practices are given medical treatment

Direct observations

scientists directly observe and record behaviors

Eye-tracking

participants wear an eye-tracking device that measures their point of gaze as they are shown in pictures on a computer

Genital measures

sexual responses measure erection in males and vaginal changes in females

Pupil dilation measures

measure the amount the pupils dilate when individuals look at something interesting or arousing

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

looks at anatomy by using magnets to send and receive signals that give information while participants lie in the center of the magnet (scanner)

Functional MRI (fMRI)

looks at brain activity by measuring levels of blood flow

Population

a group of people a researcher wants to study and make inferences about

Sample

a part of a population

Random sample

each member of the population has an equal chance of being included in the sample

Probability sampling

each member of the population has a known probability of being included in the sample

Problem of refusal or nonresponse

some people will refuse to participate in a sex survey

Volunteer bias

the bias that results because those who volunteer to participate may in some ways differ from those who refuse to participate

Convenience sample

a sample chosen in a haphazard manner relative to the population of interest

Purposeful distortion

intentionally giving self-reports that are distortions of reality

Test-retest reliability

the respondent is asked a series of questions and then the same set of questions again after a period of time has passed

Computer-assisted self-interview (CASI)

a method in which the respondent fills out questionnaires on a computer

Informed consent

participants have a right to be told, before they participate, what the purpose of the research is and what they will be asked to do

Justice principle

the risks and benefits of participating in the research should be distributed fairly across groups in society

Cost-benefit approach

an approach to analyzing the ethics of a research study, based on weighing the costs against the benefits

Snowball sampling

existing participants suggest names of future paticipants to be recruited

Content analysis

refers to a set of procedures used to make valid inferences about text

Intercoder reliability

the correlation or percent of agreement between two coders independently rating the same texts; a measure of the reliability of the coding

Qualitative research

a collection of naturalistic, holistic methods

Ethnography

provides a description of a human group, a social setting, or a society

Participant-observer technique

the scientist becomes part of the community to be studied and makes observations from inside the community

Correlational

the researcher studies naturally occurring relationships (correlations) among variables

Experiment

one factor must be manipulated whole all other factors are held constant

Causal inference

reaching the conclusion that one factor actually causes or influences an outcome

Meta-analysis

a statistical method that allows the researcher to combine the results of all prior studies on a particular questions to see what, taken together, they say.

Mean

the average of respondents' scores

Median

the middle score- that halves the sample

Prevalence

the percentage of people in a population who have engaged in a certain behavior or have a certain condition at a specific point in time

Frequency

how often a person does something

Incidence

the number of new cases within a specified time period

Correlation

a number that measure the relationship between two variables

Vulva

clitoris, mons pubis, inner lips, outer lips, vaginal opening

Clitoris

a highly sensitive organ that is exceptionally important in the female sexual response

Clitoris tip

a knob of tissue externally in front of the vaginal opening and urethral opening

Clitoris shaft

consists of two corpora cavernosa

Clitoris crura

two longer spongy bodies that lie deep in the body and run from the tip to either side of vagina

Mons pubis

fatty pad of tissue under the pubic hair

Outer lips (labia majora)

rounded pads of fatty tissue lying along both sides of the vaginal opening, covered with pubic hair

Inner lips (labia minora)

two hairless folds of skin lying between the outer lips and running right along the edge of the vaginal opening