Human Sexuality in a Changing World, 10th Edition Class Notes

Name: Human Sexuality in a Changing World, 10th Edition Class Notes
Brand: Academic Documents Platform
Price: 14.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Ethan Brown

Stay ahead in class with Human Sexuality in a Changing World, 10th Edition Class Notes, an essential study resource.

Ethan Brown

Contributor

4.4

116

4 months ago

Preview (31 of 545)

Instructor’s Resource Manual
For
Human Sexuality in a Changing World
10th Edition
Spencer A. Rathus, The College of New Jersey
Jeffrey S. Nevid, St. John’s University
Lois Fichner-Rathus, The College of New Jersey
Prepared by
Kathleen Hughes Stellmach

Table of Contents (SME/author to provide)
Chapter 1 What Is Human Sexuality? 1
Chapter 2 Female Sexual Anatomy and Physiology 26
Chapter 3 Male Sexual Anatomy and Physiology 39
Chapter 4 Gender: Identity, Roles and Differences 49
Chapter 5 Sexual Orientation 62
Chapter 6 Attraction and Love 79
Chapter 7 Sexual Response and Sexual Behavior 91
Chapter 8 Relationships and Communication 113
Chapter 9 Conception, Pregnancy, and Childbirth 122
Chapter 10 Contraception and Abortion 140
Chapter 11 Sexuality Through the Lifespan 158
Chapter 12 Sexual Problems and Solutions 184
Chapter 13 Sexually Transmitted Infections 203
Chapter 14 Atypical Sexual Variations 223
Chapter 15 Sexual Coercion 236
Chapter 16 Selling Sex 252

Updated April 2018
2
Chapter 1: What Is Human Sexuality?
Learning Objectives
LO 1.1 Define the science of human sexuality.
LO 1.2 Define the value systems people use in making sexual decisions.
LO 1.3 Explain how you can become a critical thinker.
LO 1.4 Discuss various ways of looking at human sexuality.
LO 1.5 Explain the steps in the scientific method.
LO 1.6 Explain what is meant by populations and samples.
LO 1.7 Describe methods of observation, including the case-study method, the survey,
naturalistic observation, ethnographic observation, participant observation, and laboratory
observation.
LO 1.8 Describe the correlational method.
LO 1.9 Explain how experiments seek to determine cause and effect.
LO 1.10 Describe the ethical concerns that govern the ways in which professionals interact with
research participants and clients in treatment.
Chapter Outline
• The Science of Human Sexuality
o Define the science of human sexuality.
▪ One use of the term sex refers to our anatomic sex, female or male. The
words sex or sexual are also used to refer to anatomic structures called sex
organs or sexual organs, which play roles in reproduction and sexual
pleasure. We may also speak of sex when referring to physical activities
involving our sex organs for purposes of reproduction or pleasure, as in
having sex. Sex also relates to erotic feelings, experiences, or desires, such
as sexual fantasies and thoughts, sexual urges, or feelings of sexual
attraction. The use of “sex differences” is probably more correct when we
are talking about differences between anatomic males and anatomic
females. The term human sexuality refers to the ways in which people
experience and express themselves as sexual beings.
▪ The Study of Human Sexuality
• The study of human sexuality draws on the scientific expertise of
anthropologists, biologists, medical researchers, sociologists, and
psychologists. Biologists inform us about the physiological
mechanisms of sexual arousal and response. Medical science
teaches us about STIs and the biological bases of reproduction and
sexual dysfunctions. Psychologists examine how our sexual
behavior and attitudes are shaped by perception, learning, thought,
motivation and emotion, and personality. Sociologists examine
relationships between sexual behavior and religion, race, and social
class. Anthropologists focus on cross-cultural similarities and
differences in sexual behavior.
• Sexuality and Values

Updated April 2018
3
o Define the value systems people use in making sexual decisions.
▪ Our society is pluralistic. It embraces a wide range of sexual attitudes and
values. People’s sexual attitudes, experiences, and behaviors are shaped to
a large extent by cultural traditions and beliefs. They influence how,
where, and with whom we become sexually involved.
▪ Value Systems for Making Sexual Decisions
• Our value systems—our sexual standards—have many sources:
parents, peers, religious training, ethnic subcultures, the larger
culture, and our own appraisal of these influences. Value systems
include legalism, situational ethics, ethical relativism, hedonism,
asceticism, utilitarianism, and rationalism. The legalistic approach
formulates ethical behavior on the basis of a code of moral laws
derived from an external source, such as a religion.
• Thinking Critically about Human Sexuality
o Explain how you become a critical thinker.
▪ Newspapers, TV shows, popular books and magazines, and the Internet
contain one feature after another about sex. Critical thinkers never say
that something is true because an authority figure says it is true. They
demand evidence. Critical thinking means being skeptical of things that
are presented in print, uttered by authority figures or celebrities, or passed
along by friends. Another aspect of critical thinking is analysis and
probing of claims and arguments. Critical thinking means scrutinizing
definitions of terms and evaluating the premises of arguments and their
logic. Critical thinkers maintain open minds. They suspend their beliefs
until they have obtained and evaluated the evidence.
• Perspectives on Human Sexuality
o Discuss the various ways of looking at human sexuality.
▪ The Historical Perspective
• History places sexual attitudes and behavior in context. It informs
us as to whether sexual behavior reflects trends that have been with
us through the millennia or the customs of a particular culture and
era. History shows little evidence of universal sexual trends.
Attitudes and behaviors vary extensively from one time and place
to another. History also shows how religion has been a major
influence on sexual values and behavior.
• Prehistoric Sexuality: From Female Idols to Phallic Worship
o Information about life among our Stone Age ancestors is
drawn largely from cave drawings, stone artifacts, and the
customs of modern-day preliterate peoples whose existence
has changed little over the millennia. By and large, men
hunted for game, and women tended to remain close to
home. Women nurtured children and gathered edible plants
and nuts, crabs, and other marine life that wandered along
the shore or swam in shallow waters. Primitive statues and
cave drawings portray women with large, pendulous
breasts, rounded hips, and prominent sex organs. Stone Age

Loading page 6...

Updated April 2018
4
people may have been unaware of the male’s contribution
to reproduction. As the glacial sheets of the last Ice Age
retreated (about 11,000 bce) and the climate warmed,
human societies turned agrarian. Hunters and gatherers
became farmers and herders. Villages sprang up around
fields. Men tended livestock. Women farmed. As people
grew aware of the male role in reproduction, phallic
worship (worship of the penis) sprang into being.
Knowledge of paternity is believed to have developed
around 9000 bce, resulting from observation of livestock.
The penis became glorified in art as a plough, ax, or sword.
Phallic symbols played roles in religious ceremonies in
ancient Egypt. The incest taboo may have been the first
human taboo. All human societies apparently have some
form of incest taboo, but societies have varied in terms of
its strictness.
• The Ancient Hebrews
o The ancient Hebrews viewed sex, at least in marriage, as a
satisfying experience intended to fulfill the divine
command to “be fruitful and multiply.” Male–male and
female–female sexual behavior were strongly condemned
because they threatened the perpetuation of the family.
Although the ancient Hebrews believed that sex helped
strengthen marital bonds and solidify the family. According
to the Book of Proverbs, a good wife rises before dawn to
tend to her family’s needs, brings home food, instructs the
servants, tends the vineyards, makes the clothes, keeps the
ledger, helps the needy, and works well into the night. Even
so, a wife was considered the property of her husband and
could be divorced on a whim. A wife might have to share
her husband with secondary wives and concubines, but she
could be stoned to death for adultery—a fate still practiced
in some Islamic cultures. Men who consorted with the
wives of other men were considered to have violated the
property rights of those men and might have to pay
“damages.”
• The Ancient Greeks
o The classical or golden age of Greece lasted from about
500 bce to 300 bce. Within this relatively short span lived
the philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle; the
playwrights Aristophanes, Aeschylus, and Sophocles; the
natural scientist Archimedes; and the lawgiver Solon. Like
the Hebrews, the Greeks valued family life, but Greek men
also admired the well-developed male body and enjoyed
nude wrestling in the arena. Erotic encounters and off-color
jokes characterized the plays of Aristophanes and other

Loading page 7...

Updated April 2018
5
playwrights. The Greeks viewed their gods as voracious
seekers of sexual variety. Three aspects of Greek sexuality
are of particular interest to our study of sexual practices in
the ancient world: male–male sexual behavior, pederasty,
and prostitution. The Greeks viewed people as bisexual.
Male–male sex was deemed normal and tolerated so long
as it did not threaten the institution of the family. Pederasty
means love of boys. Sex between men and prepubescent
boys was illegal, but families were generally pleased if
their adolescent sons attracted socially prominent mentors.
Prostitution flourished at every level of society in ancient
Greece. Prostitutes ranged from refined courtesans to
concubines, who were usually slaves. The women of
Athens were subject to the authority of their male next-of-
kin before marriage and to their husbands afterward.
• The World of Ancient Rome
o Much is made of the sexual excesses of the Roman
emperors and ruling families. Sexual excesses were found
more often among the upper classes of palace society than
among average Romans. Romans disapproved of male–
male sexual behavior as a threat to the integrity of the
Roman family, which was viewed as the core of strength of
the empire. Although Roman women were more likely than
their Greek counterparts to share their husbands’ social
lives, they still were the property of their husbands.
Western society traces the roots of many of its sexual terms
to Roman culture, as indicated by their Latin roots. Fellatio,
derives from the Latin fellare, meaning “to suck.”
Cunnilingus derives from cunnus, meaning “vulva,” and
lingere, “to lick.” Fornication derives from fornix, an arch
or vault.
• Christianity
o Christianity emerged within the Roman Empire during the
centuries following the death of Jesus. Early Christian
views on sexuality were largely shaped by Saint Paul and
the church fathers in the first century and by Saint
Augustine in the latter part of the fourth century. Adultery
and fornication were rampant among the upper classes of
Rome at the time, and early Christian leaders began to
associate sexuality with sin. In replacing the pagan values
of Rome, the early Christians sought to restrict sex to
marriage. They saw temptations of the flesh as distractions
from spiritual devotion. Paul preached that celibacy was
closer to the Christian ideal than marriage. He recognized
that not everyone could achieve celibacy, however, so he
said that it was “better to marry than to burn” (with passion,

Loading page 8...

Updated April 2018
6
that is). Christians, like the Hebrews before them,
demanded virginity of brides. Prostitution was condemned.
Christians taught that men should love their wives with
restraint, not passion, because the goal was procreation and
not pleasure—the spirit should rule the flesh. Divorce was
outlawed. Unhappiness with one’s spouse might reflect
sinful restlessness. Dissolving a marriage might also
jeopardize the social structure that supported the church.
Masturbation, male–male sexual behavior, female– female
sexual behavior, oral–genital contact, anal intercourse—all
were viewed as abominations. Lust made any sexual
expression, even in marriage, inherently evil. Only through
celibacy, according to Augustine, could men and women
attain a state of grace. There have been two conflicting
concepts of woman in Christianity: One is of woman as
Eve, the temptress; the other is of woman as Mary, Mother
of God, virtuous and pure. Contemporary Western images
of women still show the schism between the good girl and
the bad girl—the Madonna and the whore. During the
Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther (1483–1546) and
other Christian reformers such as John Calvin (1509–1564)
split off from the Roman Catholic Church and formed their
own sects, which led to the development of the modern
Protestant denominations. Luther believed that priests
should be allowed to marry and rear children. To Luther,
marriage was as much a part of human nature as eating or
drinking. Calvin rejected the Roman church’s position that
marital sex was permissible only for procreation. He
believed that sex strengthened the marriage bond and
helped relieve the stresses of everyday life. Early European
settlers brought to North America the religious teachings
that had dominated Western thought and culture for
centuries.
• Islam
o Islam, the dominant religion in the Middle East, across
North Africa and into parts of Southern Asia, was founded
by the Prophet Muhammad. The Islamic tradition treasures
marriage and sexual fulfillment in marriage. Premarital sex
and adultery invite shame and social condemnation— and,
as noted, in some fundamentalist Islamic states, the death
penalty, by stoning. Muhammad decreed that marriage
represents the road to virtue. Islamic tradition permits a
sexual double standard, however. Men under most
circumstances may take up to four wives but women are
permitted only one husband. Public social interactions
between men and women are severely restricted in more

Loading page 9...

Updated April 2018
7
conservative Islamic societies. Women are expected to
keep their heads and faces veiled in public and to avoid all
contact with men other than their husbands.
• India
o Hindu sexual practices were codified in a sex manual, the
Kama Sutra, which illustrates sexual positions, some of
which would challenge a contortionist. It also holds recipes
for alleged aphrodisiacs. This manual is believed to have
been written sometime between the third and fifth centuries
ce, when Christianity was ascending in the West. In its
graphic representations of sexual positions and practices,
the Kama Sutra reflected the Hindu belief that sex was a
religious duty, not a source of shame or guilt. Hindu deities
were often portrayed as engaging in same-sex as well as
male–female sexual activities. In the Hindu doctrine of
karma (the passage of souls from one place to another),
sexual fulfillment was regarded as one way to become
reincarnated at a higher level of existence. Indian society
grew more restrictive toward sexuality after about 1000 ce.
• The Far East
o In the cultures of the Far East, sexuality was akin to
spirituality. To the Taoist masters of China, who influenced
Chinese culture for millennia, sex was a sacred duty—a
form of worship that led toward harmony with nature and
immortality. In ancient China, the man was expected to
extend intercourse as long as possible to absorb more of his
wife’s natural essence, or yin. Yin would enhance his own
masculine essence, or yang. Moreover, he was to help bring
his partner to orgasm so as to increase the flow of energy
that he might absorb. Taoists believed that it was wasteful
for a man to “spill his seed.” Masturbation, acceptable for
women, was ruled out for men. Sexual practices such as
anal intercourse and oral–genital contact (fellatio and
cunnilingus) were permissible, so long as the man did not
squander yang through wasteful ejaculation. Same-sex
activity was not prohibited by Taoist holy writings, but
some Taoists frowned on exclusive homosexuality. The
good Chinese wife, like her Western counterparts, was
limited to domestic roles.
• The Victorian Period
o The middle and later parts of the nineteenth century in
Western civilization are generally called the Victorian
period, after Queen Victoria of England, who assumed the
throne in 1837 and ruled until her death in 1901. Her name
has become virtually synonymous with sexual repression.

Loading page 10...

Updated April 2018
8
Many women viewed sex as a marital duty to be performed
for procreation or to satisfy their husbands’ cravings.
Women were assumed not to experience sexual desires or
pleasures. But the behavior of Victorians was not as
repressed as advertised. Women’s diaries of the time also
contain accounts of passionate love affairs. Prostitution
flourished during the Victorian era. Same-sex sexual
behavior was considered indecent in Victorian society.
• Beginnings of the Scientific Study of Sexuality
o The English physician Havelock Ellis (1859–1939)
published a veritable encyclopedia of sexuality between
1897 and 1910, Studies in the Psychology of Sex. Ellis
drew information from case histories, anthropological
findings, and medical knowledge. He argued that sexual
desires in women were natural and healthy. He wrote that
many sexual problems had psychological rather than
physical causes. Gay male and lesbian sexual orientations
were natural variations in sexual orientation, not
aberrations. The German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-
Ebing (1840–1902) described case histories of people with
sexual deviations in his book, Psychopathia Sexualis
(1886). Krafft-Ebing viewed deviations as mental diseases
that could be studied and perhaps treated by medical
science. At about the same time, the Viennese physician
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) was developing his influential
theory of personality. Freud believed that the sex drive was
our principal motivating force. Alfred Kinsey (1894–1956),
an Indiana University zoologist, conducted the first large-
scale studies of sexual behavior in the 1930s and 1940s.
Kinsey conducted detailed interviews with nearly 12,000
people across the United States attempts to provide a
comprehensive picture of American sexual behavior. The
results of his surveys were published in two volumes,
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (Kinsey et al., 1948)
and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (Kinsey et al.,
1953). Kinsey and his colleagues made sex research a
scientifically respectable field of study and helped lay the
groundwork for discussing sexual behavior openly.
• The Sexual Revolution
o The period of the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s is often
referred to as the sexual revolution. Our society was on the
threshold of major social upheaval, not only in sexual
behavior but also in science, politics, fashion, music, art,
and cinema. The sexual revolution gained momentum from
a timely interplay of scientific, social, political, and
economic forces. The war (in Vietnam), the bomb (fear of

Loading page 11...

Updated April 2018
9
the nuclear bomb), the pill (the introduction of the birth
control pill), and the mass media (especially television)
were four such forces. Popular books encouraged people to
explore their sexuality. Film scenes of lovemaking became
so commonplace that the movie rating system was
introduced to alert parents. During the sexual revolution,
sexually explicit questionnaires proliferated in popular
magazines, interviewers posed sexually explicit questions
by telephone and in person, and some pioneers, including
William H. Masters and Virginia Johnson, observed people
engaging in sexual activity in the laboratory. In the 1960s,
Masters and Johnson were condemned by many as
destroying the moral fabric of the nation—a complaint
similar to those leveled earlier against Kinsey.
• Recent Trends
o More teenagers are sexually active today, and at younger
ages, than they were a couple of generations ago. Two
other features of the sexual evolution have become
permanent parts of our social fabric: the liberation of
female sexuality and widespread willingness to discuss sex
openly. Countless pornography Web sites populate the
Internet and can be accessed by children.
▪ The Biological Perspective
• The biological perspective focuses on the roles of hormones, the
nervous system, the sex organs, genetics, and other biological
factors in human sexuality. Study of the biology of sex informs us
about the mechanisms of reproduction as well as of the
mechanisms of sexual arousal and response. We learn that orgasm
is a spinal reflex as well as a psychological event. Genes lead to
the timely development female and male sexual anatomy and
physiology and, apparently, to stereotypical mating behavior in
most species. Our physical traits, and perhaps our mating
strategies, are determined or at least influenced by genes that we
inherit from our parents.
▪ The Evolutionary Perspective
• Species vary not only in their physical characteristics but also in
their social behavior, including their mating behavior. The English
naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) showed that current species
of animals and plants evolved from other life forms through natural
selection, or “survival of the fittest.” In each species, individuals
vary, and some are better adapted to their environments than
others. Better-adapted members are more likely to survive to
reproduce and transmit their traits to succeeding generations. They
are not necessarily the strongest or fleetest of foot, although these
traits are adaptive for some species and enhance their reproductive
success. New variations in species can also be introduced through

Loading page 12...

Updated April 2018
10
random genetic changes called mutations. Although mutations
occur randomly, they are subject to natural selection. Adaptive
mutations enhance reproductive success.
▪ Evolutionary Views of Male-Female Differences in Mating Strategies
• With humans, natural selection may not only have led to the
development of our sex organs, but also to sexual and mating
strategies that promote the survival of our species. More
specifically, researchers into evolutionary processes suggest that
there may be a genetic basis to certain aspects of social behavior,
including sexual behavior, among humans and some other animals.
Some evolutionary psychologists argue that men are naturally
more promiscuous than women because they are the genetic heirs
of ancestors whose reproductive success was related to the number
of women they could impregnate. Women, by contrast, can
produce only a few offspring in their lifetimes. Thus, evolutionary
theory suggests, woman may have to be more selective with
respect to their mating partners. Women’s reproductive success is
enhanced by mating with the fittest males—not with any Tom,
Dick, or Harry who happens by. Thus the male’s “roving eye” and
the female’s selectivity may be embedded in their genes.
▪ The Cross-Species Perspective
• In an endeavor to discover what kinds of sexual behaviors are
“natural,” scientists have looked to the sexual behavior of other
animal species. A surprising variety of sexual behaviors exist
among nonhumans. There are animal examples, or analogues, of
human male–male sexual behavior, female–female sexual
behavior, oral–genital contact, and oral–oral behavior (i.e.,
kissing). Foreplay is also well known in the animal world. Most
mammals use only a rear-entry position to mate, but some animals,
such as apes, use a variety of positions. Cross-species research
reveals an interesting pattern. Sexual behavior among “higher”
mammals, such as primates, is less directly controlled by instinct
than it is among the “lower” species, such as birds, fish, or lower
mammals. Experience and learning play more important roles in
sexuality as we climb the evolutionary ladder.
▪ Sociological Perspectives
• Sociology tends to study the influences of groups of sexual

Loading page 13...

Updated April 2018
11
them, to be ostracized. The members of all human societies share
anatomic structures and physiological capacities for sexual
pleasure, however. The same hormones flow through their arteries.
Yet their sexual practices, and the pleasure they reap or fail to
attain, may set them apart. If human sexuality were determined
exclusively by biology, we might not find such diversity.
▪ Psychological Perspectives
• Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalytic Theory
o Sigmund Freud, a Viennese physician, formulated a grand
theory of personality termed psychoanalysis in the latter
part of the nineteenth century. Freud believed that we are
all born with biologically based sex drives that must be
channeled through socially approved outlets if family and
social life are to carry on without undue conflict. Freud
proposed that the mind operates on conscious and
unconscious levels. The conscious level corresponds to our
state of present awareness. The unconscious mind refers to
the darker reaches of the mind that lie outside our direct
awareness. The ego shields the conscious mind from
awareness of our baser sexual and aggressive urges by
means of defense mechanisms such as repression, or
motivated forgetting of traumatic experiences. One
avenue of expression is the dream, through which sexual
impulses may be perceived in disguised, or symbolic, form.
The therapists and scholars who follow in the Freudian
tradition are quite interested in analyzing dreams, but this
view has not been supported by research evidence. Freud
introduced us to new and controversial ideas about
ourselves as sexual beings. One of Freud’s most
controversial beliefs was that children normally harbor
erotic interests. He theorized that it was normal for
children to progress through stages of development in
which the erotic interest shifts from one erogenous zone to
another from the mouth or oral cavity to the anal cavity.
According to his theory of psychosexual development,
children undergo five stages of development: oral, anal,
phallic, latency, and genital, which are named according to
the main erogenous zones of each stage. Freud believed
that it was normal for children to develop erotic feelings
toward the parent of the other sex during the phallic stage.
These incestuous urges lead to conflict with the parent of
the same sex.
• Learning Theories
o Even within the same society, family and personal
experiences can shape unique sexual attitudes and
behaviors. Behaviorists such as John B. Watson (1878–

Loading page 14...

Updated April 2018
12
1958) and B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) emphasized the
importance of rewards and punishments in the learning
process. Children left to explore their bodies without
parental condemnation will learn what feels good and tend
to repeat it. Observational learning refers to acquiring
knowledge and skills by observing others. Observational
learning includes seeing models in films and on television,
hearing about them, and reading about them. According to
social–cognitive theory, children acquire the gender roles
deemed appropriate for people of their anatomic sex
through reinforcement of what society considers to be
gender-appropriate behavior and through observing the
gender-role behavior of their parents, their peers, and other
models.
• Cognitive Theories
o Cognitive psychologists emphasize the importance of
cognitive activity (problem solving, decision making,
expectations, attitudes and beliefs, and so on). They
recognize that the beliefs and attitudes taught to children
can serve as cognitive anchors for a lifetime.
▪ Feminist Theory
• The Greek philosopher Aristotle is said to have described a female
as a deformed male. Feminism and feminist theory are born of
protest against ideas such as those of Aristotle’s—ideas that
remain with us today in many if not most parts of the world.
Definitions of feminism and of feminist theory are controversial,
but it is clear enough that feminist theory focuses on the
subordination of women to men; analyzing the relationships
between sexism, heterosexism (prejudice or discrimination against
homosexuals by heterosexuals), racism, and class oppression; and
exploring means of resistance—on individual and societal levels.
Among other things, feminist theory challenges:
▪ Traditional views of men as breadwinners and
women as homemakers
▪ Traditional views of men as political policymakers,
especially because those policies affect women and
children
▪ Traditional views of men as sexual “aggressors”
and women as sexual “gatekeepers”
▪ Traditional gender roles that view men as objective
and rational, and women as emotional and irrational
Some feminists challenge the concepts of femininity and
masculinity because their existence tends to suggest that there is
some sort of biological or “actual” basis to the distinction. They
argue, instead, that femininity and masculinity might be purely
social constructions that have the effect of giving women second-

Loading page 15...

Loading page 16...

Updated April 2018
14
• 1. Formulating a research question. Scientists formulate research
questions on the basis of their observations of, or theories about,
events or behavior. They then seek answers to such questions by
conducting empirical research.
• 2. Framing the research question in the form of a hypothesis.
Experiments are usually undertaken with a hypothesis in mind—a
precise prediction that is tested through research.
• 3. Testing the hypothesis. Scientists then test hypotheses through
carefully controlled observation and experimentation.
• 4. Drawing conclusions. Scientists then draw conclusions or
inferences about the correctness of their hypotheses, based on their
analyses of the results of their studies. If the results of well-
designed research studies fail to bear out certain hypotheses,
scientists can revise the theories that served as the frameworks for
the hypotheses. Research findings often lead scientists to modify
their theories, and in turn, generate new hypotheses.
▪ Goals of the Science of Human Sexuality
• The goals of the science of human sexuality are congruent with

Loading page 17...

Updated April 2018
15
participate by being more open about their sexuality. The refusal
of people who have been randomly selected to participate in a
survey can ruin the representativeness of the sample, yet
researchers cannot coerce people to participate in research.
Therefore, researchers must use samples of volunteers, rather than
true random samples. A low response rate to a voluntary survey is
an indication that the responses do not represent the people for
whom the survey was distributed. Some samples, such as the
Kinsey sample, are “samples of convenience.” They consist of
individuals who happen to be available to the researcher and do not
represent the population at large. Convenience samples often
consist of European American, middle-class college students who
volunteer for studies conducted at their schools. They may not
even be representative of students in general.
o Describe methods of observation including the case-study method, the survey,
naturalistic observation, ethnographic observation, participant observation, and
laboratory observation.
▪ The Case-Study Method
• A case study is a carefully drawn, in-depth biography of an

Loading page 18...

Loading page 19...

Loading page 20...

Loading page 21...

Loading page 22...

Loading page 23...

Loading page 24...

Loading page 25...

Loading page 26...

Loading page 27...

Loading page 28...

Loading page 29...

Updated April 2018
27
operating in this research? How might her questions to participants be different if she had a
background in clinical psychology as opposed to anthropology? Challenge students to design the
same study using other methods of observation.
Lecture Launcher 1.8: Analysis of Sexual Research
Compare and discuss the research method used by Sigmund Freud, Masters and Johnson, Alfred
Kinsey, and Margaret Mead. Analyze the pros and cons of each method of investigation. For
each researcher, redesign their research using another method of observation. Discuss how this
might have altered their results. What were their respective views on human sexuality? What
were their contributions to our understanding of sexuality? How were their findings different
from previous views on sex? How do they compare to societal views on sex today?
In addition to or instead of this discussion, this activity can also be used to analyze the work of
more recent sex researchers. What are the pros and cons of the National Health and Social Life
Survey as well as the National Survey of Family Growth projects?
Online Discussion Topics
Discussion Starter 1.1: Sexual Attitudes
Ask your students to reflect on their own values, attitudes, and experiences related to sex.
Discussion questions:
• What are the top three things in your life that have most influenced your viewpoints
(some things to consider: religion, friends, family, age, hometown, TV and movies, etc.)?
• How would you describe your values and attitudes toward sexuality?
• Do you have any prejudices regarding sexuality? Why do you feel you have these?
• What do you think of how the media portrays sexuality? What do you think of the
messages religious or government institutions send about sexuality?
• Would you be able to stay friends with someone who held very different values related to
sexuality? Why or why not?
Discussion Starter 1.2: Value Discussion
What are examples of ways that these values and roles can impact sexual decisions? What are
some examples of common conflicts that people may experience between their apparent values
and sexual attitudes and behavior? How do you understand the discrepancies? What do people
experience when their behavior is in conflict with their purported values? What makes it difficult
to align values to behavior?
Student Activities
Student Activity 1.1: How Much Do You Know About Sex?
Distribute copies of this 18-item questionnaire used by the Roper Organization and the Kinsey
Institute in a nationwide survey of “sexual literacy.” The questionnaire, scoring key, and national
comparisons are included below.
The Kinsey Institute/Roper Organization National Sex Knowledge Test

Loading page 30...

Updated April 2018
28
How much do you know about sex? A recent survey conducted by the Kinsey Institute and
the Roper Organization gave Americans poor marks in general. This nationwide survey, which
polled a cross section of 1,974 adults on 18 questions concerning sex and reproduction,
represented the first national effort to assess the sexual knowledge of people in the United States
(Reinisch, 1990)1. The questions tapped knowledge about such topics as sexual physiology,
contraceptives, American sexual practices, and reproductive biology. The answers to questions
about sexual practices were based on research conducted by the Kinsey Institute over the past
two generations.
How did Americans fare on the national sex test? Less than half (45%) of the respondents
received “passing grades” of 10 or more correct (out of 18). Fewer than one in five were able to
answer 12 correctly.
To be fair, some of the questions test familiarity with the results of sex surveys rather than
general knowledge about human sexuality. Some questions, for example, asked for the
percentage of Americans who have had extramarital affairs, homosexual encounters, or engaged
in anal intercourse. Other questions asked about the average age of first intercourse and the
length of the average man’s erect penis. Still, our society needs to do a better job educating the
public about sex. We need to know more if we are to deal effectively with social problems like
preventing teenage pregnancy and AIDS.
You may evaluate your own knowledge by completing the 18-item Kinsey Institute/Roper
Organization National Sex Knowledge Test. Then you can compare your results to those of the
nationwide sample.
An alternative activity would be to ask students to analyze the questionnaire critically and
replace those items that are considered “unfair” with new ones that would really measure
knowledge of human sexuality. The same activity can be repeated at the end of the semester to
determine whether students change these items.

Loading page 31...

30 more pages available. Scroll down to load them.

Preview Mode

100%

Study Now!

XY-Copilot AI

Unlimited Access

Secure Payment

Instant Access

24/7 Support

Document Chat

Document Details

Subject

Psychology

Human Sexuality in a Changing World, 10th Edition Class Notes

Study Now!

Document Details

Related Documents

Test Bank For Death and Dying, Life and Living , 8th Edition

Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning, 3rd Edition Test Bank

Test Bank For Childhood and Adolescence: Voyages in Development, 6th Edition

Test Bank For Developing Helping Skills: A Step-by-Step Approach to Competency, 3rd Edition

Test Bank For Understanding Dying, Death, and Bereavement, 7th Edition

Test Bank For The Science of Psychology: An Appreciative View 4th Edition Test Bank

Psychology Applied To Modern Life: Adjustment In The 21st Century , 11th Edition Test Bank

Test Bank for Behavior Modification: What It Is and How To Do It, 11th Edition (Chapters 1-30)

Test Bank For Psychology and Work Today, 10th Edition

Test Bank For A Guide to Crisis Intervention, 6th Edition

Company

Explore

Study Tools