ANALYSIS OF FACTORS INVOLVED IN THE AROUSAL, MAINTENANCE AND MANIFESTATION OF SEXUAL EXCITEMENT IN MALE ANIMALS1

Abstract

The exptl. literature on the mating behavior of animals is reviewed. The author''s interpretation of the physiol. basis of sexual excitement in the [male] posits that it is due to 2 independent variables: their innate threshold for sexual arousal and the value of the stimulus-object in eliciting sexual excitement. "The appearance of copulatory reactions is thus seen as a joint function of the [male]''s responsiveness and the incentive''s excitatory value." While in sub-primate vertebrates the motor patterns of copulation appear to be innately determined, experience and learning play an increasingly important role in the sex-activity of monkeys and higher primates, including man. The [male] is capable of exhibiting the mating pattern of the [female] of his species as well as of displaying the [male] copulatory reactions. Feminine behavior in the [male] can be increased either by administering estrogen ([female] hormones) or by raising the an-drogen ([male] hormone) level high and, at the same time, preventing the masculine copulatory reaction. 111 references are included.