An experimental investigation of preorgasmic reconditioning and postorgasmic deconditioning

The effects of pre- and postorgasmic presentation of moderately erotic cues were assessed in an analogue study. Eight heterosexual male volunteers (18 to 23 years) participated in three assessment (baseline, termination-of-treatment, and two- to three-month followup) and eight masturbatory conditioning sessions. Three slides of nude females of initially equal erotic value were paired respectively with the plateau, refractory, and resolution phases of the subjects' sexual cycles. Over treatment, stimuli paired with the plateau phase increased significantly in penile tumescence indices of eroticism; conversely, stimuli paired with the refractory phase decreased significantly. The conditioned effects on tumescence were largely extinguished at followup. While treatment did not alter short-term subjective indices of eroticism, stimuli presented during the refractory phase were rated significantly less erotic than the other stimuli at followup. The findings suggest that the "pairing" model of orgasmic conditioning is insufficient to account for previously reported clinical findings. A broader conceptualization of the mechanisms of orgasmic conditioning, and implications for treatment are discussed.