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INTRODUCTION
In incentive models of sexual motivation, it has been predicted that "the hedonic quality of particular incentives is decreased by constant use or consummation and enhanced by abstinence from that particular incentive" (Singer and Toates, 1987, p. 485). This notion points to the possible role of habituation processes in the modulation of sexual motivation, since the incentive quality of the stimulus wears off with repeated exposure.
In the tradition of sexual motivation theories, Hardy (1964) proposed that as a result of habituation, a person seeks out sexual activities that continue to increase in intensity "in order to regain the prior level of gratification" (p. 10). In contrast, it has been suggested (e.g., O'Donohue and Plaid, 1991) that habituation may underlie low sexual desire disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1987). Prevalence figures given by Bancroft (1989) suggest that low sexual desire is found most commonly in women. If a relationship between low sexual desire and habituation indeed exists, habituation of sexual arousal is expected to be found in women. Habituation has also been of interest in attempting to explain the Coolidge effect, which refers to a preference for novel sexual partners or a resumption of sexual behavior by a sexually satiated male animal when a new partner is presented (Dewsbury, 1981). On the basis of this phenomenon in male animals, sociobiologists argue that men will tend to habituate sexually (and therefore seek novel sexual partners) and women will not (and therefore remain monogamous), as such representing evolutionary sound reproductive strategies (e.g., Symons, 1979). However, to our knowledge, Coolidge effects have not been tested in female animals. Furthermore, it is as yet unknown whether the Coolidge effect is related to habituation or is a general response to novelty (cf. Singer and Toates, 1987).
Thompson and Spencer (1966) defined habituation as a systematic decrease in the magnitude of a response as a result of repeated stimulation, provided that the decrement is not attributable to neural adaptation or fatigue. Evidence for the occurrence of habituation of male sexual arousal within one session was found by O'Donohue and Geer (1985); repeated exposure to the same erotic slide produced a greater decline of both physiological and subjective arousal than exposure to different slides. O'Donohue and Plaid (1991) found both within- and...