Yu, Hiu Yan. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-186). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in Chinese.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

This thesis theorizes the conceptual grid upon which discussions of sexuality are based in India's Great Epic, the Mahabharata . The Mahabharata contains complex multilevel taxonomies of sexuality, framed within hierarchies of religious experience. The thesis isolates two categories of religious experience: pravr&dotbelow;tti dharma ("involvement in the world"), and nivr&dotbelow;tti dharma ("renunciation of the world"). Within nivr&dotbelow;tti dharma, discourses on sexuality are inalienable from discourses on the body, and on asceticism. Within pravr&dotbelow;tti dharma, discourses on sexuality are anchored by parallel discourses on the dharmas of caste and stage of life (varn&dotbelow;asrama dharma), as well as on the dharmas based on sex and familial hierarchy. These subcategories are identified and the place of sexuality within them is drawn in detail.

Using a photoplethysmograph, vaginal blood volume (VBV) and pulse pressure (VPP) responses of 53 women volunteers were compared and related to immediate self-reports of either sexual or genital arousal. The responses were examined across a sequence of experimental phases and, in one of these phases as a function of high or low erotic stimulus intensity. Results indicated that both physiological and subjective responses were specifically affected by the erotic stimuli. After these stimuli VPP and subjective responses returned to prestimulation levels whereas VBV did not. Intensity of erotic stimulus affected subjective responses but not the physiological responses. Correlations between the measures indicated that VBV and VPP were moderately well correlated at all times but became more so during the high intensity erotic stimulus and when physiological responses were strong. The correlation between physiological and subjective responses was also enhanced during the erotic stimulus phase as a function of both erotic stimulus intensity and strength of physiological response. Following the erotic stimuli, subjective reports of declining arousal were still strongly correlated with VPP but not with VBV. Results were discussed in terms of the nature of the haemodynamic system underlying changes in blood flow and the possible mechanism by which women detect such changes. Four factors shown to influence the correlation between physiological response and self-report (i.e. response change, physiological response strength, particular physiological response, and erotic stimulus intensity) were discussed in terms of this process, and in terms of cognitive variables which may affect subjective judgments of sexual arousal. Methodological and statistical implications of this research were examined, as well as implications for the clinical assessment of female sexual arousal.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

It is the purpose of this research practicum to explore the self-reported changes of women who have participated in Preorgasmic Women's Groups. These groups are a type of treatment program for the problem of primary orgasmic dysfunction, and for women who want to learn to experience orgasm through manual masturbation. A Preorgasmic Group relates to a combination of physiological and psychological components of orgasm. It is distinguished from other therapy techniques in that the program involves only women in a group situation and uses a combination of techniques. It combines group discussion, education of female anatomy and sexual function, and a behavior modification program done as homework, which is an adaptation of the nine-step desensitization program designed by Lobitz and LoPiccolo. Primary Orgasmic Dysfunction: a term describing the condition of a woman who has never experienced orgasm. Secondary orgasmic dysfunction is a term describing women who have experienced orgasm outside sexual activity with a partner.

No description available.

No description available.