Issues in the laboratory study of human sexual response: A synthesis for the nontechnical sexologist

Laboratory-based research on sexual response constitutes a significant comp onent in the current overall effort to understand human sexuality, and ther efore it behooves the contemporary sexologist to understand the value and l imitations of this approach. This paper describes the broadening scope of s exual psychophysiological research over the decades. The strengths and uniq ue contribution of this approach are delineated, with examples of how it ha s modified thinking about normal human sexual response, sexual dysfunction, and sexual deviancy. Factors that currently limit the impact of laboratory -based research are presented including those that are external to the lab and not under the experimenter's control, those that arise from the laborat ory session itself and those relating to the generalization of data from th e lab to real world situations. Ways in which such factors diminish the eff icacy of the laboratory study of sexuality are identified and where possibl e, strategies are suggested that might offset their impact.