Sexual Instrumentation

Abstract

The measurement of human sexuality has recently centered on the dysfunctional and disordered, while the early work was directed at understanding and assessing the human sexual response. This article reviews the development of medical devices and instruments for the assessment and treatment of female sexual function and dysfunction; then our attention is turned to the assessment and treatment of male sexual function and dysfunction, and lastly, we review phallometry and other assessments related deviant sexual interest and arousal in the human male. Tremendous gains have been made in the last 50 years of research and development in the measurement of human sexuality. Unfortunately, these gains have occurred within a context of varied approaches, methodologies, and instruments. Despite several reviews and recommendations, there remain differing instruments, methodologies, and procedures in the physiological assessment of human sexuality. Furthermore, with the advent of more easily administered self‐report questionnaires, many outcome studies now rely on these self‐report measures, often ignoring the physiological aspects of sexual interest, arousal, and functioning. Further complicating research in this area is the lack of representativeness of human sexuality research volunteers in comparison with “normals”. Thus, we are left with an indeterminate field; what research we have may be based in part on participant variables, a lack of standard instruments in methodologies and procedures, which impedes cross‐study comparisons, and on continuing advances in technology, leading to the promulgation of new devices and instruments. There are several reliable, valid, and useful devices and instruments for the psychophysiological assessment of human sexuality, and there is hope that with advances in technology, some of the concerns sounded by the scholars and pioneers in human sexuality research will be addressed.