<< Tactile and Pressure Responses >>

One of the most characteristic qualities of living matter, plant or animal, is its capacity to respond to touch. The normal, first reaction of an organism is to press against any object with which it may come into contact. One-celled animals mass against objects. Multicellular bodies like cockroaches crowd into corners. Infants and small children spontaneously snuggle against other human bodies. Uninhibited human adults do the same thing whenever the opportunity affords.

When the contact causes pain, or subjects the animal to extreme temperatures, the organism may respond negatively and pull away from the stimulus. Higher animals become conditioned by experience and may learn to react negatively to the mere possibility of repeating such a contact. Moral codes and social custom aid in this conditioning, and the human adult, in consequence, often reacts adversely to contacts with other living bodies. It is probable, however, that most negative responses are learned responses, and they do not represent the innate qualities of uneducated protoplasm. Sexual difficulties in marriages, and personal maladjustments, are not infrequently the product of this sort of perversion of the biologically normal reactions to tactile stimuli.

If an animal pulls away from the stimulating object, little else may happen to it physiologically. If it responds by pressing against the object, a considerable series of physiologic events may follow. If the tactile stimulation becomes rhythmic, or the pressure is long-continued, the level of response may increase and build up neuromuscular tensions which become recognizable as sexual responses.

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