Arousal Flashcards
What is arousal?
Arousal is the ‘energsied state’ or the ‘readiness for action’ that motivates us to perform
- can be somatic (physical = e.g. sweating, HR increase, tense muscles)
- can be cognitive (mentally)
- can have +ve or -ve influence on performance
What is motivation?
Motivation is related to rhe intensity & direction of behaviour
Arousal represents the intensity aspect of motivation
What are the 4 main theories for arousal?
- drive theory
- drive reduction
- inverted U theory
- catastrophe theory
Describe the drive theory for arousal
- relationship between arousal + performance is linear
= performance increases in proportion to arousal - as arousal increases the dominant (learned) response if the athlete is more likely to occur
Elite athletes:
- usually have correct dominant response = result in improved performance in high arousing situations
Novice athletes:
- more likely to have faulty dominant response = reduced performance levels
Example of drive theory
Cricket swing batsman:
- bottom = miss the ball, swing everywhere
- middle = make contact with ball
- top = correct form and hits good shot
What is drive reduction theory?
- An individual may be motivated to complete task/ learn a skill, seen as ‘drive’ = when that drive is perceived as fulfilled then the drive is reduced
- Aka reactive inhibition
Example of drive reduction theory
Performer thinks theyve done their best/ reached their goal; high percentage of effective serves in tennis, so stops trying si hard or ‘inhibits’ their effort = lead to a decrease in performsnce
E.g. shooting in netball = initially drive to learn technique, but once you know, stop = accuracy of shooting decreases
How to reduce reactive inhibition?
- set new challenged/ higher goals
- vary practices in training
Evaluation of Drive theory
- drive theory has been criticised as we know that performance is not always improved when playing in highly arousing situations
What is the inverted U theory?
- theory explains the observed effect of people becoming over-aroused by showing that:
- performace incfeases with arousal up to an optimum point (usually at moderate arousal)
- past this point, performance begins to decrease
What affects the point of optimal performance (inverted U theory)?
- performer’s skill level
- type of skill
- performer’s personality
optimal arousal for different performers
- optimum arousal level will be lower for novices than for elite athletes
- optimal arousal level will be lower for fine skills thsn for gross skills
- optimum arousal level will be lower for introvers than extroverts
What are rhe conditions of arousal?
- under-arousal
- optimal
- over-arousal
Describe under-arousal (iverted U theory)
Difficult for the performer to direct and focus attention on the display.
• The attention field widens excessively and the focus is not directed to the most important cues.
• This limits concentration and the potential to learn (may appear to ‘daydream’) and information overload will prevent accurate decision making.
Describe optimal arousal (inverted U theory)
Also referred to as ‘THE ZONE OF OPTIMAL FUNCTIONING (ZOF)’ or ‘PEAK FLOW’
- This is the perfect state in which the potential for learning can be maximised.
- The attention field adjusts to the ideal width and the most important information can be detected from the environment (known as the Cue Utilisation Hypothesis)
- Concentration levels are high and logical decisions can be made.
- Optimal arousal levels differ depending on the individual’s stage of learning (Refer to Fig.3)/personality/type of task
