Arousal Flashcards
Define arousal
The energised state of readiness of the individual to perform a task motivating them to direct their behaviour in a particular way
What is the Reticular activating system
Cluster of brain cells located in the central part of the brainstem
which controls levels of arousal
Sleepiness to Alertness
Controls Direction and Intensity of arousal
What are the 2 types of arousal
Physiological - somatic arousal which is physical E.g. increases heart rate before big game
Psychological - cognitive anxiety, e.g. anxiety or worry felt before
the same big event
Original drive theory - (Hull,1943)
Drive theory indicates that as arousal increases, there is a proportional increase in the quality of performance
Adapted drive theory - (spence and spence)
The quality of performance depends upon how well the skill has been learned
Performance = Habit Strength x Drive
Actions that have been learned are called DOMINANT RESPONSES
Dominant responses are the actions that are most likely to occur as arousal increases
Implications for Teaching and Learning of drive theory
At the associative phase of learning, the dominant response is likely to be incorrect. Therefore, the novice learns best when in a condition of low arousal.
At the autonomous stage of learning, the dominant response is likely to be fluent and correct. Therefore, the expert would perform better in an environment that stimulates high arousal.
High arousal inhibits the performance of perceptual and fine motor skills
High arousal helps the performance of dynamic skills
3 strengths of drive theory
It explains high performance by experts (at high arousal) because their dominant response (likely to be) correct because experts can cope with higher levels of arousal
It explains high performance at dynamic or explosive or ballistic skills
It helps teachers and coaches when coaching novices as they understand that novices need low arousal to learn /novices learn or perform badly with high arousal
3 weaknesses of drive theory
It doesn’t take into account nature of task or personality or ability / potential
It does not explain decline in performance (at high arousal)
It doesn’t explain how performers can produce high performance with low arousal
What is the inverted U theory
As arousal increases the quality of performance increases (and continues to increase) up to the optimum point.
Performance and the capacity to learn is best at the optimum point.
After the optimum point or if arousal continues to increase performance will deteriorate gradually as show by downward curve
Effect of under arousal
Performance will be below potential due to attentional broadening: the performer does not focus on relevant cues and does not filter out irrelevant information, causing overload of information
Effect of optimum arousal
Attentional field adjusts to the ideal width; this has a positive effect on selective attention and cue-utilisation (the ability to focus and act on appropriate cues). This maximises capacity to make fast and accurate decisions.
Effect of over arousal
Performance will decline due to hyper vigilance and perceptual or attentional narrowing (the performer is over -focused and filters out relevant cues, causing panic). This leads to poor decision making
Different optimum points for different people
Task type, personality & skill level determine the position of the optimum point for each individual
Gross or simple skills, extroverts and autonomous performers have higher optimal arousal
Complex or fine skills, introverts and novices have lower optimum arousal levels
3 strengths of inverted U
It recognises that optimum levels of arousal are not the same for all activities or all performers
It takes into account that performance can decline even with high arousal
Links with cue-utilisation or perceptual narrowing or attention narrowing e.g. hyper-vigilance
3 weaknesses of Inverted U
Increase or decrease in performance rarely smooth or steady or gradual
It doesn’t explain a sudden drop in performance e.g. with high arousal some performers improve
Only considers the effect of somatic arousal on performance - not the influence of cognitive anxiety
Explain Catastrophe theory
If somatic arousal increases, so does performance up to the optimal point, but only if cognitive anxiety is kept low
If high cognitive anxiety combines with high somatic arousal the performer goes beyond the optimal point
The performer loses concentration and there is a sharp decline in performance
Performance after catastrophe
If arousal is controlled (lowered) after the performer ‘goes over the edge,’ performance can improve, and the upward curve of arousal can be re-joined
If arousal continues to increase after the sharp drop in performance further deterioration will occur.
3 strengths of catastrophe theory
It is more realistic (than others)
It explains why performance can suddenly or dramatically decline
It is a multidimensional theory / it takes various factors into account (cognitive anxiety and somatic arousal)
It explains how some performers can recover
3 weaknesses of catastrophe theory
Some performers never experience a sudden decline (but slowly decline - as suggested by inverted U)
It does not take task or skill level or personality into account
It is not a proven theory / it is a theoretical idea
