AROUSAL

A2 PHYSICAL EDUCATIONPsychological Aspects

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Drive theory

• Inverted U theory

• Catastrophe theory

• Practical applications and impact on performance

AROUSAL

The state of general preparedness of the body for action, involving physiological and psychological factors.

•The intensity of arousal falls on a continuum ranging from not aroused at all to being completely aroused.

LOW AROUSAL HIGH AROUSAL

What is meant by arousal?

• Arousal can be a heightened sense of psychological activity.

• i.e. Increased heart rate, excitement, faster respiration, increased sweating.

• Arousal can also be attributable to amount of motivation you may have. This can include aspects such as how alert you may be when participating in sport.

• Research has suggested that we need a certain level of arousal to enable us to perform at our best.

PYSIOLOGICAL (somatic) SIGNS OF AROUSAL

• Increased heart rate• Increased breathing rate• Sweating• Headache• Cold, clammy hands• Constant need to urinate• Dry mouth• Dazed look in the eyes• Feelings of nausea• Increased muscle tension• Butterflies in the stomach

PSYCHOLOGICAL (cognitive) SIGNS OF

AROUSAL• Increased focus and concentration• Heightened awareness of important cues in the environment• Narrowing of attention, excluding irrelevant stimuli• Decreased reaction time

If a performer becomes too aroused they can exhibit signs of:• Anxiety• Tension• Negative self talk• Difficulties sleeping• Inability to concentrate• Fear and anger

AROUSAL THEORIES (1)

DRIVE THEORY

A theory of arousal that proposes a linear relationship between arousal and performance; as arousal increases so does the

quality of performance.

Devised by Hull in (1943) and Spence & Spence (1966)

Is concerned with a proportional linear relationship between arousal and performance.

DRIVE THEORYPerformance = Habit strength X

Drive

P = H D

The more an elite sports person is aroused the better their

performance due to the dominant response being

chosen is habitual.

The more a beginner sports person is aroused the dominant response may be incorrect and high levels of arousal can cause a deterioration in performance.

PROBLEMS WITH DRIVE THEORY

• The habitual behaviour/ dominant response is not always the correct one (think of beginners)

• By increasing drive (arousal) performers often resort to previously learned skills because they are dominant but may be incorrect.

• Even highly skilled players ‘choke’ in highly charged situations.

AROUSAL THEORIES (2)

INVERTED U THEORY

A theory of arousal that considers that optimal performance occurs when the performer reaches an optimal level of arousal.

Devised by Yerkes and Dodson (1908)

Is concerned with the optimal level of arousal being found through observations of performance.

Most athletes and coaches can relate to this theory

INVERTED U THEORYAt low levels of arousal,

performance will be below par meaning that the athlete is not

psyched up.

As arousal increases so does performance, up to an optimal point. After this point, further

increases in arousal lead to declines in performance.

Each athlete has their own optimal level of arousal.

PROBLEMS WITH INVERTED U THEORY

• Critics question if optimal arousal always occurs at the mid-point of the curve.

• One curve does not explain the different optimal levels of arousal needed for simple and complex tasks.

AROUSAL THEORIES (3)CATASTROPHE THEORY

A theory that predicts a rapid decline in performance resulting from the combination of high cognitive anxiety and increasing

somatic anxiety.

Devised by Hardy and Frazey (1987)

Is a development of the Inverted U theory but involves a faster and more dramatic reduction in performance.

It is more a model than theory because it tries to predict human behaviour rather than explain it.

CATASTROPHE THEORYPoint A

Cognitive anxiety is high.Somatic anxiety is low.

Performance is enhanced.

Point BCognitive anxiety is high.Somatic anxiety is high.

Performance can deteriorate.

Point CPerformance still deteriorating.

Point DPerformance does not return to original level immediately even

though performer is trying to decrease arousal.

CATASTROPHE THEORYPhysiological arousal is related to performance in an

inverted ‘U’ fashion when the athlete is not worried or has low cognitive anxiety state anxiety.

If cognitive anxiety is high, the increases in arousal pass a point of optimal arousal and a rapid decline in performance occurs (the catastrophe).

It would be very difficult to recover from this point.

TASK

• Complete the questions on the accompanying sheets.

• Try and relate your answers to a sport of your choice.

AROUSAL AND ITS IMPACT ON

PERFORMANCEOnce we attain our optimum level our reactions are at their fastest, we are able to screen out irrelevant information and

do NOT suffer from Attentional Narrowing.

Attentional Narrowing: Focusing on too narrow a range of information or on the

performance of a skill; this causes the performer to ignore important cues or information.

This occurs when a performer is so tightly focused on performing the skill, or on a small part of the display (e.g. the defender in front of them), that they do not attend to other important aspects or they miss important cues (e.g.

team mates they could pass to).