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AROUSAL THEORY
Relationship
Arousal &
Drive
to performance.
attentional narrowing.
theory / Inverted U theory /
Catastrophe theory.
USEFUL DEFINITIONS
Arousal can be defined as:
 ‘a state of readiness to perform that helps
motivate performers’
 ‘the energised state, or the readiness for action
that motivates a performer to behave in a
particular way’
 ‘physiological state of alertness & anticipation
which prepares the body for action’
Theories of Arousal
We need the appropriate level of arousal / activation
for the action we are to perform (known as
optimal arousal), whether it is digesting a meal or
catching a cricket ball.
The effects of arousal can be either positive or
negative.
High arousal can cause us to worry & become
anxious, which is negative if it isn’t controlled.
Raising arousal level can also cause a state of
‘readiness’ to perform – this is largely a positive
aspect & can enhance performance.
DRIVE THEORY (Hull, 1951)
(NB – ‘drive’: directed, motivated or ‘energised’ behaviour that
an individual has towards achieving a certain goal)
Key component is performer’s level of skill &
sees the relationship between arousal &
performance as linear: performance increases in
proportion to arousal.
 A very high arousal level would result in a high
performance level, provided skill is well-learned.
 However, if the skill is not well-learned,
performance of skill will deteriorate as arousal
increases.

Drive theory conti………..

This theory helps explain why beginners find it
difficult to perform well under pressure. Often
beginners skill level decreases if they are
competing in a relay race using new skills, e.g.
football dribbling race.
 However, also explains how experienced athletes
perform better under pressure using well-learned
skills, e.g. good tennis players play better against
stronger opposition.
 Clearly the impact of arousal on performance is
complex, consider the following:
Drive theory conti………..
Ed Moses, Olympic medal winner (1976 & ’84
400m hurdles) said ‘the way I get the best out is
by not expecting an easy race. It’s easier when
there’s pressure. You get emotional & you go out
to perform’.
 Bob Tisdall described a fellow Cambridge student
who desperately wanted to win a race for the
university to get a ‘blue’. He especially stayed on
a fourth year to have another chance. Tisdall
reported that the student ‘froze in the starting
blocks in the finals. We had to pick him up and he
was stiff, like a corpse’.

Drive theory conti………..

Arousal improved Ed Moses’ performance
but devastated the performance of the
Cambridge student. Both athletes were
performing well-learned tasks. Drive theory
fails to explain this outcome, & its focus on
the well-learned task cannot be applied to
the many sports skills which combine both
well-learned & novel elements.
Inverted ‘U’ theory
(Yerkes & Dodson, 1908)

An increase in arousal causes improvement
in performance up to an optimal point
(moderate arousal level). After this point,
increased arousal leads to deteriorated
performance.
Inverted ‘U’ theory conti…..
This theory accounts for some of the criticisms of the
drive theory and this inverted ‘U’ relationship
exists in a number of different circumstances:
1. Activity type – fine movements & complex
skills (which require large amount of attention)
require a lower arousal level, e.g. putting in golf
/ snooker shots / pistol shooting (high arousal
interferes with fine muscle movement, coordination & concentration). Whereas tackling in
football or rugby requires a high level of arousal
(which helps skills requiring speed or strength).
Inverted ‘U’ theory conti…..
2.
Level of expertise – a beginner needs only
very low levels of arousal to perform well.
Because control of the skill is not yet
automatic, i.e. a novice may lose
concentration or become anxious,
therefore low levels result in optimum
performance. In contrast, such low levels
of arousal will have no effect on the elite
performer, who needs much higher levels
to produce optimum performance
Inverted ‘U’ theory conti…..
3.
Personality – personality types who enjoy
high levels of excitement & are generally
more extrovert can cope in a high-arousal
situation. People who are more introverted
are general more likely to perform well
under low-arousal conditions.
Catastrophe theory
(Hardy,1988 & ‘96)
Sports psychologists have noted that
performance does not always gradually
decrease as arousal increases, as shown in
the inverted ‘U’ theory. Instead many top
sports people ‘go to pieces’ in the big event.
Catastrophe theory shows a much more
dramatic decline in performance.
Catastrophe theory conti….
The theory takes into account that anxiety (negative
reaction of performer to stress) can be of two
types:
1. Somatic anxiety – physiological, e.g. sweating
2.
Cognitive anxiety – psychological, e.g. worry
about failing. (NB – cognitive most crucial in
determining performers reaction to high levels
of stress).
Catastrophe theory conti….
The catastrophe theory concludes that increases in
levels of cognitive anxiety will help performance
if somatic anxiety is low. So if the body is relaxed
but the performer is feeling anxious then this
anxiety can help to improve performance.
If there is an increase in cognitive anxiety & somatic
anxiety is high then performance will decline.
If there are high levels of cognitive anxiety & there
is a continuous increase in somatic
anxiety/physiological arousal then performance
can suddenly deteriorate – a ‘catastrophic’
response.
If after this catastrophic effect, arousal decreases,
then performance will once again improve but not
back to its originally optimum level.
Arousal & attentional
narrowing
There is a limited amount of attentional capacity
available at any one time.
The attention capacity that we have at any one time
is related to our level of arousal. When we are
lethargic our capacity is low, but it increases as
arousal increases. This partly explains the value of
arousal to effective performance.
However, if arousal continues to increase it begins to
have a damaging effect & research within sport
psychology has contributed to our understanding
of whats happening!
Attentional narrowing conti…
Landers et al (1985), studied relationship between
arousal, attention & performance, finding that at
low levels of arousal the performer picks up both
appropriate & inappropriate cues.
At this level, the performer has a broad attentional
field,
– e.g. footballer:- sees opposition players/teammates
/movements/speed/direction/ position of ball / distance
between ball & players/positions on pitch/ hear
instructions from teammates, manager/ referee’s
whistle/crowd. He will also hear his own breathing/
sound of passing train/billboards/lights of stadium etc.
Footballer will not perform well because of broad
attentional field!
Attentional narrowing conti…
As his arousal increases, his attention narrows
& the irrelevant cues are ignored. This
attentional narrowing enables him to
focus on relevant cues & so he performs
well.
However, if arousal continues, his attention
continues to narrow & his performance will
deteriorate. There may be several reasons
for this deterioation:
Attentional narrowing conti…
Too much arousal may undermine athlete’s ability to
narrow his attentional focus.
 Arousal increases immediately before performance
of fine motor task causes additional attentional
narrowing which seems to damage performance.
 Attentional narrowing causes player to scan
attentional field less often or use his dominant
attentional style, rather than several attentional
styles as the occasion demands.

Although the effects of attentional narrowing create a
handicap for our footballer, who needs to be aware
of all that is happening around him, it’s
advantageous to the gymnast because a narrow
attentional focus enables her to shut out distractions.