1. The Adventure Experience Paradigm From the Work of Peter Martin Updated 7/3/2012 by Martin Eriksson Access – Curric Drive – Administration – Curriculum – VCE – Unit 1

2. Two Main Elements Competence of the individual Degree of Difficulty

3. Five Stages This model considers five stages of adventure –Exploration & Experimentation –Adventure –Peak Adventure –Misadventure –Devastation & Disaster

4. The Adventure Experience Paradigm DIFFICULTYDIFFICULTY COMPETENCE MISADVENTURE PEAK ADVENTURE ADVENTURE EXPLORATION & EXPERIMENTATION DEVASTATION & DISASTER

5. Exploration & Experimentation Where the task is easy. The individual may find time to pause or experiment with the task. Eg. Todd abseiling, is comfortable with the task, able to relax and have a photo taken etc.

6. Exploration & Experimentation DIFFICULTYDIFFICULTY COMPETENCE ADVENTURE EXPLORATION & EXPERIMENTATION

7. Adventure An experience where the individual is placing themselves at risk and when the outcome is uncertain. A climber’s attention becomes more focussed on climbing, they become more aware of whether or not they can climb the route or not.

8. Adventure DIFFICULTYDIFFICULTY COMPETENCE ADVENTURE EXPLORATION & EXPERIMENTATION PEAK ADVENTURE

9. Peak Adventure The difficulty of the task is equal to that of the competence of the individual creating optimal arousal, resulting in maximal performance. Described by Csikzentmihalyi (1975) as a flow experience where “action and awareness merge” and there exists a “loss of ego….loss of self-consciousness …” Martin states “Research into what motivates people to undertake risk laden adventurous activities indicates that a search for the intensity of emotion and involvement, the characteristics of peak adventure are prime motivators for participation.”

10. Peak Adventure DIFFICULTYDIFFICULTY COMPETENCE ADVENTURE PEAK ADVENTURE MISADVENTURE The likelihood of achieving peak adventure is less as it is often difficult to evenly match personal competence with the difficulty of the task.

11. Misadventure Mortlock (1984) reckons it to be a state of mind where the immediate reactions are negative rather than positive. The challenge becomes too difficult for the individual. It may also be social, emotional, physical, or financial.

12. Misadventure DIFFICULTYDIFFICULTY COMPETENCE PEAK ADVENTURE MISADVENTURE DEVASTATION & DISASTER

13. Devastation & Disaster The degree of difficulty is far greater than that of individual’s competence. An extension of Misadventure where serious harm or death may result.

14. Devastation & Disaster DIFFICULTYDIFFICULTY COMPETENCE MISADVENTURE DEVASTATION & DISASTER

15. Perceived Difficulty What a person thinks or understands the difficulty to be. An inexperienced person may in fact understand the risks to be small when in fact they are unaware of some of the true dangers. They may under or over estimate the difficulty of the task because they haven’t been in a similar situation before.

16. Perceived Competence What a person thinks or understands their competence to be. An inexperienced person may under or over estimate their competence because they haven’t performed in a wide variety of situations. Perceived Competence

17. Perceived v’s Real An inexperience canoeist perceives the difficulty of a slow flowing river to be adequate to her competence. In fact she has underestimated her competence and overestimated the difficulty of the task, resulting in exploration and experimentation.

18. Perceived v’s Real DIFFICULTYDIFFICULTY COMPETENCE MISADVENTURE PEAK ADVENTURE ADVENTURE EXPLORATION & EXPERIMENTATION DEVASTATION & DISASTER REAL PERCIEVED

19. A beginning skier perceives the difficulty of a blue run to be adequate to his competence as he is generally good at sports and the authorities usually overestimate the runs. In fact he has overestimated his competence as he has never really tried any sport slightly similar to skiing. He has also underestimated the difficulty of the task, resulting him careering out of control into a tree (misadventure). Perceived v’s Real

20. DIFFICULTYDIFFICULTY COMPETENCE MISADVENTURE PEAK ADVENTURE ADVENTURE EXPLORATION & EXPERIMENTATION DEVASTATION & DISASTER REAL PERCIEVED Perceived v’s Real