Motivation & Arousal Learning Objectives: –To understand the different types of motivation and how they link to arousal –Understand different theories of arousal

The drive to learn and achieve success; Depends on external pressures and rewards that we perceive in our environment; Concerns the intensity (arousal level) and direction of our behaviour.

Comes From Within Fun & Enjoyment Feeling of well-being Pride Comes from outside influences Rewards Money/Medals Pressure from others How has motivation in sport changed over the years ?

External factors can be extremely powerful in determining whether we want to learn a particular skill. Extrinsic motivators can enhance intrinsic motivators - doing it for the rewards in the beginning can create a love of participating. However, if the extrinsic rewards hold too much importance, when there are no more rewards the participant may not have an interst to continue (e.g. swimming badges).

Most motivation is a mixture of both intrinsic and extrinsic. Coaches need to be careful – extrinsic rewards can lose their value quickly if a love of the sport is not achieved.

Motivation and Reinforcement should be:

Motivation is closely linked to arousal. Arousal is the intensity of our motivation. It is also: “ The psychological and physiological excitement experienced by a performer” Alertness Excitement Tension Sleeping difficulties Fear & anger Increased Heart Rate Increased Breathing Sweating Need to urinate “Butterflies in the stomach”

AROUSAL 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 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.

Researchers have found a link between arousal and performance. There are two main theories: Suggests that the higher the arousal, the better our performance (Hull, 1943) Best Performance High Arousal Suggests that after a certain level of arousal performance drops (Yearkes & Dodson, 1908) Best Performance Moderate Arousal

MODERATE HIGH LOW AROUSAL LOW HIGH PERFORMANCEPERFORMANCE

DRIVE THEORY Performance = 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. A linear relationship If the learned response is correct then the performance is enhanced

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.

MODERATE HIGHLOW AROUSAL LOW HIGH PERFORMANCEPERFORMANCE

INVERTED U THEORY At 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. This theory will be modified depending on personality, intensity of task and skill level of performer.

Optimal arousal leads to improvements in learning and performance But … There are two types of arousal Difficult to focus on important information Information overload leads to inaccurate decision making Loss of concentration Day dreaming High anxiety, panic Attention narrows Important information is missed Hypervigilance Poor decision making

Drive Reduction An individual may be motivated to complete a task – known as a drive; When the drive is perceived as being fulfilled then the drive is reduced; If the individual feels that he is performing to the best of his ability, the performance may well become habitual and the performer sees no reason to be motivated or driven to do better. Problems can occur if the performer sees no reason to improve even thought there is room for improvement

Effect of Arousal on Performance We know from experience that there is an optimal level of arousal Breathing and heart rates are elevated to prepare body for action Activities requiring finely controlled movements work best at lower level of arousal (Can you name some examples?) Beginners operate better at lower levels of arousal than skilled performers Arousal is linked to information processing, anxiety, stress and personality