AROUSAL THEORY Relationship to performance. Arousal & attentional narrowing. Drive 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: 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, co-ordination & concentration). Whereas tackling in football or rugby requires a high level of arousal (which helps skills requiring speed or strength).

Inverted ‘U’ theory conti….. 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….. 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: Somatic anxiety – physiological, e.g. sweating 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.