Arousal

• Arousal is 'a state of alertness and anticipation that prepares the body for action'.
• Arousal is a term used in sports psychology to describe emotional feelings of excitement or apprehension and are consequently concerned with how hard you try. It is the intensity aspect of motivation. Arousal levels will rise when there is a large crowd watching you or when you are at an important competetition.
• Hull's drive theory originally said 'as arousal increases, quality of performance increases'. It has now been modified to 'as your arousal increases the dominant response is more likely to occur.'
• An advantage of Hull's drive theory is it is simple to understand.
• An advantage of Hull's drive theory is it is made more reliable by relating arousal to dominant habit.
• An advantage of Hull's drive theory is that some people do perform better with higher arousal.
• An advantage of Hull's drive theory is that some types of skills are performed better at higher levels of arousal.
• An advantage of Hull's drive theory is it helps teachers/coaches to understand that when teaching beginners they need low levels of arousal for the best performance.
• A disadvantage of Hull's drive theory is it is too simple.
• A disadvantage of Hull's drive theory is the linear relationship doesn't happen.
• A disadvantage of Hull's drive theory is performance doesn't always increase as arousal increases.
• A disadvantage of Hull's drive theory is it ignores overarousal.
• A disadvantage of Hull's drive theory it doesn't explain how performers can do well with low arousal.
• A disadvantage of Hull's drive theory is it is not true for all performers or skill types.
• A disadvantage of Hull's drive theory is that experts don't always perform at their best at high levels of arousal.
• A disadvantage of Hull's drive theory is some beginners will perform well at high levels of arousal.
• The inverted u-theory states that: at low levels of arousal, performance is poor due to underarousal; as arousal increases, performance levels increase; at moderate levels of arousal, performance peaks due to optimal arousal; if arousal increases further, performance starts to decrease in quality; at high levels of arousal, performance is poor due to overarousal.
• An advantage of inverted-u theory is it fits most sports performers when performing.
• An advantage of inverted-u theory is it shows there is an optimal point of arousal and if arousal is higher or lower then performance is poor.
• An advantage of inverted-u theory is it is simple too understand.
• A disadvantage of inverted-u theory is some people do perform well at low levels of arousal, particularly introverts.
• A disadvantage of inverted-u theory is that the optimal point of arousal isn't in the middle for all sports people and all types of skills.
• A disadvantage of inverted-u theory is the curve shape is too even.
• A disadvantage of inverted-u theory is performance doesn't gradually drop if arousal is too high, it normally drastically drops.
• A disadvantage of inverted-u theory is it is still too simple as it doesn't take into account persoanlity and skill.
• A disadvantage of inverted-u theory is it needs modifying to shift the optimal arousal zone lower or higher.
• A disadvantage of inverted-u theory is once performance starts to deteriorate it doesn't always carry on getting worse.
• Somatic arousal is physiological effects such as sweating and increased heart rate.
• Cognitive arousal is psychological effects such as nerves, negative thinking, worry and for some excitement.
• If a performer worries more about their drop in performance and their cognitive arousal increases further, their performance will deteriorate further
• In the catastrophe theory of arousal states:

  • At low levels of arousal, performance is poor because both somatic arousal and cognitive anxiety/arousal are low
  • As somatic arousal increases, performance improves, provided cognitive anxiety/arousal stays low
  • Performance is at its best when cognitive anxiety/arousal is low and somatic arousal is high
  • If both cognitive anxiety and somatic arousal are high, then catastrophe occurs, leading to a drastic drop in performance
  • A performer can recover by lowering their cognitive arousal/anxiety using cognitive stress management techniques
• An advantage of catastrophe theory is its a realistic explanation as to why people crumble in a highly pressurised sports situation/event.
• An advantage of catastrophe theory is the sudden drop in performance is more realistic than the gradual drop as show in the inverted U theory.
• An advantage of catastrophe theory is it considers the effects of cognitive and somatic arousal on a performer.
• An advantage of catastrophe theory is that it shows a performer can recover by lowering arousal allowing them to improve performance.
• A disadvantage of catastrophe theory is that not all performers will have a drastic drop in performance when overaroused.
• A disadvantage of catastrophe theory is the optimal point of arousal isnt in the middle for all performer's and skills.
• A disadvantage of catastrophe theory is some performers cope really well with cognitive arousal by using stress/anxiety management techniques.
• A disadvantage of catastrophe theory is it has not been proven.
• Anxiety is the negative aspect of experiencing stress caused by worry or apprehension.