Inverted U Theory

Yerkes and Dodson (1908)

At low levels of arousal, performance will be below par, 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. Optimal arousal is higher for more simple tasks and lower for more complex tasks.

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.

This theory accounts for some of the criticisms of the drive theory and this inverted ‘U&r ...