Chapters 6: Arousal and Performance Dynamics

Arousal

Activation of energy for behavior preparation.

Two types of arousal

physiological and psychological arousal

Physiological Arousal

Bodily changes indicating readiness for action.

Example of physiological arousal

increased heart rate, faster breathing, sweaty palms

what controls physiological arousal?

autonomic nervous system

What are the two parts of the autonomic nervous system?

sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system

What does the sympathetic nervous system do?

Prepares body for action and movement. Activating behavior and movement.

What does the parasympathetic nervous system do?

Conserves energy and deactivates behavior. Deactivating and de escalating behavior.

Psychological Arousal

Subjective feelings of being aroused.

Example of psychological arousal

excited, scared, anxious

What are the two dimensions of psychological arousal?

Energetic and tense arousal

Energetic arousal

positively felt arousal, ranges from sleepiness to alert

Tense arousal

negatively felt arousal, ranges from calm to anxious

What is a type of tense arousal?

anxiety

Two types of anxiety

state and trait

State Anxiety

feelings of apprehension and worry that are evoked by threatening situations; response to a threatening situation

Trait Anxiety

disposition to perceive the environment as threatening and to respond to anxiety; tendency to view more situations are threatening

our level of arousal can be influenced by...

time of day, caffeine, evaluation collative variables

Novelty

something new and that you haven't encountered increases arousal

Complexity

more complex stimuli increase our arousal more than less complex

Congruity

lack of consistency and congruity increases arousal (something different from what you expect)

Zone of Optimal Functioning Hypothesis

Some arousal enhances performance, too much hinders. Arousal affects performance depends on the task.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

low arousal best for difficult tasks and high arousal is best for easier tasks. Task difficulty determines what level for arousal is best for performance.

Hull-Spence Drive Theory

Drive creates arousal that increases likelihood of dominant responses.

According to Hull-Spence, what happens to the dominant response in an easy task?

Dominant response is successful

According to Hull-Spence, what happens to the dominant response in a difficult task?

Dominant response is failure

What is the only theory that divides physiological and psychological arousal?

Cusp Catastrophe Model

Cusp Catastrophe Model

Performance drops after peak arousal levels.

According to Cusp Catastrophe Model, what happens at low levels of psychological arousal/anxiety?

Arousal-performance relationship is a flattened inverted-U

According to Cusp Catastrophe Model, what happens at moderate levels of psychological arousal/anxiety?

arousal-performance increases to a "cusp"

According to Cusp Catastrophe Model, what happens at high levels (beyond the cusp) of psychological arousal/anxiety?

increases in arousal and leads to sharp drop-off in performance (backwards S)

Tonic Immobility

Behavioral paralysis due to extreme stress.

Arousal-Biased Competition Theory

Arousal increases attention to threatening stimuli/high priority stimuli. Ex: experiment with snake and chipmunk

Memory Systems

Addressing memory performance (examines arousal vs. recall)

location of cool memory systems

hippocampus

Cool Memory System

-memory of things in space and time

-best at intermediate levels of arousal but drops off at high levels

- where inverted-U is

location of hot memory systems

amygdala

Hot Memory System

- Memory of events that occur under high arousal

- Most efficient at high levels of arousal

- Addresses the reality that we can form memories under high levels of arousal but our recall is not as good

what happens when the cool system drops off?

Hot system takes over

Processing Efficiency Theory

Anxiety consumes working memory space.

Attentional Control Theory

- Extension of processing efficiency theory

- Adds that anxiety decreases cognitive capacity by inhibiting attention

- Theory says that worry takes up space because you're focusing on things you don't want to focus on

Optimal Level of Stimulation Theory

describes the relationship between the level of stimulation (arousal) and associated affective valence (feelings)

Based on the optimal level of stimulation theory, what is the relationship with arousal and affect

as arousal increases, positive affect increases, levels off, and then decreases

what causes optimal level of stimulation to vary over time?

time, age, experience

Benign Masochism

Enjoying initially negative experiences perceived as threatening.

Discrepancy Hypothesis

Pleasure increases with moderate deviations from expectations.

Inverted U Relationship

Arousal-performance relationship resembles an inverted U shape.

Relationship with stimulus complexity and enjoyment of art/music

- Complexity of stimuli contributes to arousal

- Liking increases, then decreases with complexity