To succeed and perform their best, athletes need to use their minds as well as their bodies. Mental techniques help to control emotions, manage stress and improve participation and performance. The Inverted U Hypothesis suggests that optimal performance occurs at an intermediate level of arousal while both low and high levels of arousal will result in impaired performance. This proposal is made based on the Yerkes-Dodson law (named after the researchers who discovered it) which predicts an inverted U-shaped function between arousal and performance (Yerkes, Dodson, 1908).  In sport, this means that a little excitement and stress associated with competition can have a positive effect, but a situation that is too stressful is detrimental. However, the optimal levels of arousal vary between people doing the same task. Even more, for the same person doing different tasks optimal levels of arousal may vary. However, in general one could expect that athletes may perform badly because they are over- or under-aroused. In addition, the optimum arousal levels tend to be lower for more complicated tasks. The Inverted U Hypothesis is an appealing explanation for performance flaws. In many ways this explanation fits into the observations from sport performers but in reality is too simplistic. In addition to what the Inverted U hypothesis predicts, it is important to consider that beginners usually need a greater amount of attention to the performance while an expert can perform the same skill more or less automatically. When the beginner has a high level of arousal he/she can get distracted and tends not to give the same amount of attention to the skill. This leads to the deterioration of performance. Also, beginners tend to rely heavily on cues and signals within the environment to perform the right skills in the right situations and at the right moment. However, when arousal increases their focus on the essential cues and signal declines and they will lose concentration and become unable to react to the proper cues. Therefore novices normally perform better with lower levels of arousal than an expert would need. Moreover, the optimum level of arousal can also vary in relation to the skill being performed. Sports that incorporate major muscle groups or gross skills such as weightlifting may benefit from having higher levels of arousal, whereas activities which incorporate finer skills and high coordination such as archery or gymnastics may benefit from lower levels of arousal. Refernces: Yerkes, R.M., & Dodson, J. D. (1908). The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit formation. Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology, 18, 459-482. The Yerkes–Dodson law is an empirical relationship between pressure and performance, originally developed by psychologists Robert M. Yerkes and John Dillingham Dodson in 1908.[1] The law dictates that performance increases with physiological or mental arousal, but only up to a point. When levels of arousal become too high, performance decreases. The process is often illustrated graphically as a bell-shaped curve which increases and then decreases with higher levels of arousal. The original paper (a study of Japanese dancing mice) was only referenced ten times over the next half century, yet in four of the citing articles, these findings were described as a psychological "law".[2] Levels of arousalResearchers have found that different tasks require different levels of arousal for optimal performance. For example, difficult or intellectually demanding tasks may require a lower level of arousal (to facilitate concentration), whereas tasks demanding stamina or persistence may be performed better with higher levels of arousal (to increase motivation). Because of task differences, the shape of the curve can be highly variable.[3] For simple or well-learned tasks, the relationship is monotonic, and performance improves as arousal increases. For complex, unfamiliar, or difficult tasks, the relationship between arousal and performance reverses after a point, and performance thereafter declines as arousal increases. The effect of task difficulty led to the hypothesis that the Yerkes–Dodson Law can be decomposed into two distinct factors as in a bathtub curve. The upward part of the inverted U can be thought of as the energizing effect of arousal. The downward part is caused by negative effects of arousal (or stress) on cognitive processes like attention (e.g., "tunnel vision"), memory, and problem-solving. There has been research indicating that the correlation suggested by Yerkes and Dodson exists (such as that of Broadhurst (1959),[4] Duffy (1957),[5] and Anderson (1988)[6]), but a cause of the correlation has not yet successfully been established (Anderson, Revelle, & Lynch, 1989).[7] Alternative modelsOther theories and models of arousal do not affirm the Hebb or Yerkes-Dodson curve. The widely supported theory of optimal Flow presents a less simplistic understanding of arousal and skill-level match. Reversal theory actively opposes the Yerkes-Dodson law by demonstrating how the psyche operates on the principle bistability rather than homeostasis. Relationship to glucocorticoidsA 2007 review[8] of the effects of stress hormones (glucocorticoids, GC) and human cognition revealed that memory performance vs. circulating levels of glucocorticoids does manifest an upside down U shaped curve and the authors noted the resemblance to the Yerkes–Dodson curve. For example, long-term potentiation (LTP) (the process of forming long-term memories) is optimal when glucocorticoid levels are mildly elevated whereas significant decreases of LTP are observed after adrenalectomy (low GC state) or after exogenous glucocorticoid administration (high GC state).
It has also been shown that elevated levels of glucocorticoids enhance memory for emotionally arousing events but lead more often than not to poor memory for material unrelated to the source of stress/emotional arousal.[8] See also
References
External links
|
Which of the following refers to the principle that the relationship between arousal and performance is best represented by an inverted U shaped curve?
Postagens relacionadas
direito autoral © 2024 cemle Inc.
