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Arousal Theory

Decent Essays

only improve until as certain level of arousal has reached its optimum level then it will start to go downhill.

This theory has three rules and they are-

The activity- while studies have shown that your performance will increase until you have reached your optimal level of arousal, there are some sports that require you to have a low arousal level and example of a sport that requires a low arousal level is snooker, as the player has to be very calm and collected and take his/her time to choose the right ball to pot and they have to find the exact spot on the ball that they want to hit, if they had a high level of arousal they would very likely miss their shot.

Skill level- while higher levels of arousal have been proven to improve an …show more content…

Individualised zones of optimal functioning-

The most popular theory for the relationship between arousal and performance is the model of Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning or IZOF for short. This theory proposes that there are individual differences in the way people react to anxiety. Some tend to succeed when anxiety is low while others tend to succeed when anxiety is high.

This basically means that not everyone is the same and that we all have our own different optimal levels of arousal which allow us to perform to the best of our ability.
When athletes are in their optimal performance zone this means that they are in they preferred level of anxiety. If an athlete experiences too much or too little anxiety, this can be detrimental to their performance, as the athlete is out of his/her optimal …show more content…

In Inverted U theory, there is an optimal level of performance then after that the athlete’s performance will start to deteriorate. Catastrophe theory however suggests that there is a decline in performance resulting from the combination of high cognitive anxiety and increasing somatic anxiety.

In my opinion Catastrophe theory is more of a model than a theory in that it attempts to predict human behaviour and performance rather than explaining how it occurs that is why it is not a reliable theory. the model proposes that performance is affected by the relationship between somatic (Physical) anxiety and cognitive (Mental) anxiety. when cognitive anxiety is high but somatic anxiety is low performance is enhanced but when both cognitive and somatic anxiety are high, performance can suddenly deteriorate. Following this sudden decrease in performance, the performer tries to regain control by decreasing arousal. when they attempt to do this, their performance doesn't immediately return to its original level but remains low and only gradually starts to rise as arousal and anxiety returns to much lower levels. it is also possible that performance will continue to

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