C.4.1SL only
Arousal and anxiety
Guiding question: How does feeling activated or anxious change performance, and what level is best for each athlete?
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C.4.1.1
Arousal and unidimensional theories
Arousal describes how activated a person is, physically and mentally, from deep sleep to extreme excitement. Drive theory predicts that performance rises with arousal, especially for well-learned skills, while inverted U theory predicts best performance at a moderate level. The individual zone of optimal functioning (IZOF) adds that each athlete's ideal level is personal.
Match the terms
Key terms
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Check yourself
Quick check
1.Which theory suggests that performance improves as arousal rises up to an optimal point, then declines?
2.Arousal is best defined as
3.For a well-learned skill, how does drive theory predict that performance changes as arousal rises?
C.4.1.2
Anxiety and multidimensional theories
Low anxiety brings emotions such as excitement, but high anxiety brings fear and worry. Multidimensional theories split anxiety into cognitive and somatic parts, and catastrophe theory predicts a sudden drop in performance when both are high. Anxiety can be measured subjectively with questionnaires, or objectively through heart rate, blood pressure or galvanic skin response.
Match the terms
Key terms
Match each term to its meaning.
Tap a term, then tap its meaning.
Check yourself
Quick check
1.Which is a symptom of cognitive anxiety?
2.Somatic anxiety refers to
3.When anxiety is low, which emotions are athletes most likely to experience?
Practise this topic
Self-marking exam-style questions with Guide me hints and full mark schemes.
Links to other topics
- C.5.1Which psychological skills, such as goal setting or imagery, could help an anxious athlete before competition?
- A.1.1, A.1.2How do the nervous and hormonal systems produce the physical signs of arousal and anxiety?
- C.1.1, C.3.2Do athletes high in neuroticism, or driven by controlled motivation, tend to feel more anxious?