The next model we're going to discuss, is the Yerkes-Dodson Law. So the
Yerke-Dodson Law states that moderate levels of arousal, lead to optimal
performance. So think back to our lesson on consciousness, where we talked
about our levels of awareness. At one side of the continuum, we were
unconscious, so in a coma, and we had zero awareness. And at the other end of
the continuum. We are fully awake and aware. So, the idea here is somewhat
similar. Except, instead of having awareness on a continuum, we have our level
of arousal on a continuum. Like you see here, we go from low levels of arousal
to high levels of arousal. And we also have quality of performance from low to
high. So the idea here, is that we prefer to be in situations that are neither
over-stimulating or under-stimulating. For example, over here when you're
highly aroused, you'd be panicked. And you probably wouldn't perform very well.
And around here you'd probably have a lot of anxiety and again, your
performance wouldn't be that great. And a little higher up, we'd see stress
where often the level of performance would still be decreasing when we're under
stress, but we are highly aroused. Here we'd be mildly aware. You're awake, but
not really into whatever we're doing. A little farther down, we'd see boredom
and finally towards the bottom is where we'd find sleep. So we really want to
be in this central area, for the optimal level of performance. We see these as
important not only for things like academics. This could even be like for
playing sports. So say you're playing hockey or soccer. You don't want to have
too high of a level of arousal because then you're going to be panicked to have
a lot of anxiety. Which will decrease your performance. But, you also don't
want to be really bored or kind of tired and not really there. You want to be
in this middle zone. That way, you can perform your very best.
