What is the optimal level of arousal for task performance?
Ollie Legros
2025-07-22 03:15:32
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: 12
It says that we all have a just right level of alertness and energy that helps us do our best. If we’re not alert enough, we get bored and look for something to wake us up. If we’re too alert, or stressed, we try to find ways to relax. Researchers have found that it is usually somewhere in the middle between really relaxed and really stressed. Performance is maximised at the optimal level of arousal, and it tapers off during under- and over-arousal. This figure shows this idea. It says that we do our best when our level of alertness is just right. Researchers Robert Yerkes and John Dodson found that the best level of alertness depends on how hard the task is. They say that for easy tasks, it’s better to be more alert. But for hard tasks, it’s better to be less alert. Task performance is best when arousal levels are in a middle range, with difficult tasks best performed under lower levels of arousal and simple tasks best performed under higher levels of arousal.
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