Question

Jenna is a talented singer. Her singing is commendable when she is well rehearsed and is performing with her school choir group. In such situations, she is moderately aroused and fairly relaxed. However, when Jenna's friends are around, she gets overly aroused and anxious. In such situations, she finds it hard to focus and often makes mistakes. Which of the following psychological principles can be used to explain the rationale behind Jenna's performance?
a. Cannon-Bard theory
b. Yerkes-Dodson law
c. James-Lange theory
d. Self-regulation

Answer 1

Answer:

b. Yerkes-Dodson law.

Explanation:

The law was tagged with those names because they came from two psychologists named Robert Yerkes and John Dillingham. This was in the 20th century in the year 1908.

This law primarily is known for its explanation on the relationship between performance increase and mental arousal. It says also that when this arousal is clearly to high, performance tends to drop. Just like the case of Jenna and her experiences when she rehearse alone versus when she does the same in front of her friends.

This anxiety been experienced before an exam or a task is one example of how the Yerkes-Dodson Law operates.