Darrin is a good pianist. However, when he is alone, he becomes lethargic and is not motivated to perform well. At recitals with
strangers, Darrin gets very overly aroused and often makes mistakes. His best performance is typically when his family and friends are nearby. In such situations, Darrin isn’t nervous and is only moderately aroused. This scenario best exemplifies the principle of _____.
The Yerkes – Dodson Law was originally proposed by Robert Yerkes and John Dillingham Dodson in 1908.
They discovered a direct relationship between performance and arousal. Up to a certain point, performance improves with physiological arousal, because it boosts concentration and motivation, but when arousal becomes too much, performance levels go down.
