arousal
Summary
Arousal is the level of physiological and psychological activation, from drowsy to highly alert, driven by the reticular formation and sympathetic nervous system. Most testable: under the Yerkes-Dodson law, performance generally peaks at moderate arousal, and the best level is lower for hard tasks than for easy ones.
Detail
Meaning: Arousal is the body's and brain's state of activation. Physiologically, the reticular activating system raises alertness, and sympathetic activation raises heart rate, breathing and pupil size. Psychologically, it is tied to attention and emotional intensity. The arousal theory of motivation says people act to keep an optimal level of arousal, seeking stimulation when it is too low and avoiding it when it is too high. In sleep and consciousness topics, the word simply means alertness.
On the MCAT: The Yerkes-Dodson law appears as an inverted-U graph of performance against arousal. For a difficult or unfamiliar task, the peak sits at lower arousal. For a simple or well-practiced task, the peak sits at higher arousal. Arousal also appears in theories of emotion. James-Lange says the stimulus causes arousal, and the felt emotion follows. Cannon-Bard says arousal and emotion occur at the same time. Schachter-Singer (two-factor) says arousal plus a cognitive label produces the emotion.
Common confusion: Arousal measures intensity, not whether a feeling is pleasant or unpleasant. Fear and excitement are both high arousal. Also, more arousal does not always mean better performance. Past the optimum, performance generally declines.
Sources
- Psychology (Myers)
- Discovering Psychology (Hockenbury)
- Psychology (Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner)
Written for the MCAT and checked before it was published. For study reference only. Spotted an error? Let us know.