PEDS303 Lecture Notes - Drive Theory, Bench Press, Stage Fright

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Physical Education and Sport
• Course: PEDS303
• Professor: John Dunn

Document Summary

In drive theory, if we increase the arousal level then we increase the likelihood of seeing the dominant response. Practical implications/considerations: perform simple motor skills (ex. Sit ups, bench press) in the presence of evaluative others for improved performance. Golf swing, volleyball spike) away from the presence of evaluative others. Increased arousal will lead to deterioration in performance where the dominant response is unskilled performance. Major limitation of drive theory: this theory doesn"t explain choking in competition, drive theory would say if someone is highly aroused, they would execute the dominant performance. However, we see elite athletes choke when they are highly aroused: the drive theory cannot explain why elite athletes sometimes. Performance: as someone"s arousal gets to a moderate level, their performance should be optimal, those with low levels of arousal should have low performance, when someone has high levels of arousal, their level of performance should be low.