The Yerkes–Dodson law is an empirical relationship between arousal and performance

The Yerkes–Dodson law is an empirical relationship between arousal and performance, originally developed by psychologists, Robert M. Yerkes and John Dillingham Dodson in 1908.^[1] The law dictates that performance increases with physiological or mental arousal, but only up to a point. When levels of arousal become too high, performance decreases. The process is often illustrated graphically as a curvilinear, inverted U-shaped curve which increases and then decreases with higher levels of arousal.

Research has found that different tasks require different levels of arousal for optimal performance. For example, difficult or intellectually demanding tasks may require a lower level of arousal (to facilitate concentration), whereas tasks demanding stamina or persistence may be performed better with higher levels of arousal (to increase motivation).

Because of task differences, the shape of the curve can be highly variable. For simple or well learned tasks, the relationship can be considered linear with improvements in performance as arousal increases. For complex, unfamiliar, or difficult tasks, the relationship between arousal and performance becomes inverse, with declines in performance as arousal increases.

The effect of task difficulty led to the hypothesis that the Yerkes-Dodson Law can be decomposed into two distinct factors – compare bathtub curve. The upward part of the inverted U can be thought of as the energizing effect of arousal. The downward part is caused by negative effects of arousal (or stress) on cognitive processes like attention (e.g. "tunnel vision"), memory, and problem-solving.

There has been research indicating that the correlation suggested by Yerkes and Dodson exists (such as that of Broadhurst, 1959; Duffy, 1962; Anderson, 1988), but a cause of the correlation has not yet successfully been established (Anderson, Revelle, & Lynch, 1989).^[2]

Yerkes-Dodson Law of Arousal: This law states that an organism's performance can be improved if that organism is aroused in some manner. However, if the level of arousal increases too much, performance decreases. Of course, this level is different in everyone. An example of this is an athlete who performs better under real game situation than he/she does during practice games. There is more arousal (stress, excitement) during the real games which increases their performance. But, if the pressure becomes too much, their performance can decrease (e.g., missing an easy shot with time running out and losing the game -- choking!)Das Yerkes-Dodson-Gesetz (nach Robert Yerkes und John D. Dodson, 1908)[1] beschreibt die menschliche Leistungsfähigkeit in unterschiedlichen Umständen: Zwischen der physiologischen Aktivierung und der Leistungsfähigkeit besteht ein umgekehrt U-förmiger Zusammenhang.Grafik zum Yerkes-Dodson-GesetzDer Leistungsverlauf ist bei jedem Menschen sehr veränderlich. Er hängt von der Höhe der emotionalen Aktiviertheit ab. Bei Unterforderung bleibt der Mensch hinter seinen Möglichkeiten zurück - es entsteht ein Leistungsleck. Durch ein gesundes Maß an emotionaler Aktiviertheit kann die Leistung bis zu einem Spitzenwert gesteigert werden. Erhöht sich das Erregungsniveau über das erforderliche Maß, sinkt die Leistung wieder ab.Wird der Leistungsverlauf in Abhängigkeit vom Erregungsniveau in ein Koordinatensystem eingetragen, so ergibt sich eine umgekehrte U-Kurve. Dieser Zusammenhang wird Yerkes-Dodson-Gesetz genannt (siehe Grafik). Das Gesetz geht auf Experimente mit Labormäusen und nicht auf Beobachtungen bei Menschen zurück.