Arousal, Attention, and Skilled Performance: Further Considerations

Abstract

The literature on arousal, attention, and skilled performance is selectively reviewed in this paper in that it deals primarily with a wide range of concerns of interest to my students and me. The topics under review include peripheral narrowing under stress, the questionnaire measurement of attention-anxiety, psychophysiological correlates of attention-anxiety, and applied considerations in designing behavioral programs to control attentional focus and anxiety. The position advanced in this paper is that one of the most important routes to designing effective behavioral programs, such as relaxation and biofeedback, is through a better understanding of the complex relationships between one's arousal, attention, and performance levels.