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Arousal and learning

Keeping the kids happy over the long summer recess reminds me again of the need to provide the right level of excitement or arousal when working on "learning projects." Just as my daughter will become stressed out if over-stimulated around intellectually-challenging situations, she needs to be motivated and encouraged where patience and persistence are needed. Donald Clark is a prolific writer on subjects including training, performance management, leadership and change. His article "Arousal and Learning" examines the links between the two. Don talks of the arousal factors that can be beneficial to learning but warns against arousal overload. He cites the Yerkes-Dodson law, which suggests that lower arousals work better for more difficult or intellectually challenging tasks while higher arousals can be best for tasks requiring endurance and persistence. The article concludes with a description of outcomes a trainer can expect when reaching the optimum arousal point for your learners.

Thu, 16 Mar 2000 07:30:56 -0800