The Yerkes-Dodson Law describes the relationship between arousal and performance as:

• A. Performance Improves Monotonically With Arousal
• B. There Is An Optimal Moderate Arousal For Best Performance
• C. Performance Decreases As Arousal Increases
• D. Performance Increases With Arousal Up To A Point, Then Decreases

Answer: (D)

Arousal and performance follow an inverted-U pattern: as arousal rises from low, performance improves up to a moderate, optimal level, but if arousal becomes too high, performance declines. This means there’s a point where increasing arousal helps, and beyond that point, further arousal hinders performance—due to factors like anxiety narrowing attention or taxing cognitive resources. The statement that captures this full pattern—rising with arousal to a peak, then falling as arousal continues to rise—best describes the relationship. The idea of only an optimal level is true but incomplete, and the other options miss either the initial rise or the eventual drop.