Which statement describes the inverted-U relationship between arousal and performance?

• A. More arousal always better.
• B. Moderate arousal optimum; too low or too high harms performance.
• C. Arousal doesn't affect performance.
• D. Performance increases with cognitive arousal only.

Answer: (B)

Performance follows an inverted-U curve with arousal: as arousal rises from a low level, performance improves up to a moderate peak, but if arousal becomes too high, performance declines. The best state is moderate arousal, with the exact optimum depending on the task—easy tasks can tolerate or benefit from higher arousal, while harder tasks require lower arousal to maintain accuracy and control.

Choosing anything claiming that more arousal is always better ignores the decline after the optimal point. Saying arousal doesn’t affect performance is incorrect, and asserting that performance rises only with cognitive arousal misses the broader influence of arousal on many kinds of tasks.