Yerkes-Dodson法則（Yerkes-DodsonLaw）也稱葉克斯-多德遜法則、戈耳頓氏法則
Yerkes-Dodson法則簡介
Yerkes-Dodson法則認為，壓力與業績之間存在著一種倒U型關係，適度的壓力水平能夠使業績達到頂峰狀態，過小或過大的壓力都會使工作效率降低
Yerkes-Dodson法則（葉杜二氏法則）是心理學家葉克斯（R.MYerkes）與杜德遜（J.DDodson）經實驗研究歸納出的一種法則，用來解釋心理壓力、工作難度與作業成績三者之間的關係。他們認為因為動機而產生的心理壓力，對作業表現具有促動功能，而其促動功能之大小，將因工作難度與壓力高低而異。在簡單易為的工作情景下，較高的心理壓力之下，將產生較佳的成績；在複雜困難的情緒擾亂認知性的心理活動所致，凡是複雜困難的工作，在工作程式上必定含有多種因素的互動配合的關係，如果心理壓力過高，思考稍有疏忽，就難免忙中出錯。簡單工作多屬重複性的活動，此種活動日久便會形成自動化的連鎖功能，至此地步，不須認知思考，若有心理壓力存在，不但不致影響自動化功能的進步，反而有可能使自動化的速度提升。
英文簡介
TheYerkes-Dodsonlawdemonstratesanempiricalrelationshipbetweenarousalandperformance.Itdictatesthatperformanceincreaseswithcognitivearousal,butonlytoacertainpoint:whenlevelsofarousalbecometoohigh,performancewilldecrease.Acorollaryisthatthereisanoptimallevelofarousalforagiventask.
ItisascientificprincipledevelopedbypsychologistsRobertM.YerkesandJ.D.Dodsonin1908andisgroundedwithinthediscoursesofbiopsychologyandneuroscience.
GraphofYerkes-DodsonLawTheprocessisoftendemonstratedgraphicallyasaninvertedU-shapedcurve(curvilinear),increasingandthendecreasingwithhigherlevelsofarousal.(However,thereisalsoalinearcomponentwhichproposesthatinasimpletask,performanceincreaseswitharousal.Therefore,inasimpletasktherelationshipbetweenarousalandperformanceislinear.AccordingtotheYerkes-Dodsonlaw,onlyinadifficulttaskistherelationshipbetweenarousalandperformancecurvilinear.)
Ithasbeenproposedthatdifferenttasksmayrequiredifferentlevelsofarousal.Forexample,difficultorintellectuallydemandingtasksmayrequirealowerlevelofarousalforoptimalperformance(tofacilitateconcentration),whereastasksdemandingstaminaorpersistencemaybeperformedbetterwithhigherlevelsofarousal(toincreasemotivation).
TheeffectofthedifficultyoftaskslateronledtothehypothesisthattheYerkes-DodsonLawcanbedecomposedintotwodistinctfactors.TheupwardpartoftheconvertedUcanbethoughtofastheenergizingeffectofarousal.Thedownwardpartontheotherhandiscausedbynegativeeffectsofarousal(orstress)oncognitiveprocesses,likeattention("tunnelvision"),memory,andproblem-solving.
TherehasbeenresearchindicatingthatthecorrelationsuggestedbyYerkesandDodsonexists(suchasthatofBroadhurst,1959;Duffy,1962;Anderson,1988),butacauseofthecorrelationhasnotyetsuccessfullybeenestablished(Anderson,Revelle,&Lynch,1989).
Despitesomeevidencetothecontrary,thelawisgenerallyrespected
