Stress, Arousal, Fatigue and Performance Under Pressure
What the domain tests
Stress and arousal questions ask you to explain the inverted-U, distinguish acute from chronic stress, and show how performance collapses under pressure.
Core rules
- Stress is the response to a demand; eustress can improve performance, while distress impairs it.
- General Adaptation Syndrome: alarm, resistance, exhaustion.
- Arousal follows Yerkes–Dodson: too low gives complacency; too high narrows attention and causes tremor and poor decisions.
- Acute stressors include emergencies, noise and time pressure; chronic stressors include financial, relationship and organisational problems.
- Under pressure, fight-or-flight raises heart rate and breathing; hyperventilation lowers CO2 and causes dizziness.
- Fatigue amplifies stress and reduces coping; dehydration and poor sleep worsen it.
- Management: controlled breathing, task prioritisation, verbalisation and asking for help.
Worked example
An engine failure after takeoff sharply raises arousal. The pilot's attention narrows to the engine and the aircraft attitude is neglected. The correct response is to breathe, maintain attitude, then run the memory items. Reasoning: high arousal narrows scanning, so a deliberate pause restores the capacity needed for the checklist.
Traps
Do not say all stress is bad. Do not claim high arousal always improves performance. Do not confuse chronic with acute stress. Do not ignore the interaction with fatigue.