Arousal–performance relationship: A transactional view on performance jags.

Contends that a systematic line can be traced for the development of knowledge within a scientific discipline. Within a historical perspective, 3 levels have been identified: self-action, interaction, and process transaction. It is asserted that personality psychology has passed through the 1st level (personologism and situationism) to the 2nd level (interationism) and has begun to move toward the 3rd level (transactionalism). It is suggested that Levels 2 and 3 are more advantageous than is Level 1 in investigating human behavior in complex applied settings (e.g., sports). In illustration, performance jags (a phenomenon for which the concept of an inverse-U function cannot account when handled within its traditional framework of personological position) are explained from a transactionally oriented perspective. Performance jags are conceived as a subjective experience of unexpected deviations of an athlete's real performance during a competition from prior subjective expections, relating mainly to the action determinants of person, task, and environment in connection with the inverse-U function. The concept of psychoregulative problems is also discussed. (French, Spanish & Italian abstracts) (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)