Individual constantly monitors the environment for threatening stimuli. This leads to arousal, fatigue, and performance decrements. Accounts for the greater impact of unpredictable stressors. Arousal and stress High level of arousal narrows and focuses attention. This can improve performance sometimes on simple tasks, but worsens performance on complex tasks.
Stress can produce frustration which increases annoyance and irritation.
This may decrease interest in subsequent tasks. Can also produce aggression. Helplessness Stress produces feelings of helplessness. Uncontrollable events are particularly helplessness producing , such as the electric shock in Seligman's research on learned helplessness with dogs. Helplessness may be learned after repeated exposure to an uncontrollable stressor.