Arousal–Performance Curve (2D): The Yerkes-Dodson Law

Sport psychology's best-known finding is that performance is not a straight line against effort or nerves — it is an inverted U. This 2D simulator splits that relationship into two linked panels: a heatmap of the whole arousal-by-complexity performance field (drag on it directly to set both variables at once), and a curve slice through that field at the current task complexity under the Yerkes-Dodson law, sharpened by the Easterbrook cue-utilisation effect that narrows and shifts the optimal zone for harder tasks. Drag the arousal slider, or drag directly on the heatmap, and watch a marker climb toward peak performance, overshoot into the choking zone, or run repeated noisy trials to see how much of a given outcome is signal versus nerve-driven scatter.