12.1 Psychological Factors Cont. Stress & Attribution Theory Flashcards
Define ‘stress’.
- A negative response of the body to a threat causing anxiety.
Define ‘eustress’.
- A positive response of the body to a threat
What are the two types of stress?
- Cognitive effects of stress- These are psychological
- Somatic effects of stress- These are physiological e.g. muscular tension- might cause an innacurate or weak attempt
What is a stressor?
- The cause of stress
Give some examples of relevant stressors in sport.
- Injury
- Playing in an important match
- Playing against really good opponents
- Playing to get an important reward such as prize money
- Fear of failure caused by pressure from being watched by significant others e.g. coaches
The stress experienced is the result of such stressors & it can be positive or negative- depending on how the performer percieves or views their ability to overcome the threat
e.g. a runner at the start of a 300m race may experience the stressor of lining up against other top athletes in a race- a positive response wld be that the runner believes they are training well& accept the challenege of going against these runners (eustress)
A negative response wld be that the athlete begins to think they do not have the ability to compete against these athletes & is afraid of letting coach down
What is attentional narrowing?
- Loss of concentration in cognitive stress - linked to a process of attentional narrowing- when as arousal & anxiety levels increase, the ability to take in information or cues from environment is reduced
- Therefore some important information may be missed at higher levels of stress
What are the cognitive stress management techniques?
- Thought stopping- When negative & irrational thoughts occur, the performer uses a learned action or trigger to remove them
- Positive Self-Talk- When a performer replaces negative thoughts w positive ones
- Imagery- Can recreate a successful image of the action from a past performance when skill was performed successfully & the player can recall the feel of the actual movements in the mind- some players use imagery to avoid stressful situations by imagining a calm place.
- Visualisation- Uses a mental image of the skills, an image perfected while performing the skill successfully in training- this image is then ‘locked in’ & ‘re-lived’ when the skill is performed for real - visualisation & imagery can be internal or external
- Mental rehearsal- The process of going over the movements of a task in the mind before they take place
- Attentional Control & Cue Utilisation- One of consequences of stress is performer may loose concentration & focus on incorrect stimuli from the environment- as stress & arousal increase- ability to take in information is directly linked to levels of arousal- a problem called attentional narrowing
- Cue utilisation is the ability to process information is directly linked to the level of arousal
What is attentional wastage & attentional control?
- Attentional wastage: Limiting the amount of information being processed; the result of attentional narrowing
- Attentional control- Using four different attentional styles: Broad, narrow, internal, external
What are the 4 styles of attention that can be used in a sporting context?
- To avoid problem of attentional wastage & to ensure performance levels are maintained performer shld choose attention style that suits situation- 4 styles:
1. Broad- when a number of cues cannot be idenitifed
2. Narrow- when it is best to focus on one or two cues
3. External- when information is drawn from the environment
4. Internal when information is used from within the performer
How can the four styles of attention then be combined?
- Broad, External - Picking up a wide range of cues from the environment e.g. position of players in a game
- Broad, Internal- Mental analysis of numerous cues e.g. analyse game & plan tactics
- Narrow, External- Focus is directed to one environmental cue e.g. golfer concentrating on putting into hole
- Narrow, Internal- Mental practice of one or two important cues e.g. concentrate on weakness
What are some of the somatic stress management techniques?
The techniques can be used to reduce the effects of muscular tension & increased heart rate:
Biofeedback
-T his tech uses a measuring device to help athlete recongise the physical changes that will happen when under stress. Such measures will include simple measure of HR, galvanic skin response or electromyography that measures muscular tension w electordes taped to the skin- idea is that athlete learns to recongise when such physical symptoms are happening & can eventually do so without a measuring device
Progressive muscle relaxation
- Physical technique often conducted w use of recorded instructions,
- When performer alternates between a state of tension in a group of muscles to a state of relaxation in those same muscles. The groups of muscles are tensed, held & then relaxed are worked progressively from the periphery of the body to the core
Centering
- Centering is a form of breathing control when at opportune times concentrating on slow movement of abdominal muscles when taking deep controlled breaths
- Use of slow controlled breathing diverts attention away from the stressful situation & once technique has been mastered, athlete can use it quickly when the need arises
What is meant by ‘attribution’?
- A perception of the reason for an outcome or event
What is meant by internal & external attribute?
- Internal attribute- Within the performers control
- External attribute- Outside the performers control
What is the attribution theory?
- Reasons often given for winning, losing, playing well or playing badly
- Those reasons are given by the sporting leaders such as managers or coaches & more importantly by the players themselves
- The reasons are vital to maintain motivation & effort & therefore attribution in sport is one of the most important factors
- The reasons giving for winning & losing were classified by Weiner (1974)
What did Weiner (1974) do?
- He deduced that the reasons for winning/losing can fall into two sections & he placed those sections on a matrix
- Each section can be sub-divided into 2 parts, - locus of causality where a reason might be placed looks at amount of control player had over the result & can be internal or external
- The stability dimension, which looks at how much the reasond for winning & losing can be changed, can be subdivided into stable & unstable reasons
