12.1: Sport Psychology

Question 1

Achievement motivation:

Answer 1

• the tendency to approach or avoid competitive situations.
• summed up as the drive to succeed minus the fear of failure
• achievement motivation looks at how much desire a player has to keep on trying to succeed.

Question 2

Atkinson (1964)

Answer 2

• Atkinson identified two personality types.
• the first is demonstrated by those who keep trying, even when things are though. Types of people who approach competition with enthusiasm e.g. a football player volunteering to take a penalty.
• such personalities are said to display approach behaviour

Question 3

What are the two types?

Answer 3

• NACH: The need to achieve; approach behaviour. The player welcomes competition.
• NAF: the need to avoid failure; avoidance behaviour. The player avoids risks.

Question 4

What are the characteristics of NACH?

Answer 4

• they welcome competition - playing someone better. Leads to pride and satisfaction.
• they take risks
• they are very confident - belief in their ability.
• they are task persistent
• they attribute success internally
• they welcome feedback and evaluation. Look at statistics
• they base their actions on trying to seek pride and satisfaction from their performance.

Question 5

What are the characteristics of NAF?

Answer 5

• they seek safe and secure options - playing for a draw towards the end of the match.
• NAFS will give up easily, they will not have a second to. They don’t like to damage their self-esteem by losing.
• they do not like feedback or evaluation. Will avoid looking at the stats sheets.
• they tend to take the easy options - picking their games/players to play against.

Question 6

NACH and NAF graph:

Answer 6

• see notes

Question 7

What determines the NACH or NAF approach?

Answer 7

• the level of achievement motivation depends on the interaction of personalised and a situation. They need to achieve or the need to avoid failure are situation specific.

Question 8

Ways to develop the need to achieve (NAF)?

Answer 8

• reinforcement: praise and rewards would promote task persistence.
• attribute success internally - effort or technique.
• allow success - especially in the early stages
• improve confidence
• goal setting: coaches and players should set goals that are achievable with an amount of effort meaning there is satisfaction to be gained. Not just outcome goals.

Question 9

What is achievement goal theory?

Answer 9

• this theory suggests that motivation and task persistence depends on the type of goals set by the performer and how they measure success.
• goals can be outcome focused: doesn’t matter how the result is achieved, then you will feel pride and satisfaction.
• if the performer fails to get the results, then confidence can be lowered.
• if a task relayed goal is more focused with the process of success, which is measured against the performers own standards so that success can be achieved, regardless of results thus confidence is maintained.

Question 10

Confidence in sport definition:

Answer 10

• a belief in the ability to master the task.
• those with confidence are more likely to show approach behaviour, they tend to try harder and take risks.

Question 11

What is trait confidence?

Answer 11

• a belief in the ability to do well in a range of sports.
• a consistent level of confidence shown in most situations. Player is happy to take part and anxiety is low.
• trait sport confidence is concerned with how an athlete rates their ability to perform across a wide range of sports.

Question 12

What is state confidence?

Answer 12

• a belief in the ability to master a specific sporting moment.
• this type of confidence may be temporary and can vary depending on the interaction of the influence of experience and personality.
• state sports confidence is concerned with how a performer rates their ability to perform at a particular moment.

Question 13

Competitive orientation definition:

Answer 13

• the degree to which a performer is drawn to challenging situations.

Question 14

Objective sporting situations definition:

Answer 14

• the performer takes into account the situation in which the task is being undertaken.

Question 15

The Vealey model of sports confidence:

Answer 15

• Vealey looked at the influence of trait confidence, the situation and the competitive orientation of the performer.
• Vealey suggested that confidence gained in more than one area of sport could be used to improve confidence in a different sporting activity.
• Vealey uses the idea of trait confidence and the idea of state confidence. It was suggested that these two influences combine to produce a level of confidence in an objective sporting situation.
• if it is a skill that has been used successfully in the past, then both trait and state confidence would be high. The objective situation also looks at the conditions that the skill was performed in.

Question 16

What is the subjective outcome?

Answer 16

• the judgement of an athlete and if this judgement is good then trait confidence and competitive orientation increase.
• if the subjective outcome is bad, then both trait confidence and competitive orientation decrease.

Question 17

Vealey’s diagram:

Answer 17

• see notes

Question 18

Self-efficacy definition:

Answer 18

• a belief in the ability to master a specific sporting situation.

Question 19

Bandura’s four influences:

Answer 19

• Bandura suggested that a coach could use the four influences to improve player performance and confidence:
  1) performance accomplishment
  2) vicarious experience
  3) verbal persuasion
  4) emotional arousal

Question 20

What is performance accomplishment?

Answer 20

• what you have achieved?
• PBs, training performances, last match vs your rival

Question 21

What is vicarious experience?

Answer 21

• seeing others do the task and being unsuccessful
• the people being watched doing the task can be referred to as a model and the effect of seeing others doing the task wall is even better if those models are perceived to have similar ability to the performer, e.g. high jump.

Question 22

What is verbal persuasion?

Answer 22

• encouragement from others
• power of reinforcement and encouragement. Praise from others such as coaches, peers or spectators gives a player a real incentive and confidence to repeat the successful attempt.
• enhanced if it is received from someone held in high esteem, a role model, a family, coach, significant other.

Question 23

What is emotional arousal?

Answer 23

• a perception of the effects of anxiety on performance
• keeping calm and maintaining control and game strategy are essential to a good performance. Teams and players that deal with arousal better get the best results.

Question 24

Ways to improve confidence?

Answer 24

• control arousal with relaxation or stress management techniques such as visualisation. Correlation between the lower the anxiety, the higher the confidence.
• point out past successful performers
• accurate demos
• support and encouragement
• slow success during training
• attribute success internally
• mental rehearsal
• set attainable goals - not always about winning

Question 25

What is home field advantage?

Answer 25

• a balance between confidence and anxiety
• often the team playing at home wins the game because the home audience support increases player’s motivation and confidence - COVID
• not having to travel and the familiarity of the home environment can mean more games are won at home than when playing away.
• the home audience can cause ‘functional assertive behaviour’ in the home team; causing them to to have more drive, more assertion and the correct choice of response - social facilitation could occur.

Question 26

What are the disadvantages of home field advantage - away team?

Answer 26

• the home crowd can have a negative effect on the away team caused increasing anxiety with hostile chanting.
• this can lead to a less effective performance; the away team sometimes commit more fouls due to anxiety and could suffer from social inhibition.

Question 27

What are the disadvantages of home field advantage - home team:

Answer 27

• the home team can negatively effect the home team - choking in big games with the increased pressure of the game causing the catastrophe effect when the player suffers a dramatic reduction in performance.
• the more important the game, the less likely the home team is to win it.
• the effect of the home field advantage is increased in stadiums where the crowd are close to the pitch. In large stadiums the crowd may be far away and the help of the home support is ineffective.
• the bigger and more supportive the crowd, the better the effect is for the home team; the more hostile the crowd is to the away team, the more negative the effect is for them.

Question 28

Leadership definition:

Answer 28

• someone who has influence in helping others to achieve their goals.
• the leader plays a role in maintaining effort and motivation by inspiring the team and setting targets.

Question 29

What are the two types of leadership?

Answer 29

• prescribed leader: appointed from outside the group, e.g. Sir Alex Ferguson
• emergent leader: appointed from within the group, e.g. interim

Question 30

What are leader qualities?

Answer 30

• charisma: demeanour and presence which makes others listen and follow.
• communication: get the message across
• interpersonal skills: interact with other members of the team and those outside the group.
• empathy: the leader needs to be able to listen to others and take their views into account.
• experience: wealth of knowledge
• inspirational: leaders need to encourage others and keeping them trying to r en when things are tough.
• confidence: can spread to the players.
• organisational skills: a good leader would plan and prepare for training, linking to the demands of the team.

Question 31

What are the different styles of leadership?

Answer 31

• ## autocratic and task-orientated style

Question 32

What is the autocratic approach?

Answer 32

• leader makes the decision
• leader makes all the decisions and dictates instructions to the group.
• in the task orientated style, the concern of the leader is to get results and reach targets.
• an autocratic approach could be used by a coach who has made specific plan to win a game, tells the players of the plan and makes them follow it with the expectation of a win.
• the coach could stay with the group as with this style, the group tend to switch off ic the coach is not there.

Question 33

What is the democratic and person orientated approach?

Answer 33

• the decisions are made by group consultation
• the coach adopts a more systematic approach to leadership and seeks the opinion of the group before making decisions
• the coach may use the quality of empathy to listen to the senior players after watching some video footage of the next opposition and then making a plan involving those players in the expectation of a win.
• in this style, the group usually continue to work when the coach is present.

Question 34

What is the laissez-faire approach?

Answer 34

• the leader does very little and leaves the group to it
• senior players will lead from what the manager wants
• the group need to be experienced
• less motivated players will stop working if they’re left alone
• it is up to the leader to choose the right leadership style
• need to take into account considerations of the situation, the group and the leader themselves, needs of the group, experience.

Question 35

Person orientated leadership definition:

Answer 35

• concerned with inter-personal relationships.

Question 36

Task-orientated leadership definition:

Answer 36

• concerned with getting results

Question 37

What is Fiedler’s contingency model of leadership?

Answer 37

• Fiedler suggested that the autocratic or task-orientated style of leadership should be used in two opposite situations - when everything is good (most favourable) and when everything is bad (least favourable)
  -in the middle ground, when the situation is between good and bad, it is called moderately favourable situation and suggested a person orientated style is best used.

Question 38

When is a most favourable condition:

Answer 38

• the leader has respect
• there is good support within the group
• the group is of high ability
• high levels of motivation
• task is clear to the team
• harmony between leader and group

Question 39

When is a least favourable condition:

Answer 39

• there may be hostility between the group members
• there is little respect for the leader
• the group has low ability
• the group members do not support each other
• motivation is low
• the task is unclear
• the leader is weak

Question 40

When is a moderately favourable condition?

Answer 40

• there is a need or preference for consultation within the group
• motivation is moderate
• there is limited support
• the group has reasonable ability

Question 41

What is Chelladura’s multi dimensional model of leadership?

Answer 41

• he believed that the leader must use an interactive approach to balance aspects of the situation and the leader and the group.
• e.g. the importance of a situation would include the type of task being performed - individual sports vs team sports, a complex task may need more time to explain the task, time available (off-season, peak season), size or the group, danger, ability, age.
• with a group of females, the use of empathy and consultation may be the best choice while men may prefer a more autocratic approach.

Question 42

Chelladurai’s multi-dimensional model of leadership - sport:

Answer 42

• individal sports, e.g. athletucs may resultin a different approch to leadership in a team game.

Question 43

Chelladurai’s multi-dimensional model of leadership - difficulty of task:

Answer 43

• difficult task may require more time to offer an explanation

Question 44

Chelladurai’s multi-dimensional model of leadership - time available:

Answer 44

• efficient approach may be needed during a time when there is a short turnaround between games

Question 45

Chelladurai’s multi-dimensional model of leadership - size of group:

Answer 45

• larger groups may result in autocratic leadership being used to maintain control.
• smaller group - discussion may be considered

Question 46

Chelladurai’s multi-dimensional model of leadership - danger:

Answer 46

• in a dangerous situation an autocratic leadership will be used to make sure instructions are given to eliminate danger.

Question 47

Chelladurai’s multi-dimensional model of leadership - gender:

Answer 47

• women - empathetic and consultation may be the best choice
• men - autocratic approach to training

Question 48

Chelladurai’s multi-dimensional model of leadership - ability:

Answer 48

• beginners - autocratic
• autonomous - democratic

Question 49

Chelladurai’s multi-dimensional model of leadership - age:

Answer 49

• older group may have more experience = democratic
• younger group = autocratic approach

Question 50

Required behaviour definition:

Answer 50

• a result of an assessment of the situation and may involve being autocratic during a quick break during play when giving out instruction

Question 51

Actual behaviour definition:

Answer 51

• may be chose to match both situation and group demands

Question 52

Preferred behaviour definition:

Answer 52

• result of what the group want or prefer. Group of novices may want instruction on new tactics or strategies

Question 53

Example:

Answer 53

• yr6 rock climbing. Autocratic approach may be taken due to the potential danger. Therefore instructions can be given to eliminate this danger. This is also needed as they have little knowledge

Question 54

Stress definition:

Answer 54

• a negative response of the body to a threat causing anxiety.
• managing and controlling stress is key to top class performance

Question 55

Eustress definition:

Answer 55

• a positive response of the body to a threat
• extreme sports will seek this out by pushing themselves to more difficult challenges
• the experience if eustress can happen when a response to a threat of a difficult situation is overcome and the feeling of success gives future confidence and motivation

Question 56

What are stressors?

Answer 56

• the cause of stress in anxiety
  e.g.
• injury
• important matches
• important reward such as prize money
• fear of failure - pressure from significant other/coach/own expectations

Question 57

What is cognitive stress?

Answer 57

• brings negative thoughts and feelings
• includes irrational thinking
• inability to cope with the demands of the environment
• AO2: taking the eye of the ball when volleying

Question 58

What are cognitive stress management strategies?

Answer 58

• thought stopping
• positive self-talk
• imagery
• visualisation
• mental rehearsal
• attentional control and cue utilisation

Question 59

What is thought stopping?

Answer 59

• when negative and irrational thoughts occur, the performer uses a learned action or trigger to remove them.
• this learned physical action or cue can be a simple movement of rehearsed action that is linked to the negative thoughts to redirect attention to the task in hand.
• e.g. batter in cricket may prod the ground with the bat prior to the delivery of the bowler to redirect attention.

Question 60

What is positive self-talk?

Answer 60

• replacing negative thoughts with positive ones
• helps the player focus on a tactic or instruction and can be used to overcome a weakness or bad habit

Question 61

What is imagery?

Answer 61

• can recreate a successful image of the action from a past performance when the skill was performed successfully and the player can recall the feel of the actual movements in the mind and can use emotions as well which can build confidence.
• can be used to avoid stressful situations
• e.g. netball player who has scored a goal to win a close match would imagine the satisfaction and elation associated with the winning shot and use those emotions to build confidence

Question 62

What is visualisation?

Answer 62

• mental image of the skill, an image perfected while performing the skill successfully in training
• the player can visualise crowd noise/environment when practicing to overcome them, so when performed in real circumstances such experiences have been dealt with
• visualisation + imagery can be either internal or external
• external image: when player has an image that concentrates on the environment, almost as if the player is watching themselves on TV
• internal imagery: looks at the emotions and feelings involved in the skill, such as the sense of kinesthesis used to develop a feel of the movement or satisfaction gained from completing the successful action

Question 63

What is mental rehearsal?

Answer 63

• going over the movement of a task in the mind before the action takes place. Serial skills/routines
• idea is that if the required movements are rehearsed in order and in a spatial sequence, then the performer is less likely to forget the order of the moves and therefore stress is reduced
• best done in a calm situation prior to the event

Question 64

What is cue utilisation?

Answer 64

• the ability to process information is directly linked to the level of arousal
• e.g. golf - red dot on glove. Lowered anxiety and arousal due to previous content experiences and therefore won major tournament.
• low levels of arousal - player is able to process plenty of cues from environment.

Question 65

What is attentional wastage?

Answer 65

• at high levels of arousal and stress only limited info can be processes and this may cause important info to be missed. Therefore important info has been ignored
• to avoid this Niddefer identified that a performer could choose an attention style that suits the situation and pick up relevant info

Question 66

What are Niddefer’s attentional styles?

Answer 66

• broad, when number of cues can be identified
• narrow, when it is best to focus on one or two cues
• external, when information is drawn from the environment
• internal, when information is used from within the performer

Question 67

Sporting examples of Niddefer’s styles:

Answer 67

• broad external: picking up a wide range of cues from environment, e.g. position of players in a game
• broad internal: mental analysis of numerous cues, e.g. analyse game and 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 weaknesses

Question 68

What is attentional control?

Answer 68

• if the correct style is chosen at the right time, them stress is lowered and performance is enhanced
• during a game an experienced player may learn to switch styles as appropriate and therefore make correct choices
• a midfielder could use a broad external style to select the player in the best position to receive a pass and then use a narrow external style to focus on making an accurate pass.

Question 69

Somatic stress management strategies:

Answer 69

• biofeedback
• progressive muscle relaxation
• centring

Question 70

What is biofeedback?

Answer 70

• uses measuring devices to help the athlete recognise the physical changes that happen under stress - e.g. heart rate, skin response/sweating and muscle tension
• idea is that the athlete recognises when physical symptoms are happening and as soon as the signs are recognised the performer can use techniques to calm down and reduce stress

Question 71

What is progressive muscle relaxation?

Answer 71

• physical technique, often conducted with the use of recorded instructions, when the performer alternates between a state of tension in a group of muscles to a group of relaxation in those same muscles
• the group of muscles that are tensed, held and then relaxed are worked progressively from the periphery of the body to the core
• the muscles of the arms, shoulders and legs may be worked on at first until the abdominal muscles are utilised.

Question 72

What is centring?

Answer 72

• a form of breathing control when the sports performer can learn to relax the shoulders and chest while concentrating in the slow movement of the abdominals when taking deep controlled breaths
• the use of slow controlled beathing diverts attention away from the stressful situation and once the technique has been mastered, the athletes can use it quickly when the need arises.
• e.g. before a kick in rugby