15.10.24 Arousal, stress, anxiety

Question 1

What are emotions?

Answer 1

short lived feeling states that occur in response to events

Question 2

What is arousal?

Answer 2

A blend of physiological and psychological activation, varying in intensity along a continuum

Question 3

What is anxiety?

Answer 3

A negative emotional state with feelings of apprehension and worry, associated with arousal of the body

Question 4

What is stress?

Answer 4

The imbalance between demands and the available skills you have

Question 5

What are the sources of stress?

Answer 5

Situational sources
Personal sources

Question 6

What are situational sources?

Answer 6

Event importance
Uncertainty

Question 7

What are personal sources?

Answer 7

Trait anxiety
Self-esteem
Social physique anxiety

Question 8

Another definition of anxiety?

Answer 8

State of heightened awareness and vigilance stemming from an increase in uncertainty

Question 9

What is the link between anxiety and cognitive and physical performance?

Answer 9

When anxiety (state or trait) is high, there is disruption in performance

Question 10

What is the link between trait and state anxiety?

Answer 10

High trait anxiety has more state anxiety

Question 11

What is cognitive state anxiety?

Answer 11

moment to moment changes in negative thoughts

Question 12

What is somatic state anxiety?

Answer 12

Moment to moment changes in physical body

Question 13

What is competitive state anxiety?

Answer 13

Anxiety induced by a specific competitive situation

Question 14

What is competitive trait anxiety?

Answer 14

Anxiety that is a characteristic of an individual’s personality that influences the perception of a competitive situation

Question 15

What is performance anxiety?

Answer 15

Anxiety or fear that affects the attempted activity

Question 16

Positive impacts of anxiety on performance?

Answer 16

Prepares you for intense situations (fight or flight)
Can lead to performance increase

Question 17

Negative impacts of anxiety on performance?

Answer 17

Physiological issues (Chest pain, sweating, heart palpitations)
Problems focusing
Can lead to performance impairment

Question 18

WHO definition of stress

Answer 18

State of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation

Question 19

Positive impacts of stress

Answer 19

Increased alertness
Improved memory
Improved performance

Question 20

Negative Impacts of stress

Answer 20

Physiological issues (sleep, headache, BP)
Mood changes
Memory impairments
Performance impairments

Question 21

4 stages of the stress process

Answer 21

Stage 1 - environmental demand
Stage 2 - Individual’s perception of the environmental demand
Stage 3 - Stress response (arousal, muscle tension, attention changes, state anxiety (cog and som))
Stage 4 - Behavioural consequences (performance or outcome)

Question 22

What can arousal lead to?

Answer 22

Increased muscle tension
Changes in attention, concentration and visual search
Narrowing or broadening of attention
Attending to inappropriate cues

Question 23

What is drive theory?

Answer 23

Hull 1943
Significant positive correlation between arousal and performance
Used as basis of social facilitation
Little evidence

Question 24

What is Inverted U theory?

Answer 24

Yerkes 1908
Performance increases with arousal to optimal arousal then drops off
Under aroused = boredom
Over aroused = Panic

Question 25

Individualised zones of optimal functioning (IZOF)

Answer 25

Hanin 2000
Everyone has a specific level of anxiety
optimal state isn’t a point but a ‘zone’
Lack of explanation about levels of anxiety for good/bad performance

Question 26

Multi-dimensional theory of anxiety

Answer 26

Martens 1990
Cog and Som state anxiety independently relate to performance
Inverted U shows combined Cog and Som, this separates them
Negative linear relationship between cog anxiety and performance
Inverted U relationship between somatic anxiety and performance
Som anxiety should decrease once performance has begun, cog will remain low if confidence is low

Question 27

Catastrophe theory

Answer 27

Yerkes 1908
Suggests that a certain level of arousal can lea to an increase or collapse of performance
Combined with high levels of cognitive anxiety, performance can rapidly decline

Question 28

Reversal theory

Answer 28

How arousal affects performance depends on an individual’s interpretation of their arousal
Can be interpreted as positive or negative
Hard to draw firm conclusions

Question 29

Anxiety direction and intensity

Answer 29

Jones 1995
To understand the anxiety-performance relationship, we must consider both intensity (how anxious one feels) and direction (a person’s interpretation of if anxiety is facilitating or debilitating)
It is perceived either way depending on how much control the person perceives

Question 30

Somatic anxiety reduction techniques:
Progresive relaxation

Answer 30

Learning difference between tension and relaxation
Relax of the body leads to decreased mental tension

Question 31

Somatic anxiety reduction techniques:
Breath control

Answer 31

Breath control promotes physical relax
Simple and effective

Question 32

Somatic anxiety reduction techniques:
Biofeedback

Answer 32

Teaches individual to control their physiological response to anxiety by becoming more aware of them
Electronic monitoring device can be used

Question 33

Cognitive anxiety reduction techniques:
Relaxation response

Answer 33

Basic elements of relaxation through meditation
Teaches you to quiet the mind and concentrate

Question 34

Cognitive anxiety reduction techniques:
Autogenic training

Answer 34

Series of exercises to clam the mind, promoting feelings of warmth
Leads to relaxation and calmness

Question 35

Cognitive anxiety reduction techniques:
Systematic desensitisation

Answer 35

Replaces the nervous activity one feels with a ‘competing behaviour’
Imagining anxiety provoking situation, paired with relaxation techniques to remove anxiety