7- Social Facilitation

Question 1

The effects on others on performance

Answer 1

According to Zajonc, there are four types of others present in sport:

1) An audience – just watches
2) Competitors – are in conflict with the performer
3) Social reinforcers – encourage or criticise performance
4) Co-actors – are doing the sport alongside you

Question 2

Audience and co actors

Answer 2

The audience and co actors cause an increase in arousal
due to their presence but are passive as they are not involved
in the event.
Competitors and Social reinforcers have more direct
impact giving encouragement or causing distractions

Question 3

Help or hinder

Answer 3

A beginner may be hindered where an Elite level performer is motivated

> Inhibition – when performance is made worse by the presence of others- beginner
Facilitation – when performance is improved by the presence of others- expert

Presence of Co-actors may help in a simple task as arousal is raised
Complex skills need lower arousal levels to concentrate on the skills

Question 4

Performance and the dominant response

Is there a link?

Answer 4

> Expert Performer= well learned/ accurate dominant response, under pressure this response becomes automatic, simple and correct- may lead to positive performances as Facilitation occurs. The roar of a home crowd in a pressure situation
Novice Performer= poorly learned/ inaccurate response, under pressure this response becomes automatic, complex and incorrect - may lead to pressurised performances as Inhibition occurs. Choosing the correct response to a powerful serve

Question 5

Evaluation Apprehension– the fear of being judged

Answer 5

• High arousal could be created by being watched by important/ expert people
• These experts will create a judgement and there can be associated anxiety
• If you are unconfident you may also feel high arousal
• An audience that doesn’t comment could cause arousal but so could an audience that is openly critical

Question 6

Evaluation apprehension

Answer 6

• audience is known to us
• we are lacking confidence
• audience contains experts
• audience is critical

Question 7

Preventing social inhibition

Answer 7

■ Getting the players familiar with playing in front of a crowd- train with a distraction so
the team get used to it. Gradually building up the amount of audience the players
have and the importance of the people watching
■ Gradually introducing evaluation- the level of assessment should build up gradually.
A team may have informal chats before progressing to statistical analysis. Support
from other players and peers may help at this stage
■ Improving focus and concentration- players could focus on the key information not
the audience so they focus in relevant information

Question 8

Continuing to prevent it

Answer 8

• train in front of a crowd
• gradually introduce evaluation
• lower arousal with relaxation techniques - visualisation imagery
• use selective attention
• decrease the importance of the event
• introduce audience early and increase size of the audience
• Peter support from other players

Question 9

Key terms

Answer 9

■ Inhibition – when performance is made worse
■ Facilitation – when performance is improved
■ Evaluation apprehension – the fear of being judged
■ Audience – watching performance
■ Dominant response – focusing on one or two cues as our ability to take in
information reduces
■ Increased arousal