arousal regulation Flashcards
how to increase sefl-awarness of arousal?
think about best performace and fill out the Checklist of Performance States e.g how anxious
then think about worst performance and fill it out again
compare the responses to see levels of feelings at different performance states
what is the first step towards learning to regulate arousal?
becoming more aware of arousal levels during performance and noticing how feelings affect performance
what is the difference between elite and non-elite athletes in their view of anxiety?
elite athletes view anxiety as as facilitative and feel they can control it
non-elite athletes interpret anxiety as debilitative
what is the difference between athletes who view their anxiety as facilitative and debilitative?
facilitative - use coping strategies
debilitative - limited use of coping strategies
what are the 3 groups of anxiety reduction techniques?
somatic
cognitive
multimodal
what are the 3 critical time periods in the interpretation of anxiety?
what do those that view anxiety as facilitative do differently than those who view anxiety as debilitative?
after performance, 1 or 2 days before and the day of competition
during these times, facilitators use psychological skills to control the cognitive and somatic anxiety experience
will athletes use more physical or mental relaxation techniques when coping with competition anxiety and everyday anxieties?
physical to cope with competition anxiety
mental to cope with everyday anxieties
do professional athletes engage in more relaxation than non-professional athletes?
yes
what do somatic anxiety techniques aim to reduce?
physiological arousal associated with increased somatic anxiety
what are 3 examples of somatic anxiety reduction techniques?
biofeedback
progressive muscle relaxation
breath control
what assumptions is progressive muscle relaxation based on?
not possible to be relaxed and tense at the same time
possible to learn difference between tense and relaxed
relaxation of muscles through decreased muscle tension will decrease mental tension
what is progressive muscle relaxation?
full contraction tensing and relaxaing specific muscle groups until the whole body is relaxed
how did progressive muscle relaxation reduce anxiety?
distraction from anxiety state
correlation between how body feels and thoughts so feel better = think better
what is the overal goal of progressive muscle relaxation?
to develop ability to detect tene muscles and relax them on site during a competition
what is generally the first physical symptom of anxiety?
a change in breathing rate
becomes short, shallow and irregular
how does breathing increase and decrease muscle tension?
holding breath increases muscle tension
breathing out decreases msucle tension
what is the general ratio used for breath relaxation?
1:2 inhalation to exhalation
when is the best time to use breath control?
during a break or half time in a competition
how does breath control reduce anxiety?
controlling breathing reverses process of increased anxiety through irregular breathing
relaxes shoulders and neck muscles
less likely to be bothered by distractions
renews energy
what does biofeedback involve?
using an electric device to monitor and provide feedback on physiological responses such as muscle activity
can be used to alert an athlete to exact areas of tension during specific actions
how can rifle shooters improve their performance using biofeedback?
they can fire between heartbeats
how does biofeedback work?
increasing awareness of physiological responses such as muscle tension gives the athlete a greater possibility of control
what are 3 types of cognitive anxiety reduction techniques?
relaxation response
autogenic training
systematic desensitisation
what is the theory behind the effectiveness of cognitive anxiety reduction techniques?
relaxing the mind will in turn relax the body and enable greater concentration
what is the relaxation response?
applies the basic methods of meditation to mentally prepare for a competition by quieting the mind which improves focus
what 4 elements does the relaxation response require?
- a quiet place
- comfortable position NOT lying in bed
- repeat a word over and over
- passive attitude
is the relaxation response a good technique to use right before an event?
no, could become too relaxed and lethargic
has meditation been proved effective?
yes, shown to improve performance and reduce self-reported tension
what is autogenic training?
series of exercises that produce sensations (particularly of warmth and heaviness)
what are the 6 hierarchical stages of autogenic training?
- heaviness in extremeties
- warmth in extremities
- regulation of cardiac activity
- regulation of breathing
- abdominal warmth
- cooling of the forehead
how does Wolpe argue people learn to be anxious?
through classical conditioning of having high levels of anxiety in presence of certain stimuli
what is the goal of systematic desensitisation?
replace nervs activity with a competing behaviour
example of use of systematic desensitisation?
train client in deep muscle relaxation
create and anxiety hierarchy
picture first stage of hierarchy and relax until no anxiety
what are 3 multimodal anxiety reduction packages?
cognitive-affective stress management training
stress innoculation training
hypnosis
what are multimodal anxiety reduction packages?
can alleviate both cognitive and somatic anxiety by helping athetes develop coping skills for a range of situations
what is cognitive-affective stress management training?
teaches a person a coping response that uses reaxation and cognitive components to control arousal
what does the stress management training model account for?
the situation
mental appraisal of situation
physiological response
actual behaviour
what are some of the intervention strategies offered by stress management training?
relaxation skills
cognitive restructuring
self-instructional training
what are the 5 phases of Smith’s stress management training?
1) pretreatment assessment - assess circumstances that produce stress and their response
2) treatment rationale - use biofeedback to analyse stress responses and emphasise educational benefit of training
3) skill acquisition - develop integrated coping response
4) skill rehearsal - inducing different stress levels for the ppts to use their coping skills
5) posttraining evaluation - use of inventories and self-report techniques to evaluate results of programme
what is cognitive restructuring?
identify irrational and stress-inducing self-statements and restructured into more positive thoughts
what is self-instructional training?
teaches people to provide themselves with instructions to improve concentration and problem solving
(self commands)
what does stress innolculation training involve?
expose individual to increasing amounts of stress so they learn to cope and improve immunity to stress
what are the 4 stages when breaking down a stressful situation using the stress innoculation training?
1) preparing for stressor
2) controlling and handling stressor
3) coping with feelings of being overwheled
4) evaluating coping effrots
examples of coping techniques used in stress innoculation trainng?
imagery
role playing
homework assignments
what is hypnosis?
an altered state of consciousness induced when a person is in an unusually relaxed state and responds to suggestions for making alterations in e.g feelings
what are the 4 stages in hypnosis?
induction phase - achiveing a relaxed state then put n a hypnotic trance
hypnotic phase - asked to respond to specific suggestions (posthpnotoc sugggestions)
waking phase - comes of out trance
posthypnotic phase - perform posthypnotic suggestions e.g how they should feel in competitions
how many out of 64 studies showed stress components were optimised using anxiety reduction techniques?
52 (81%)
out of 39 studies using interventions, how many found positive performance effects and how many found reduction in stress and improved performance?
performnce - 30 (77%)
performace and stress - 22 (56%) which suggests reducting anxiety doesn’t necessarily increase performance standard
most effective technique in performance enhancement?
multimodal
what does the matching hypothesis state?
anxiety management technqiue should be matched to a particular anxiety problem
theoretical and practical solution
e.g cognitive treated mentally and somatic treated physically
not sure what type of anxiety is most problematic?
multimodal technique
definition of coping?
process of constantly changing cognitive and behavioual efforts to manage specific demands or conflicts exceeding one’s resources
what are the 3 categories of coping?
problem-focused coping
emotion-focused coping
social support coping
what does problem-focused coping involve?
efforts to manage problem tha is causing individual stress
e.g goal setting
what does emotion-focused coping involve?
regulating emotional responses to the problem that is causing the individual stress
e.g meditation
when is problem/emtion focused coping used?
problem - when when situation is capable of change
emtion - when situation is incapable to change
what does social support coping involve?
one turns to others for support in times of stress
most effective coping category to use?
all 3 together
what are “the yips”?
condition that lies on continuum from focal dystonia (involuntary tremours) to choking (attentional disturbances caused by self-focus)
what makes suffering from the yips more likely?
perfectionism
symtpoms of the yips?
increased HR
increased muscular tension and activity
how to cope with the yips?
relaxation training
positive thinking
visualisation
how to treat type 1 yips? (tremours)
accupuncture
what was found about Olympians that used coping techniques?
more successful if prepared for unexpected events
mental preparation has positive effect on performance
which coping techniques are more effective in female and male athletes?
female - mental ditraction
male - venting emotions
how is resilience acquired?
in response to different adversities
4 resilience charcetristics of elite sports teams?
group structure
mastery approaches
social capital - social support
collective efficacy
examples of on-site relaxation techniques?
view stress as priviledge - a result of getting in that situation in the first place smile when you feel tension coming on have fun be prepared stay focused on present practice stressful situations
signals that someone is underactivated and needs an increased arousal level?
moving slowly
lack of concern
wandering mind
lack of enthusiasm
examples of arousal inducing techniques?
increase breathing rate - produce energy
positive statements - energise you
shout
music - reduces perceptions of effort by 10%
strategies for energising a team?
setting team / individual performances
giving a pep talk
examples of coping strategies used by coaches?
planning support psychological skills positive coach-athlete relaionships distraction learning
key to a successful pep talk?
give a plan make players believe they can win don't lie be yourself use humour
