Attribution

Question 1

what is attribution theory?

Answer 1

different ways an athlete views their reason for success or failure

Question 2

what is weiners model of attribution?

Answer 2

consists of:
- locus of causality
- locus of stability

the locus of causality determines wether the athlete is able to influence their outcome, with 2 types of focus:
- externally perceived focus
- internally perceived focus

the locus of stability determines wether their attribution can change, therefore being separated to :
- stable (unlikely to change)
- unstable (likely to change - social loafing)

stable + internal = ability
stable + external = task difficulty
unstable + internal = motivation
unstable + external = luck

Question 3

why is attribution important?

Answer 3

• athletes and coaches must credit their successes and failures correctly to maintain high levels of motivation
• without motivation training won’t be productive
• athlete will become bored

Question 4

what is motivation?

Answer 4

• the reason in doing something
• very important in sport
• linked to task persistence

Question 5

what is task persistence?

Answer 5

person still works towards their goal despite set backs and hardship along the way

e.g.
- correcting a failed training
- competition keeping players
motivated to achieve goal

Question 6

what is self serving bias and why is it helpful?

Answer 6

involves external and unstable reasons for loosing, as it allows players and coaches to believe that loss can be changed as its out of their control

• promotes self esteem
• remain motivated
• blaming loss on external factors

Question 7

what is attribute retraining?

Answer 7

method can be used to ensure athletes attribute their success to more favourable factors which can improve their performance

e.g.
- internal and unstable factors

Question 8

what does attribution training allow?

Answer 8

• improve ability to change negative outcome
• feel more in control of situation
• focusing on improving own skill

Question 9

what is learnt helplessness?

Answer 9

the belief that you will fail in a situation and your action will not change the outcome

• mostly influenced by past experiences
• occurs when people attribute their failures to internal and uncontrollable factors

Question 10

what are the 2 types of learnt helplessness?

Answer 10

1. SPECIFIC
   belief in inevitable failure when performing a specific task

2.GENERAL
belief in inevitable failure when performing any task related to pervious negative experience

Question 11

7 ways to avoid learnt helplessness

Answer 11

1. focus on important information
2. mental rehearsal before and after event
3. use audience during performance
4. repeat skill during training to reach autonomous stage of learning
5. use goal setting to improve mental rehearsal and reduce anxiety
6. attribute some failure to external factors to keep motivated
7. teach imagery to reduce stress