Chapter 13

Question 1

List Six components of “deliberate, focused, quality practices”.

Answer 1

1. strong commitment to get the most out of each and every practice
2. wrote out their goals before practice
3. set practice goals that included quality and quantity
4. thought about goals on the way to practice
5. had ways to monitor progress on goals
6. kept a written record of progress in meeting their practice goals

Question 2

What do people seem to mean when they talk about “willpower”? Is willpower a useful concept?

Answer 2

1. magical force within us
2. no, because it isn’t something that has concrete steps

Question 3

describe the behavioral model of self-management

Answer 3

1. clear specifications of the behaviors to be changed
2. the individual apply behavioral techniques to manage the problem behavior
   
   1. the individual must behave in some way that rearranges the environment to manage their own subsequent behavior.

Question 4

Briefly describe two causes of self-control problems that involve behavioral excesses.

Answer 4

1. Immediate Gratification Over Long-Term Benefits: People may prioritize immediate pleasures or rewards over long-term goals.
2. negative effects too small to be noticed
   
   1. A tennis player might habitually overeat unhealthy snacks after practice, which feels rewarding in the moment but undermines their long-term goal of maintaining peak physical fitness.

Question 5

Briefly describe two causes of self-control problems that involve behavioral deficits

Answer 5

1. immediate small punishers
2. benefits are too small to notice immediately
   
   1. Sprint efforts, they are small punishers from the pain and you wont notice yourself getting any faster throughout the efforts.

Question 6

List six steps that characterize many programs of self-management in a variety of areas.

Answer 6

1. Set specific behavioral goals for quantity and quality
2. increase commitment to change
3. design monitoring data sheets for key behaviors
4. manage antecedents to motivate desirable behaviors
5. manage consequences to motivate desirable behaviors
6. prevent relapse and make it last

Question 7

quantity goal

Answer 7

Cycling: Number of repetitions of cornering, or hopping barriers

Question 8

quality goal

Answer 8

1. quality of a goals is a refinement of one or more of the 6 characteristic behaviors (topography, duration, frequency, intensity, stimulus control, latency)
2. Barrier hopping/bunny hopping (how high, timing, speed, frequency, how quickly jump comes)
3. Cornering (speed, control, mastery criterion)

Question 9

With behavioral self-management, what is meant by ““commitment to change?”

Answer 9

1. it is important to improve in a specific area
2. that he/she will work towards doing so
3. that he/she recognizes the benefits of doing so

Question 10

List four steps that athletes can take to keep their commitment (to improve) strong

Answer 10

1. Express their commitment to improve to friends, coaches, and/or fellow athletes
   
   1. making a public commitment to change increases the chances of success
2. they might arrange their environment to provide frequent reminders of practice goals
   
   1. write goals on index cards and leave them in conspicuous places (or photographs)
3. they might make a list of all of the benefits for improving their practice performance
4. they should arrange for frequent reminders of the positive benefits associated for reaching their practice goals

Question 11

five strategies for managing antecedents to motivate quality practices.

Answer 11

1. Self-Instructions
   
   1. positive self talk, telling yourself positive statements such as “being nervous is just a way to prepare me to be alert and do my best”. “I’ve got excellent speed, I got this”.
   2. When doing something properly saying “Great!” or “keep going!”.
2. Modeling
   
   1. not only modeling the actions, but also behaviors of the people you aspire to be, or the ones you want to be: modeling a cheerful hardworking athlete
   2. looking around and using other people as models: “so and so falls but continues trying and stays in a good mood, if they can so can I”
3. The Immediate Surroundings
   
   1. rearranging equipment in a way that the next step to training is in the open and ready to be used, other methods include, images of your favorite riders, wearing their jersey to “be like them”, changing the location to minimize various distractors
4. Other People
   
   1. change the people in the nearby vicinity, such as invite friends to watch you practice
5. The Time of Day
   
   1. completing tasks when you are the most alert and focused that require the most focus, typically early morning

Question 12

describe three ways of manipulating consequences in self- control programs to motivate quality practices

Answer 12

1. Eliminate reinforcers for problem behaviors
   
   1. off task behavior of talking with teammates about other things → asked the other athletes to not talk to her about other things until she was done practice
2. self-record and chart improvements
   
   1. charting the target behavior, seeing a line on a graph going up prompts positive thoughts and behaviors
      
      1. weight
      2. quality of skill -> Jump height
3. reinforce desirable practice behaviors
   
   1. arranging for specific reinforcers to be earned by the athlete for showing improvement or even just for sticking to their practice plan

Question 13

What is meant by “recruitment of positive feedback”?

Answer 13

an individual emitting a desirable behavior, and then telling someone about it to receive positive feedback

Question 14

Describe four strategies for reinforcing desirable practice behaviors. Give an example of each that is not in this chapter.

Answer 14

1. apply self reinforcement for desirable practice behavior, (anti fatigue thoughts) or thoughts that counteract the feeling of putting in a lot of work
2. arrange for others to present reinforcers contingent upon improvement
3. athlete to remind him/herself of delayed natural reinforcers for specific practice behaviors → cornering practice will make it easier to keep up in a race due to keeping more speed

Question 15

Describe two possible causes of relapse (in self-management programs) in situations and indicate how each might be handled

Answer 15

1. failure to anticipate setback situations - for example walking by the candy store, to handle this, one might avoid walking by the candy store so they do not even have to fight the temptations
2. counterproductive self talk - focusing on positive memories or thoughts instead of thoughts such as “I don’t have to push myself yet, I’ve got lots of time”

Question 16

Describe two possible causes of relapse (in self-management programs) in specification of the response, and indicate how each might be handled.

Answer 16

1. response component of the self management program is too vague
   
   1. “I want to improve” is too vague
2. long term goals have not been translated into short term goals

Question 17

Describe a possible cause of relapse (in self-management programs) in consequences, and indicate how it might be handled

Answer 17

1. the extra work from recording and graphing and rearranging the environment becomes burdensome
2. link the self management program to everyday activities that are rewarding
   
   1. buddy system
   2. if I don’t meet my practice goal I don’t get to do (insert option) drive the family car tomorrow