Chapter 5 - Sports Psychology (Paper 2) Flashcards
Define achievement motivation.
The tendency to approach or avoid competitive situations. Summed up as the drive to succeed minus the fear of failure.
Define NACH.
The need to achieve; approach behaviour. The player welcomes competition.
Define NAF
The need to avoid failure; avoidance behaviour. The player avoids risks.
What is attributing success internally?
Giving a reason for success that is due to the responsibility of the player.
Describe the characteristics of a NACH performer.
1) Welcome competition
2) Take risks
3) Very confident and have belief in their ability
4) Task persistent
5) Attribute success internally
6) Welcome feedback and evaluation
7) they based their actions on trying to seek pride and satisfaction from their performance
Describe the characteristics of NAF a performer
1) Give up easily
2) Do not like feedback or evaluation
3) Take easy options
4) Lack confidence
5) Avoid 50/50 challenges
What type of behaviour shown by NACH performers?
Approach behaviour
What type of behaviour shown by NAF performers?
Avoidance behaviour
Define interaction
The combination of the situational and personality factors that decide the level of achievement motivation.
What determines the NACH or NAF approach?
Depends on the interaction of personality and situation. In terms of personality, some performers will have the need to achieve where is others will have the need to avoid failure. In terms of the situation, the performer has to gauge the probability of success in the task and the incentive gained from that success. This leads to success being different but no sense of pride been achieved and this approach may be adopted by a person with the need to avoid
failure. However the undertaking of the task with a high degree of difficulty that requires some risky and difficult moves when completed provides satisfaction and pride and is adopted by the need to achieve.
Describe the strategies in which coaches can try and improve the approach behaviour in players.
1) Reinforcement. The coach should offer praise and rewards to players who do you well or achieve their goals, so the players keep the desire to do well in the future, thus promoting task persistence.
2) Attribute success internally. The coach should tell the player that any success achieved was down to something for which the player has responsibility.
3) Allowing success. To encourage the belief in success and improve the confidence of the performer, the coach could set tasks and training drills that can be accomplished with little effort in the early development of the player and perhaps in the early part of the training sessions.
4) Improving confidence.
5) Goal setting. Coaches and players should set goals that are achievable with effort. This means there is a satisfaction to be gained from achieving the goal. Once a goal is reached another challenge can be set so that the performers always has a realistic target to aim for.
What is the achievement goal theory?
Achievement goal theory suggests that motivation and task persistence dependent on the type of goals set by the performer and how they measure success.
What is confidence?
A belief in the ability to master a task.
What does confidence depend on?
Confidence is another psychological concept that depends on interaction: the interaction of experience, personality and situation. It makes sense to suggest that if you have experience of an activity you are more likely to perform better at it, especially if that experience has been positive.
What are the two types of confidence?
Trait confidence and state confidence
Define trait confidence.
A belief in the ability to do well in a range of sports.
Define state confidence
Belief in the ability to master a specific sporting moment.
What is the difference between trait confidence and state confidence?
Trait confidence refers to a consistent level of a person’s confidence whereas state confidence refers to a person’s confidence in a specific sporting situation.
Define competitive orientation
The degree to which a performer is drawn to challenging situations.
What does the objective sporting situation take into account?
The performance takes into account the situation in which the task being undertaken.
What does the Vealey model of sports confidence suggest?
Vealey suggested that confidence gained in one area of sport could be used to improve confidence in a different sporting activity. She used the idea of trait confidence, the performer would rate the chances of doing well in the range of sports, and the idea of state confidence, where performer would rate the chances of doing well in one specific situation. It was suggested that these two influences combine to produce a level of confidence in an objective sporting situation. The result or outcome of the performance of the skill in that situation is then evaluated by the player. The result of that judgement may then lead to improved confidence in future activities and the player may go on to develop a competitive orientation. If the subjective outcome is good then trait confidence and competitive orientation increase however if the subjective outcome is bad then both trait confidence and competitive orientation decrease.
Define self-efficacy
A belief in the ability to master a specific sporting situation.
Explain the factors that affect self-efficacy.
1) Performance accomplishments - this means self-efficacy is influenced by what you have done in the past or your past experiences. Performance accomplishments can be enhanced if the players not only achieved the win but enjoyed the experience too.
2) Vicarious experience - is concerned with watching others do the same task being successful. The person being watched is the model and the effect of seeing others do the task well is even better if those models are perceived to have similar ability to a performer.
3) Verbal persuasion - This refers to the power of reinforcement and encouragement. Praise from others such as the coach, fellow players or spectators gives a player a real incentives and confidence to repeat the successful attempt. Verbal persuasion is more effective if it comes from someone with a high esteem. For young players, the benefit of positive comments such as ‘well done’, it is essential in building confidence.
4) Emotional arousal - Dealing with emotion in sport, such as keeping calm and maintaining your control and game strategy when you are very close to getting a big win, is essential to good performance. Such situations in sport cause an increase in anxiety and the key to emotional arousal is how the performer perceives the increased arousal before and during the activity. Teams and players that deal with arousal better get the bests results.
Define performance accomplishments.
What you have already achieved.
Define vicarious experience.
Seeing others do the task.
Define verbal persuasion.
Encouragement from others
Define emotional arousal
A perception of the effects of anxiety of performance.
How can coaches and players use the four influences on self-efficacy, to help and improve and promote player confidence?
- Control arousal with relaxation or stress management techniques such as visualisation.
- Give an accurate demonstration (either by a player of an equal level or by a role model)
- Point out past success performances.
- Give support and encouragement.
- Allow success during training by setting tasks within the capability of the performer.
- Set attainable goals. Once these goals have been reached, a further more challenging goal can be set. The goals set should not alway be about winning - performance and progress goals that concern improvement in technique and getting a better personal result could also be set. It is important that goals should avoid social comparisons.
- Attribute any success achieved to the athlete, suggesting it is the athletes ability or effort that produced a good result.
- The coach or player may use the technique of mental practice to help the performer go over a routine or sequence in the mind. The coach can also offer a one-to-one coaching session, when the performer is given specific attention and help with weaknesses in their own individual performance.
What does self-efficacy lead to regarding a performers character?
Self-efficacy increases positive attitudes, increases motivation, reduces fear of failure, reduces anxiety and helps to reach optimal arousal levels.
Explain the home-field advantage
The home-field advantage is a balance between confidence and anxiety - the influence of the home crowd can increase confidence in the home team and cause anxiety in the away team. Often the team playing at home wins the game because the home audience support increases players’ motivation but and confidence. The familiarity with the home environment and not having to travel are also further reasons why more games are won at home. Playing at home remind may mean the home team plays in a more fluent style since they feel more at ease and more confident. The home audience can cause ‘functional assertive behaviour’ in the home team, causing them to have more drive, more assertion and the correct choice of response. In addition to helping the home team, the home crowd can have a negative effect on the away team, causing increased anxiety with hostile chanting. This can lead to a less effective performance and the away team might suffer from social inhibition. However sometimes the home crowd can have a negative effect on the home team. The home crowd can cause the home team to ‘choke’ in a big game, with the increased pressure of the game causing the catastrophe effect when the players suffer a dramatic reduction in performance.
When is the home field advantage more effective?
- The effect of the home-field advantage is increased in stadiums where the crowds are close to the pitch. In large stadiums the crowd may be far away and the help of the home support is ineffective.
- The bigger and more support of the crowd, the better the effect is for the home team; the more hostile the crowd is to the away team, the more negative the effect is for them.
What is the difference between self-confidence and self efficacy?
Self confidence is the belief in the ability to master a task (general) whereas self efficacy is a belief in the ability to master a specific sporting situation (specific).
Define leader
Someone who has influence in helping others to achieve their goals.
Define prescribed leader
Appointed from outside the group.
Define emergent leader
Appointed from within the group.
What is the main role of the leader?
The leader plays a key role in maintaining effort and motivation by inspiring the team and setting targets.
In order for a leader to be effective what are the necessary qualities?
1) Charisma - A certain demeanour and presence that the leader has which makes others listen and follow.
2) Communication - Leader has to get the message across.
3) Interpersonal skills - Leader needs to interact with other members of the team and sometimes those outside the group.
4) Empathy - Leader needs to be able to listen to others and take their views into account, showing an understanding of their views.
5) Experience - Need a wealth of knowledge in their chosen sport built up over many years.
6) Inspirational - Leaders need to encourage others and keep them trying even when it gets tough.
7) Confidence - Confidence can be gained from others and so a confident approach from the leader can be spread to the players.
8) Organisational skills - A good leader would plan and prepare for training, linking it to the demands of the team.
What are the three styles of leadership identified by Lewin?
- The autocratic and task orientated style
- The democratic and person-orientated style
- The laissez-faire style
Define autocratic approach
A leader that makes the decision.
Define a democratic approach
Decisions are made by group consultation.
Define person-orientated leadership
Concerned with interpersonal relationships.
Define task leadership
Concerned with getting results.