Chapter 8 - Psychology of Athletic Preparation and Performance

Question 1

An Olympic weightlifter attempting a personal record is able to ignore the audience to concentrate solely on her performance. Which of the following abilities is this athlete most likely using to perform the exercise?

a. selective attention
b. somatic anxiety
c. guided discovery
d. self-efficacy

Answer 1

a. selective attention

Question 2

An athlete’s desire to perform to his or her potential is an example of

a. motive to avoid failure
b. autogenic training
c. selective attention
d. achievement motivation

Answer 2

d. achievement motivation

Question 3

For a high school American football team, if any player squats two times his body weight, his name is placed on the wall. This is an example of

a. negative reinforcement
b. positive reinforcement
c. negative punishment
d. positive punishment

Answer 3

b. positive reinforcement

Question 4

How does an athlete’s optimal level of arousal change with limited skill and ability to perform the activity?

a. It increases.
b. It decreases.
c. It has no effect.
d. It is not related to the activity.

Answer 4

b. It decreases.

Question 5

In teaching the push press, which of the following is an example of segmentation with pure-part training integration?

a. Practice the push press without any equipment, progress to practice with a PVC pipe, and end with an unloaded bar.

b. Practice the dip, followed by the dip with the drive, and end with practice of the entire push press.

c. Practice the dip, the drive, and the catch independently before practicing the entire push press.

d. Practice the dip and the drive independently, followed by practice of the dip with the drive; then prac-
tice the catch independently and end with practice of the entire push press.

Answer 5

c. Practice the dip, the drive, and the catch independently before practicing the entire push press.

Question 6

Efforts to master a task, achieve excellence, and engage in competition or social comparison - the desire to win

Answer 6

Achievement motivation

Question 7

Subcategory of arousal that is a negatively perceived emotional state

Answer 7

Anxiety

Question 8

A blend of physiological activation in an individual and refers to the intensity of motivation in a given moment

Answer 8

Arousal

Question 9

The processing of both environmental and internal cues that come to awareness

Answer 9

Attention

Question 10

Feedback provided to the athlete by an observer such as a coach or video/lab equipment

Answer 10

Augmented feedback

Question 11

Focusing on a sense of warmth and heaviness in a muscle group to reduce arousal or anxiety

Answer 11

Autogenic training

Question 12

Performance theory that states that a catastrophic decline in abilities, rather than gradual decline, can occur past a certain arousal level

Answer 12

Catastrophe theory

Question 13

Anxiety manifested cognitively as a negative perception of the situation

Answer 13

Cognitive anxiety

Question 14

Combining mental and physical techniques to replace fear response to cues with a relaxation response

Answer 14

Counterconditioning

Question 15

Focused attention on the process of breathing to clear the mind and increase concentration

Answer 15

Diaphragmatic breathing

Question 16

Instructing the athlete on the overarching goal of the task and the athlete receives little to no direction

Answer 16

Discovery

Question 17

Negative stress

Answer 17

Distress

Question 18

The arousal theory that proposes that as an individuals arousal or state anxiety increases, the performance also increases

Answer 18

Drive theory

Question 19

Temporary feeling states that occur in response to events

Answer 19

Emotions

Question 20

Increased effectiveness of an already learned movement

Answer 20

Enhancement

Question 21

Positive stress

Answer 21

Eustress

Question 22

Prescriptive information that gives the athlete rules for effectively executing a given task

Answer 22

Explicit instructions

Question 23

Motivation from an external source - i.e. “trophies, social approval”

Answer 23

Extrinsic motivation

Question 24

Breaking down tasks into subcomponents that must ultimately occur simultaneously

Answer 24

Fractionalization

Question 25

A process of pursuing progressively challenging standard of performance with a defined criterion of task success which increases the likelihood of success

Answer 25

Goal setting

Question 26

Providing prompts for a task without explicitly telling the athlete how to do the task

Answer 26

Guided discovery