Chapter 8 Shit Flashcards
What is the goal of sport psychology?
-Measuring psychological phenomena
-Investigation of the relationship between psychological variables and performance
-Applying theoretical knowledge to improve athletic performance
What is the role of sport psychology?
-Apply the information from sports psychology principles to manage physical resources and produce more effective performance
-Mental skills must be taught, practiced, and integrated into performance settings
What is the ideal performance state?
-Absence of fear of failure
-No thinking about or analysis of performance
-Narrow focus of attention concentrated on the activity itself
-Sense of effortlessness
-Sense of personal control
-Distortion of time and space - time seems to slow
What is energy management in sports psychology?
-Athletes who can manage emotions will have better performance. It is vital to manage emotions because:
+Excitement, motivation and confidence can be beneficial emotions
+Excessive emotion in either direction (too amped up or too ‘flat’) harmful to performance
+Athletes must learn the mental tools to:
++Combat inappropriate thoughts
++Enhance confidence
++Reinforce motivation and commitment
What is arousal?
-Blend of physiological activation in an individual and refers to the intensity of motivation in a given moment
-Always present on a continuum from deeply asleep to highly excited
-Not automatically associated with pleasant or unpleasant events
-Can be indexed from metric such as:
+Heart rate
+Blood pressure
+EEG
+EMG
+Catecholamine levels
+Self-reporting via the “activation-deactivation” checklist
What is anxiety?
-Subcategory of arousal that is a negatively perceived emotional state
-Characterized by:
+Nervousness
+Worry
+Apprehension
+Fear
What are the 4 kinds of anxiety?
Cognitive, somatic, state, and trait
What is Cognitive anxiety?
anxiety manifested cognitively as a negative perception of the situation
What is Somatic anxiety?
anxiety manifested through physical symptoms such as tense muscles, fast heart rate, and upset stomach
What is state anxiety?
-acute subjective experience of apprehension and uncertainty
-Elevated voluntary and autonomic neural outflow
-Increased endocrine activity
What is trait anxiety?
-enduring personality disposition towards perceiving an environment as threatening
-Individuals with high trait anxiety tend to flood attentional capacity with task-irrelevant cognitions
What can happen when arousal is too high in state anxiety?
-Skeletal muscles are tense
-Racing heart
-Lack of physical or psychological efficiency caused by uncertainty
-Three important factors typically present:
+High degree of ego involvement and perceived threat to self-esteem
+Perceived discrepancy between one’s ability and demands for athletic success
+Fear of consequences of failure
What is stress?
-A substantial imbalance between demand and response capability where consequences of failure to meet demand are present
-Stressor - an environmental or cognitive event that precipitates stress
+Can be positive (eustress) or negative (distress)
+Both generate arousal
+Perception of stress as negative generates anxiety
+Perception of stress as positive comprises positive mental energy and physiological arousal
What is Drive Theory?
-Proposes that as an individual’s arousal or state anxiety increases, performance also increases
-May hold true for low to moderate arousal levels
-Depending on complexity of the task, excessive arousal can be catastrophic to performance
-An athletes skill level increases the range of tolerable arousal becomes larger
+Beginning athletes require cognition to complete the task
++Excessive arousal distracts from cognition (i.e. dribbling a ball)
+Novice athletes require less decision-making responsibilities than experienced athletes
+Coaching to novice athletes should be simple, clear, and direct
How does task complexity and arousal affect each other?
-Simple or well-learned skills are less affected by arousal
+Overthinking may hinder performance (i.e. in running)
-The reverse is true for skills that require complex decision making
+Arousal must be kept low to maintain a wider focus and recognize attentional cues
What is inverted-U theory
-Builds on basic relationship proposed in drive theory
-States that arousal facilitates performance until an optimal level
-Beyond optimal arousal - increasing arousal decreases performance
What does individual zones of optimal functioning mean?
-Different people in different types of performances perform best with very different levels of arousal
-Best performance occurs in a small range on an individual basis
-Negative and positive emotions can generate negative and positive performance depending on the athletes perception of the emotions
What is catastrophe theory?
-Catastrophic decline in abilities, rather than gradual decline, can occur past a certain arousal level
What is reversal theory?
Athletes perception of arousal/anxiety as important for performance as the level itself
What is motivation?
-Intensity and direction of effort
-The primary psychological factor in the acquisition and effective performance of motor skills
What are the 3 types of motivation and the 2 variations of one of the types?
intrinsic, extrinsic, and achievement motivation
achievement motivation is either motive to achieve success or motive to avoid failure
What is intrinsic motivation?
-A desire to be competent and self-determining - i.e. love of the game
-Exhibited regardless of material reward or punishment
What is extrinsic motivation?
Motivation from an external source - i.e. trophies, approval, money
Define achievement motivation?
Efforts to master a task, achieve excellence, and engage in competition or social comparison - desire to win
What is motive to achieve success (MAS)?
Desire to challenge oneself and evaluate one’s ability
What is motive to avoid failure (MAF)?
Desire to avoid the perception of shame that accompanies failure
What is self-controlled practice?
-Allowing athlete feedback and input regarding practice, performance, or which skill to work on
-Promotes active involvement in practice sessions
-Helps athletes assist themselves in reaching their sport performance goals
What is positive reinforcement?
-Act of increasing the probability of occurrence of a given targeted behavior - known as the operant - by presenting something desirable
-I.E. praising good performance
What is negative reinforcement?
-Increases occurrence of operant by removal of something typically aversive
-I.e. skipping sprints at the end of practice due to good effort during practice
What is positive punishment?
-Presentation of an act/object that could decrease an undesired behavior’s occurrence
-I.e. forcing athletes to do pushups due to poor performance
What is negative punishment?
-Removal of something valued as a punishment for an undesired behavior
-I.e. revoking privileges due to poor practice attendance
Is reinforcement or punishment better?
-Reinforcement is better than punishment overall as it increases task-relevant focus rather than worry focus
-Reinforcement helps athletes build:
+Long term memories of success
+Self-esteem
+Self-efficacy
+Confidence
-Punishing athletes for mistakes if they are making a valid effort is not effective