Confidence

Question 1

Bandura- factors contributing to self efficacy

Answer 1

1) past performance accomplishments
2) vicarious experience
3) verbal persuasion
4) emotional and physiological arousal

Question 2

Ways to create high levels of self efficacy

Answer 2

1) previous success
2) avoiding failure
3) gradually increase task difficulty
4) practice is to vague
5) watching successful performances
6) more affective if similar ability
7) positive feedback
8) set goals and targets
9) avoid social comparison
10) attribution training

Question 3

Social Facilitation

Answer 3

• nature of modern day sport means actions of players are monitored by large crowds
• the ability of a performer to perform under pressure infront of an audience is a contributing factor
• performers can be motivated by people observing
• social facilitation helps to explain why the presence of other can have a positive effect

Question 4

Zajonc’s Model

Answer 4

• he suggested the presence of others on performance may be positive or negative
• when there is a negative effect it is social inhibition
• related to drive theory of arousal
• for elite performers- performance improves
• for novice- it decreases

Different groups have effect on performance

1) audience
2) co actors- performing same task not in direct competition
3) competitive co actors
4) social reinforcers- coach

Question 5

Evaluation apprehension

Answer 5

• not all performers are affected by the presence of others
• others only had an affect on arousal if they knew they wer being observed
• this is evaluation apprehension
• this increases anxiety so performance goes down
• if those observing are higher status then the it can be more threatning

Question 6

Factors affecting social facilitation

Answer 6

1) trait anxiety levels
2) personality of the performer
3) previous experience
4) age and gender- being younger may make it more difficult
5) knowledge of the watching crowd
6) status of the observer
7) nature of the audience
8) size of audience

Question 7

Home and Away- advantages and disadvantages

Answer 7

• home can be seen as an advantage
  1) large numbers of home supporters

2) familiarity with surroundings
3) lack of travel before game

Examples- France football World Cup 1998 and Australia cricket World Cup 2014

Question 8

Key research concerning home and away

Answer 8

• in USA more home matches are won
• early rounds being at home is helpful
• more fouls commuted by the away team
• home teams play more attaching styles
• the more important the game the greater the negative effect on the home team
• supportive spectators can create expectation of success

Question 9

Strategies for combating social inhibition

Answer 9

1) use mental rehearsal
2) train in front of others
3) improve selective attention
4) reduce importance
5) increase self efficacy
6) use stress management
7) use attributions correctly
8) ensure skills are over learned

Question 10

Self efficacy can effect…

Answer 10

1) Choice of activity- high levels will ensure participation
2) Amount of effort applied-highly motivated
3) Level of persistence- word hard

Question 11

What do you understand by the term self-efficacy? (2 marks)

Answer 11

1. Situation-specific self-confidence

2. Perception/belief of ability to cope with demands

Question 12

How can a coach help a performer to increase their self-efficacy? (4 marks)

Answer 12

1. Performance accomplishments
2. Previous/experience success
3. Vicarious experiences
4. Observing others succeed (of similar ability)
5. Verbal persuasion
6. Being convinced that they can manage
7. Emotional arousal
8. Interpretation of their own levels of arousal
9. Goal setting/targets
10. Use of performance goals
11. Attribute successes internally/ability
12. Use of positive self-talk
13. Use of visualisation/imagery/imagining doing it yourself/mental rehearsal

Question 13

How may a coach make vicarious experiences a suitable method for improving self efficacy?
(2 marks)

Answer 13

1. Idea of watching another achieving task;
2. Model of similar ability;
3. Immediately followed by practice.

Question 14

How does high self-efficacy help a performer to produce better performances? (3 marks)

Answer 14

1. Increases positive attitude;
2. Increases motivation;
3. Reduces fear of failure (Naf)/increases nach;
4. Reduces anxiety/stress;
5. Enhances feeling of well-being/feel good/better;
6. Reach optimal level of arousal.

Question 15

What strategies may be used to improve the self-efficacy of a performer?
(5 marks)

Answer 15

1. Performance accomplishments;
2. Previous success;
3. Vicarious experiences;
4. Watching others being successful/modelling;
5. Verbal persuasion;
6. Encouragement;
7. Emotional arousal;
8. Interpretation of own levels of arousal;
9. Visualisation/imagery

Question 16

What strategies could a coach employ to improve the self-efficacy of a performer?
(6 marks)

Answer 16

1. Past performances/performers accomplishments;
2. Provide opportunities for player to experience success;
3. Vicarious experiences;
4. Observing others succeed (of similar ability);
5. Verbal persuasion;
6. Convince performer they have the ability/skills to succeed;
7. Emotional arousal;
8. Help performer interpret their arousal in a positive way;
9. Goal setting/targets;
10. Use of performance goals;
11. Internal attributions/ability;
12. Use of positive self-talk;
13. Visualisation/imagery/imagining doing it yourself.

Question 17

Discuss the suggestion that ‘home field advantage’ will always improve the
performance of the home team. (4 marks)

Answer 17

Agree
A. Home support tends to improve performance/social facilitation effect/boost self-efficacy/lower levels of anxiety
B. More matches won at home than away/during early rounds of competitions/Olympic & World medals by host nation
C. Home teams tend to play more attacking styles/ tactics/functional aggressive behaviour (accept reverse answer)
D. Proximity effect/closeness of crowd has negative effect on visiting teams
E. Larger crowd/hostile crowd has a negative effect on visiting teams
F. Away team commit more fouls/can become anxious/over-aroused due to crowd or unfamiliar surroundings

Disagree
G. Increased pressure from the home crowd
H. More important the game the greater the pressure/ choke effect/championship choke
I. Performers become more self-conscious at home causing over-arousal
J. Players place more pressure on themselves at home matches due to expectations
K. Social inhibition for the home team
L. Evaluation apprehension for the home team

Question 18

Explain the concept of social facilitation and how it can affect performance. Outline the possible strategies which the performer and coach may use to limit any negative effects that may occur. (14 marks)

Answer 18

1) Social Facilitation – the influence of others and the effect on performance.
2) Social Inhibition – the negative effect of the audience
3) Audience – watching at event or at home
4) Co-actors – performing same task but not in competition
5) Competitive co-actors – in direct competition
6) Social Reinforcers – direct influence e.g coach
7) Linked to drive theory
8) As arousal increases so does performance – dominant habit
9) Experienced players perform better
10) Novice players perform worse
11) Evaluation Apprehension suggests only others have influence if performer feels they are being judged.
12) Baron’s Distraction-Conflict Theory – suggests performers should focus on task not crowd.

POSSIBLE STRATEGIES:

1) Mental Rehearsal
2) Train in front of others
3) Improve selective attention
4) Reduce the importance of the match
5) Avoid social comparison with coach, teachers.
6) Encourage team mates to be supportive
7) Use stress management techniques
8) Goal setting
9) Use attributions correctly
10) Ensure skills are overlearnt.

Question 19

Discuss the effect that the presence of an audience may have upon the level of
performance for a novice performer and an elite performer. (4 marks)

Answer 19

1. Presence of an audience increased arousal/anxiety
2. Can lead to either social facilitation
3. Or social inhibition
4. Increase in arousal will cause the dominant response
5. Novice – not well-learned – poorer performance
6. Elite – well-learned – improved performance
7. Complex skill more difficult to perform/simple skill easier to perform
8. Will also have an impact if they feel the crowd is evaluating them/evaluation
   apprehension
9. The importance of the crowd will also dictate the level of arousal

Question 20

Some weightlifters appear to perform well in front of an audience, while others seem to perform badly, “choking” under the pressure. Use social facilitation theory to explain this observation. (7 marks)

Answer 20

1. Theory from Zajonc;
2. Presence of audience causes increased arousal;
3. Increased drive/arousal means performer tries harder/drive;
4. Increased likelihood of learnt dominant response;
5. Effects depend on stage of learning;
6. Early/cognitive stage . negative effects/social inhibition;
7. Performer not fully developed appropriate response to demands;
8. Later/associative/autonomous stages . performance enhanced by presence of
   audience;
9. Enhancement effect more likely if simple task/gross skill;
10. Impairment effect more likely if complex task/fine skill;
11. If they think they are being judged negative effect is enhanced;
12. This is known as evaluation apprehension. 7 marks

Question 21

Using Bandura’s Model, explain the factors which may contribute to a performer’s level of self- efficacy and suggest strategies that can be used to develop high levels of self-efficacy.
[14 marks]

Answer 21

A. Explanation of self-efficacy – Level of self-confidence of a performer in a specific situation
B. Example of high or low self-efficacy in a sporting context
C. Past experiences/ performance accomplishments
D. success leads to high levels of confidence/failure reduces confidence
E. vicarious experiences/modelling
F. watching others perform a task increases level of confidence
G. verbal persuasion
H. encouragement from coach/significant other develops self-belief/
confidence
I. emotional arousal
J. optimal/correct level of physical/psychological arousal helps build
confidence
Strategies (credit suitable examples)
K. Ensure success/make practices easier/modify practices/practice in familiar environment
L. Set goals
M. Performance goals better than outcome goals
N. Watch good quality demonstrations
O. Demonstrations more effective if model is of similar ability to performer
P. Praise/encouragement/positive feedback/positive reinforcement
Q. Avoid social comparisons/limit effects of social inhibition
R. Correct use of attributions/failure due to external unstable factors/
failure not due to internal stable factors(ability)
S. (Named stress management techniques) – breathing control/ self-
talk/thought stopping/mental rehearsal/visualisation/imagery/
biofeedback/progressive muscle relaxation
T. Give role of responsibility
U. Attribution retraining
V. One-to-one support
W. Improve fitness/improve skill
X. Watch recordings of personal previous successful experience

Question 22

Barons Distraction Conflict theory

Answer 22

• athletes must focus on the demands of the task in hand, and anything which may distract them will hinder their performance
• if the task is simple or well learned the effect of the audience in it will be less than that exerted on a complex skill
• direct attention towards the task and ignoring the distraction created by the crowd