Exam 1 More

Question 1

Stress

Answer 1

.defined as “a substantial imbalance between environmental demand and response capability, under conditions where failure to meet the demand has important consequences”

Question 2

Four stages of stress process

Answer 2

1. Individual experiences a type of Environmental demand
   –whether it is physical and psychological (performing in front of a crowd, learning a skill)
   •2. Individual’s perception of demand
   –could be positive or negative. Some may perceive an imbalance of demands, some may not, just depends on direction of anxiety and expectations
   –related to level of trait anxiety (if high trait anxiety, tend to view more situations as threatening)
   •3. Stress response
   –actual physical and psychological response to the stimuli (arousal levels may go up, more/less worry (cognitive state anxiety), palms sweating (somatic state anxiety), attention changes, i.e., cue utilization)
   •4. Behavioral consequences
   –actual performance/outcome, which influences future perceptions
   -does performance tank, or does increased state anxiety cause an increase in intensity of effort?

Question 3

Two sources of stress

Answer 3

Situational: event importance (higher importance means higher stress). Uncertainty (the greater the uncertainty of the outcome the greater the stress)
Personal: trait anxiety, self esteem, social physique anxiety (degree to which ppl become anxious when others observe their physiques)

Question 4

Social facilitation theory

Answer 4

Predicts that the presence of others helps performance on well-learned or simple skills and inhibits or lessens performance on unlearned or complex tasks

Question 5

Inverted U

Answer 5

•Performance increases to an optimal level with increases in arousal
-low arousal leads to poor performance
-peak performance occurs in middle at optimum arousal
•Further increases will decrease performance
–(i.e., inverted-u shape)
•Dependent on activity and individual

Question 6

IZOF

Answer 6

-Similar to inverted-u
•More specific to the individual’s preferred level of anxiety
•Found through multiple measures
–state anxiety inventory
-one point at which best performance occurs for each person (zone of optimal performance)
Outside the zone poor performance occurs
-this point can be on the upper, lower or middle end of the state anxiety continuum
-looks at how positive and negative emotions affect performance

Question 7

MAT

Answer 7

.•Multidimensional Anxiety Theory (CSAI-2)
–Anxiety is multidimensional (not like the previous theories, looks at somatic state anxiety and cognitive state anxiety separately)
•Cognitive anxiety in predicted to have a negative linear relationship with performance
•Somatic anxiety is predicted to have an inverted-u relationship with performance (helps performance up to a certain point then it declines)
•Self-confidence predicted to have a positive linear relationship with performance
Little support since performance is also determined by interpretation of anxiety not type and amount

Question 8

Catastrophe

Answer 8

.Combination of the inverted-u and the MAT
•Looks at differences in performance under high cognitive and low cognitive anxiety performances
•Also dependent on physiological arousal (not somatic anxiety)
•Biggest difference is drop in performance once someone goes “over the top”
-worrying a bit helps improve performance up to a certain point
-physiological arousal inverted U, helps arousal to a certain point then declines (under low cognitive anxiety)
-when have high cognitive anxiety and physiological arousal increases, performance increases until optimum arousal lvl is reached
Afterwards experiences catastrophic decrease in performance. Would need to physically relaxing mentally restructure, and reactivate himself

Question 9

Reversal

Answer 9

– need to interpret high arousal as excitement vs anxiety, low arousal as relaxation vs boredom
–Change can be a “sudden discontinuous switch from one curve to another … constituting a reversal.” (Apter, 1984)
-can see arousal as positive one minute and then negative the next
•Emphasizes the interpretation of arousal, not just the amount of it (how the person interprets the amount, not as concerned with high or low anxiety/arousal levels

Question 10

Anxiety direction and intensity view/ theory

Answer 10

.Must look at intensity and direction
–How much anxiety they feel (intensity)
–How they interpret it (direction)
•Facilitative vs. Debilitative to performance
•Influenced by perception of control
–Elite athletes tend to view anxiety as more facilitative (feel in control)
•Research indicates that people can be taught to change from debilitative to facilitative
–Goal setting strategies
–Imagery
–Relaxation techniques (sometimes), but may not always be ideal bcuz decreases arousal lvls

Question 11

Implications and applications

Answer 11

-Identify optimal arousal-related emotions
•Consider personal and situational factors
•Recognize signs of arousal and anxiety
•Tailor coaching/instruction to ind.
•Develop confidence to help ind. cope
-create positive environment, knowing when to reduce arousal, help maintain it, or facilitate it
-talk with participants, ask how they are feeling, helps you to better read them in the future