GCE PE vocabulary Flashcards
Acclimatisation
The effects a training system forces upon the body to compensate for the stresses of a new
environment; heat and altitude training.
Actin
The thin protein filament found in the
myofibril.
Action potential
The change in electrical potential associated
with the passage of an impulse along the
membrane of a muscle cell or nerve cell.
ADP (Adensosine Diphosphate)
The production of energy results in ATP losing
a phosphate which in turn results in the
formation of ADP.
Aggression
Any form of behaviour that is used to harm
another individual.
All or none law
All muscle fibres will be either be contracting
or not activated at all.
There is no in between action potential.
Altitude Training
A performer who exposes their body to high
altitude will cause it to acclimatise to the
environment that has a lower level of oxygen available.
It results in the production of EPO which in
turn stimulates the production of more red
blood cells which allows the body to deliver
more oxygen to the working muscles.
Amateurism
Participating in sport for pleasure, rather than
financial gain.
Angular momentum
The amount of motion a body or object has
during rotation.
Angular velocity x moment of inertia.
Angular velocity
The rate of movement of the body or object in rotation.
Anxiety
A negative side effect of stress; state and trait anxiety.
Arousal
Arousal is your level of excitement and
readiness to perform.
Your performance will be best at an optimum level of arousal.
Athleticism
Combination of physical endeavour and moral
integrity.
Mixing honour, truth and sportsmanship.
Athleticism
Physical endeavour (effort) with moral integrity (sportsmanship).
Atkinson and Shiffren’s multi–store
memory model
Human memory has three separate
components: sensory register, short–term memory and long–term memory.
ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)
This is the energy source of the body, as it
breaks down energy is released.
Attitude
A stable belief or feeling about something.
Bandura’s theory of self–efficacy
The theory of self–efficacy lies at the centre of Bandura’s social cognitive theory.
This emphasises the role of observational
learning and social experience in the
development of the subjects’ personality.
Bandura’s theory of social learning
Learning is a cognitive process that takes
place in a social context and can occur purely through observation or direct instruction,
even in the absence of motor reproduction
or direct reinforcement.
Bernoulli’s principle
The relationship between velocity and
pressure as they act upon an object as it
moves through fluid or air.
The principle that in a flowing fluid or air, an
increase in velocity happens simultaneously
with decrease in pressure.
Biofeedback
A technique that allows performers to control their physiological responses such as heart
rate through the use of electrodes.
Borg scale of Perceived Exertion
A measure of how hard you are exercising.
The Borg Scale takes into account your fitness level: It matches how hard you feel you are
working with numbers from 6 to 20; thus, it is
a “relative” scale and unique to each person
using it.
Cardiac cycle
The order of events that take place during one heart beat. It includes the diastole and systole phase.
Cardiovascular drift
The increase in heart rate that occurs during
prolonged endurance exercise with little or no change in workload.
Centre of mass
The point where all of the mass of the object is concentrated.
When an object is supported at its centre of
mass there is no net torque acting on the body and it will remain in static equilibrium.
Chelladurai’s multi–dimensional model of
sports leadership
The model states that the leader will be more
effective if the groups’ satisfaction with the
leader is high.
A team which is not satisfied with its leader
will not demonstrate the same level of
performance or satisfaction.
Cognitive theory of learning
Learning by observing and copying others.
Concentric contraction
During this muscular contraction the muscle
will shorten during the movement.
Continuous skills
This shows movement with no clear start or
stop point. The movements blend into each
other.
Craik and Lockharts levels of processing model
Memory is just a by–product of the depth of
processing of information and there is no
clear distinction between short term memory and long term memory.
Discrete skills
The movement shows a clear start and end point.
Distributed practice
Attempts at the skill are divided up with
intervals in between to allow for rest, feedback and mental rehearsal. This is best used in
difficult, dangerous or fatiguing skills and with young or lowly motivated individuals.
Eccentric contraction
During this muscular contraction the muscle
will lengthen during the movement.
Energy continuum
The interaction of the three energy systems
to provide energy to re–synthesise ATP.
It shows the predominant system or
percentage of each system dependant on
the intensity and duration of the activity.
Ergogenic aid
A technique or substance used for the
purpose of enhancing performance.
Excess post–exercise oxygen consumption
EPOC
Informally called afterburn and is a
measurably increased rate of oxygen intake
following strenuous activity intended to
the body’s oxygen deficit.
Extrinsic motivation
Performing for rewards that maybe either
tangible or intangible.
Fixator
Muscles that work with the agonist muscle in
creating effective movement by stabilising the bones during the movement.
Fixed practice
This involves the repeated practise of a skill
in order to strengthen the motor programme and create a habitual motor programme.
This type of practice is best with discrete,
closed skills.
Games ethic
The belief in games as a vehicle for
establishing/developing social control and
character.
Globalisation
The process by which sport has developed
international influence and started to operate
on an international scale.
Glycolysis
Production of four ATP molecules through the breakdown of glycogen into pyruvic acid.
Intrinsic motivation
Performing for the enjoyment and
self–satisfaction of challenging oneself.
Isometric contraction
This contraction occurs without any
shortening (concentric) or
lengthening (eccentric) of the muscle.
Isotonic contraction
This contraction occurs that allows the
muscle to change length; concentric and
eccentric contractions.
Karvonen’s theory
This uses the heart rate reserve to calculate
training zones based on both maximum and
resting heart rate.
Lateral rotation
Turning outwardly or away from the midline
of the body.
Learned helplessness
Negative feelings from a performer who feels they are going to fail at a task due to previous
experiences.
Linear motion
Movement that occurs along a straight line
once a force has been applied.
Long–term memory
The place where information which has been
rehearsed in the short–term memory is held
indefinitely.
Magnus effect/force
This is the commonly observed effect in which
a spinning ball (or cylinder) curves away from
its principal flight path. It is important and
used in many ball sports.
Massed practice
This is a continuous form of practice which is best for simple skills. This causes fatigue and therefore simulates the late stages of a game.
Mastery Orientation
Performers who believe they will succeed and who are motivated to improve even when
faced with failure.
Medial rotation
Movement of the limbs around their long axis.
Moment of inertia
The torque needed for a desired angular
acceleration about a rotational axis.
Motivation
Desire and determination to achieve and
succeed; intrinsic and extrinsic.
Motor neurones
Carry signals from the central nervous system
to effectors.
Motor unit
Consists of one motor neurone and the
muscle fibres it stimulates.
Myofibril
One of the slender threads of a muscle fibre, composed of numerous myofilaments.
Myoglobin
An iron–containing protein in muscle, similar
to haemoglobin, that receives oxygen from
the red blood cells.
Myosin
One of the two main proteins of muscle.
National institutes
The network of centres that provide practical support to elite performers. They also identify, confirm and develop talented athletes.
Neurotransmitter
A chemical that is released from a nerve cell which thereby transmits an impulse from a
nerve cell to another nerve, muscle, organ, or other tissue.
Newtons 1st law
Law of inertia.
Newtons 2nd law
Law of acceleration.
Newtons 3rd law
Law of motion.
Non–parabolic flight path
An object which air resistance affects
reducing the horizontal motion and making it drop soon, like a shuttle cock.
Operant conditioning
A process of shaping behaviour using
reinforcement.
Parabolic flight path
The flight path of a projectile without aerodynamic properties or
without spin will fly in a parabolic manner.
This means that when drawing the flight path it will look like a
curve where the left and right sides match or mirror each other
similar to a symmetrical inverted U shape.
Part practice
Breaking down the skill into its constituent
sub–routines, forms a stage of the
whole–part–whole practice.
Personality
The characterisation of individual differences.
Phosphocreatine (PC)
This is a substance that, in its chemical
partnership with ATP, is fundamental to the
ability of the body to produce muscular
energy.
PO2
Partial pressure of O2 in blood, expressed in kilopascals.
Pre–capillary sphincters
Located at the start of a capillary network and regulates the blood flow in the capillary.
Prime mover
Antagonistic pairs of muscles create
movement when one (the prime mover)
contracts and the other relaxes.
Professionalism
Being paid to do a job. Initially associated with working class sport as they could not afford time off to play.
Progressive muscular relaxation (PMR)
A relaxation technique used to monitor and
control muscle tension and involves the
tensing and relaxing of muscles.
Progressive–part practice
Parts of a skill are practised individually,
before being linked together and expanded.
Learn part A, then learn part B and link these
together A+B = AB.
Learn part C & add this to what has already
been learnt AB + C = ABC.
Ringelmann effect
The tendency for individual members of a
group to become increasingly less productive
as the size of their group increases.
Self–efficacy
An individual’s personal estimate of specific
confidence in their capability to perform to a
certain level.
Sensory register
The place where information from the senses
enters the memory store.
Serial skills
A series of discrete skills joined together
one after each other.
Short–term memory
Also referred to as working memory and is
responsible for receiving and holding input
from both the sensory register and the
long–term memory.
Social and cultural factors
Features of life and society such as transport, population, literacy, free time, class or technology which affect sport in society.
Social facilitation
An improvement in performance produced
simply through others/audience being present.
Social inhibition
A restraint on person’s feelings and
expressions in the belief that others may
disapprove of their behaviour.
Spectatorism
A feature of sports such as football where a
larger volume of people watch, rather than
participate.
State anxiety
This is transient and specific only to the
particular situation.
Steiner’s model of group effectiveness
Actual productivity = potential productivity − faulty group processes.
Stress
A stimulus resulting in arousal or a response
to a specific situation.
Sub–routines
The different parts of the skill that when put
together in order create the complete motor
programme/movement pattern.
Synergist
A muscle which aids the action of a
prime mover.
Trait anxiety
This is a general feeling of anxiety that is part
of the individual’s personality rather than a
feeling of anxiety relating to a specific situation (state anxiety).
Trompomyosin
A muscle protein of the ‘I’ band that inhibits
contraction by blocking the interaction of actin and myosin, except when influenced
by troponin.
Tromponin
A protein of muscle tissue that binds calcium ions and is involved in contraction.
UK Sport
Responsible for promoting and supporting
sport across the UK. Provides information on sporting activities and initiatives being
undertaken by the agency.
Varied practice
This is used best for open skills and involves
repeating a skill in differing situations.
This helps to build up schema to use in
game situations.
Vascular shunt mechanism
Redistribution of blood during exercise.
Vasomotor centre
Found within the medulla oblongata and
responsible for monitoring and causing
cardiovascular responses of vasodilation and
vasoconstriction.
Vealey’s model of sports confidence
The belief or degree of certainty individuals
possess about their ability to be successful in sport.
Venous return
Blood returning to the right hand side of the heart from the veins.
VO2 max
Maximal oxygen uptake or the maximum
volume of oxygen that can be utilized in
one minute.
Weiner’s model of attribution
Reason for success and failure.
How individuals interpret events and how this
relates to their thinking and behaviour.
Consists of;
luck, effort, task difficulty and ability.
Whole practice
Teaching the skill as a complete action.
Whole–part–whole practice
You teach the entire skill, practice areas of the skill that is usually the weakest, and then
recombine this back into the complete skill.
Zone of optimal functioning
The optimum level of arousal that is unique
to all individual sports performers.
