Lecture 10: Goal Setting Flashcards
Define a goal.
An object/aim of an action
Time limit
Standard of time proficiency
What is goal-setting theory?
“Conscious goals govern an individual’s actions”
What are the key findings of goal-setting theory?
Increased goal difficulty, increases sense of achievement
Specific goals increase the preciseness of performance regulation
What are the goal mechanisms outlined by Locke and Latham?
Direct:
Increases…
Effort
Persistence
Energy
Indirect:
Increases…
Problem-Solving and Strategic Planning
What are the goal-performance moderators detailed by Locke and Latham?
Goal commitment (increased by importance and SE) increases goal performance
Task difficulty has mixed effects on goal performance
Feedback increases goal performance
What are the main sources of evidence for Goal-Performance relationship?
Descriptive
Quasi-Experimental (not always control/non-random/staggered baseline)
Experimental (control-group)
Meta-Analysis
What did Weinberg et al. identify about goal setting for elite athletes in their descriptive research?
Best goal focus is performance improvement
Best goal difficulty is moderate
Practice and conditioning goals were the most effective
The main barriers to goal setting we time, confidence and lack of feedback
What were the effects of Wanlin et al.’s goal-setting intervention on the Canadian national team?
Increased…
Work output
Performance times
Attentional focus
Decreased…
Attention to irrelevant cues
In Bar-Eli et al.’s experimental study, what effect did goal attainability have on sit-up performance?
Easy and difficult realistic goals had the greatest increase in sit-up performance
‘Do your best’ and control group had the lowest performance
What conclusion did Burton & Naylor’s meta-analysis come to on goal setting?
That goal setting is highly effective in the athletic domain, in improving performance
What are the three goal focus types? Give a definition of each.
Outcome: Product orientated (winning) Social comparisons Good for short-term goals Not controllable
Performance:
Self-orientated
Improving performance (personal best)
Controllable and therefore easily measured/ adjusted
Process:
Goals that occur during performance (strategy/form/ technique)
What did Filby et al. identify as the most effective combination of goal focus strategies on performance?
A combination of all three
Process + Outcome had very high performance improvements as well
Describe the goal-setting process in detail.
- Select an appropriate goal
- Evaluate barries (internal- confidence/ external- time)
- Show goal commitment (present in changing room)
- Create action plan
- Receive feedback (adjust action plan(
- Evaluate goal attainment
- Reinforce goal attainment
What is the SMART principle?
Specific Measurable Adjustable Realistic Time-Bound
What are common problems when setting goals?
Too many goals
Too general
Too rigid
Imbalance in goal focus (mixture of first three)
SPC/Coach/Other don’t create a supportive atmosphere and don’t recognise individual differences
