Lecture 6- Arousal, stress & anxiety in sport

Question 1

Defining Arousal

Answer 1

A level of physiological and psychological activation

Question 2

Arousal continuum

Answer 2

Deep sleep -> sleep->Drowsy->relaxed -> …..->exited->intense excitement->feelings pf excessive discomfort/concern.

Question 3

Arousal physiological component:

Answer 3

Increases or decrease in the bodies level of activation (e.g HR, breathing, muscle tension)

Question 4

Arousal psychological component:

Answer 4

Either positive feelings such as excitement/confidence, or negative feelings such as fear/sadness or discomfort/concern

Question 5

does arousal = anxiety

Answer 5

no

Question 6

Anxiety = High….

Answer 6

arousal states that produce feelings of discomfort & concern

Question 7

Anxiety definition

Answer 7

A perceived threat
- A tendency to perceive competitive situations as threatening and to respond to these situations with feelings pf apprehension and tension

Question 8

Stress definition

Answer 8

A perceived imbalance between demand and capabilities

a substantial imbalance between environment demand and response capability under conditions where failure to meet the demand has important consequences

Question 9

Stress leads to

Answer 9

state anxiety

Question 10

Competitive Trait anxiety

Answer 10

A predisposition to perceive competitive sport as threatening and to respond to this perceived threat with varying levels of state anxiety

Question 11

State anxiety

Answer 11

A current emotional state or mood characterised by feelings of apprehension and muscle tension and associated with negative affect (ie emotions, feelings, moods)

Question 12

B=f (P xE)
which one is for
A-state
A-trait

Answer 12

B=state
- how is the person acting now
PxE=Trait
- climate
-predictable

Question 13

Cognitive state anxiety

Answer 13

thoughts/Emotions e.g worries (I cant do this)

Question 14

Somatic state anxiety

Answer 14

Physical/ physiological e.g arousal/activation- muscle tension, HR

Question 15

Cognitive and somatic anxiety dont

Answer 15

follow the same trend

You can have people that have a body out of control and mind that is calm and you can have your brain saying your not ok and your body is neutral

Question 16

Relationship between Trait and state anxiety

Answer 16

-Not a direct one to one relationship
-correlations are moderate (70%)

Question 17

Stress process

Answer 17

Stage 1: environmental demand
stage 2: Perception of demands (amount of physiological or physical threat perceived)
stage 3: Stress response (physical and psychological)
Stage 4: Behavioural consequences

Question 18

Implications for best practice: need to use the stress model to ….

Answer 18

-Identify the causes/ sources of stress
-To understand the stress response and overall wellbeing
-To identify behaviour consequence

Question 19

Situational sources of stress

Answer 19

The importance places on the outcome (The more important the outcome is perceived to be, the more aroused/anxious the athlete could become)

Uncertainty about outcome, capabilities and relationships with others (The higher the uncertainty the higher the arousal/anxiety)

Question 20

Personal sources of stress

Answer 20

Trait anxiety
Self esteem

Question 21

self esteem

Answer 21

low self esteem leads to low self confidence and higher levels of state cognitive anxiety

Question 22

Drive theory

Answer 22

There is a linear (straight line) relationship between performance and arousal the more highly aroused (psyched up) the athlete the better the performance

Question 23

Drive theory predictions

Answer 23

Increased arousal increases the probability of the dominant (most well learned response)

Performance will improve with increases in arousal if the skill is (Simple and/or the dominant response is the correct response)

Question 24

Inverted U theory

Answer 24

There is an inverted U relationship between arousal and performance; performance will increase in proportion to increases in arousal up to certain point. Beyond this optimal level performance will begin to decrease.

Question 25

Under arousal can lead to

Answer 25

boredom and poor performance

Question 26

over arousal can lead to

Answer 26

chocking- performance is catastrophically bad

Question 27

Tasks requiring fine motor control

Answer 27

involving steadiness, intense concentration and coordination (gold, archery, shooting) require lower arousal levels. Need to be in control

Question 28

Tasks requiring explosive, edurance and speed

Answer 28

e.g sprinting, skiing require higher arousal levels

Question 29

problem

Answer 29

Many sports that involve speed and strength also involved focus attention and coordination (basketball, netball)

Question 30

Each sportsman has different levels of

Answer 30

optimal arousal level

Question 31

Catastrophe theory: multidimensional arousal and anxiety

Answer 31

Physiological arousal (somatic) cognitive arousal and anxiety are multidimensional. The symmetrical curve of the inverted U is not very realistic

Question 32

Catastrophe curve

Answer 32

In physiological arousal leads to increased performance to a certain arousal point
-After this point is reached the person perceives an imbalance between demands and capabilities which leads to cognitive anxiety and performance suddenly and dramatic drops/fails

Question 33

Why over arousal influences performance

Answer 33

Somatic effects (muscle tension)
Cognitive effects (attention concentration)

Question 34

Coaching and teaching implications to help arousal levels

Answer 34

-Recognise individual levels of optimal arousal
-Reduce the importance of outcome
-Reduce uncertainty
-Help athletes to manage/regulate their arousal levels