Midterm #3 Flashcards
What is Psychological Training?
◦ The systematic and consistent practice of mental skills to enhance performance, increasing enjoyment or achieving greater sport satisfaction.
◦ Research has shown this training can be effective in enhancing individual’s performance and improving cognitive and affective states
What should Psychological skills training be like? An example of how it can be used?
◦ PST should be: systematic, goal orientated, planned, controlled and evaluated
◦ ex. Alex Hondel climber - Mental performance enhancement, mastered skills and became acquainted with fear.
What is Imagery?
◦ top-down knowledge driven process which generates and regenerates parts of the brain’s neural network
◦ Experience/reexperience situations in your mind by retrieving from long term memory (strengthens neural connections)
Imagery Defined?
◦ individuals capability of forming vivid, controllable images and retaining them for sufficient time to effect the desired imagery rehersal
◦ mental rehersal of motor performance
◦ imagery is a common skills, but levels of ability vary
◦ improves with practice
What are the two major theories of imagery?
◦ Symbolic Perceptual Theory and ◦ Psychoneuromuscular Theory
What is Psychoneuromuscular Theory
‣ Most popular of all the theories
‣ Proposes that sub-threshold muscular contractions occur during imagery
‣ EMG studies have shown that muscle activity appeared specific to task being imagined
‣ Internal imagery better than external imagery in this area
What is Symbolic Perceptual Theory
‣ Imagery effective comes from the cognitive processing of the symbolic coding of a skill (also known as a motor program)
‣ Skill encoded in memory and during rehearsal is retrieved from LTM and recoded in new. (makes it more familiar!)
‣ Not as prevalent in literature
What was discovered from imagery and Brain fMRI?
◦ measure brain activity detected through blood flow changes. (cerebral blood flow and neuronal activation are coupled when region is in use)
◦ Study of piano players from cologne school of music (playing vs imagining playing)
‣ Primary motor cortext only during actual playing
‣ Anterior frontal and parital areas activation in BOTH conditions
What did the diving study reveal about Imagery?
◦ 12 professional divers and 12 individuals without extensive training
◦ While imagining simple motor skills: no differences
◦ Specific diving imagery: activation in parahippocampus and prefrontal region
◦ Take away: if you don’t have the physical skills it can be more difficult to activate the brain in that area
What is the main key to effective imagery?
◦ Vividness: uses all sense, closer images to real thing have greater impact, imagers should try to include performance specific emotions.
What is one of the key components of imagery use?
◦ Controllability: Being able to manipulate images, picture things you want to happen, practice is key
What are the 8 keys to effective imagery?
◦ 1. Use all senses
◦ 2. Positive (successful execution of the action)
◦ 3. Real Time (work to see the image at real time speed)
◦ 4. Focus on Quality (few HQ>Many PQ)
◦ 5. Start with skills that you do well already
◦ 6. Done intentionally (planned and specific)
◦ 7. Practice (10mins a day/5x week)
◦ 8. First person
What are the six applications of imagery discussed?
◦ Practice specific skills frustration free
◦ improving confidence - images of success
◦ Controlling nervousness - practice against threats
◦ Reviewing past/ planning future performances
◦ Staying sharp while injured
◦ Important part of pre game routine
What are the factors effecting athletes along the anxiety/self confidence continumm?
◦ Preparation, past performance, verbal feedback, non verbal feedback, focus of thoughts
What is constructivism?
◦ The philosophical basis of cognitive therapy
◦ People construct their own realities
◦ The interpretation we place on events determine the meaning of the events
◦ ex. the interpretation shapes experiences. For example: skydiving could be exciting or scary depending on the individual
What is cognitive restructuring?
◦ Cognitions: thoughts
◦ Cognitive restructuring: strutured therapeutic approach when a distressed individual is taught how to identify, evaluate, and modify the faulty thoughts, evaluations, and beliefs that are considered responsible for their psychological disturbance.
What occurred in the “talking to improve” study?
◦ Single system multiple baseline across groups
◦ Task: 20min maximum output cycling task done 10 times
◦ 2 groups: positive prompted (I can do this), and prompted negative (I’m tired, legs tired)
◦ Found: in the positive group impacts were all increased performance. Negative group - no impact
◦ Overall: positive self-talk has benefits on performance, negative self talk have no impact or slightly negative impact on performance.
What were the results of the “thinking aloud in athletic performance” study?
◦ 3 experiment think aloud using 1 cycling (how fast you can go) and 2 running (5x laps)
◦ Participants had microphone and vocalized all thoughts
◦ Statements were coded as +ve, -ve or other
◦ As demands got higher ex. last half of trial, thoughts become more negative
◦ Results: Self-talk score yielded a significant correlation with performance
‣ Percent of positive statements yielded a significant correlation with performance
‣ The more postive self-talk was the better running performance
What is thought stopping?
◦ Decreases the frequency and duration of persistent, disturbing thoughts by interrupting them and substituting pleasant/productive thoughts for them.
◦ Two phases:
‣ Interrupting the disturbing thought
‣ Focusing on a competing adaptive thought
‣ imagery rescripting
‣ Immersive (I) vs > distancing self talk (you)
What is self-instructional training?
◦ Directed self talk. SIT reflected in the directions and pep talks that we give ourselves. Can be intentionally leveraged as a way of promoting. Main fucnitons of SIT are:
‣ focusing attention, guiding behaviour (step by step directions), providing encouragement (yes to yourself), evaluating performance (observing, evaluating and adjusting), reducing anxiety (remembering key management strategies)
◦ Occurring from varying perspectives including imperative, 1st person (I), 2nd person (you) and 3rd person (using your name).
What are the five steps to self-instructional training?
- Cognitive modeling (him doing it, “bend, step, catch, release”)
- Cognitive participant modeling (your turn now “bend, step, catch, release)
- Overt self-instructions (now I say the words and do it)
- Fading of overt self-instructions (now you don’t say them as loudly)
- Covert self-instructions (don’t need, they are inside)
What is first order change?
◦ Clients enter therapy with problem behaviours (ex. performance anxiety, difficulty focusing, depression) and the goal of the therapy is to alleviate these problem behaviours so that people can accomplish what is important to them.
What is second order change?
◦ Work to change the function of the problematic thoughts and emotions but not necessarily their form.
◦ Clients develop ways of achieving their goals despite experiencing discomfort
◦ problems (anxiety, irrational thoughts) aren’t viewed as standing in the way, just as brining discomfort.
What is acceptance?
◦ fully embracing one’s experience at the moment just as it is without judging it.
◦ A moment to moment experience of what it is.
◦ daily encounters can be uncontrollable, unpredictable, unfortunate and unwarranted.
