Option B: Psychology of Sport

Question 1

Define personality

Answer 1

“Those relatively stable and enduring aspects of individuals which distinguish them from other people, making them unique but at the same time permit a comparison between individuals”. (Gross, 1992)

Question 2

SLT-Bandura (1977)

Answer 2

Suggested that behaviour is learned from the environment through a process of observational learning. Even without rewards presents.
• Personality structures appear to be cognitive
o They relate to knowing, being ware, thinking, learning & judging.
Four constructs need to be taken into account to get a full understanding of SLT:
• Competencies & skills.
• Beliefs & expectancies.
• Behavioural (evaluative) standards.
• Personal goals.
According to Pervin et al (2005)

Question 3

Interactionist view-Lewin (1937)

Answer 3

Suggested that neither nature nor nuture can account for an individual’s behaviour and personality.
Proposes that they are developed through a constant interaction between the person and their environment.
B= f(P, E)
Behaviour is a function of the person and their environment.
This suggests that personality can only be understood when personal and situational factors together, into account.
A fundamental part of who we are depends on our genes.

Question 4

Mischel et al (2003)

Answer 4

takes a social-cognitive approach, and is interested in 4 personality variables:
• Competencies-our skills & knowledge.
• Encoding strategies- our particular style & the schemas we use in processing information.
• Expectancies- what we expect from our behaviour an our anticipation of our performance levels.
• Plans-what we intend to do.
The interaction with environmental situations results in the expression of personality. How does an individuals personality unfold, or develop, across different social situations

Question 5

Issues with the measurement of personality

Answer 5

•	Data collection:
o	Interviews 
o	Questionnaires 
o	Observation 
•	Validity:
o	Bias 
•	Ethical issues:
o	Confidentiality
o	Use of the results 
o	Prediction of performance (demand characteristics)
•	Volume of data:
o	What’s relevant 
o	Do those providing the information have a bias? 
o	Do the observers? 
•	Data from an individual:
o	Accurate 
o	Might want to be painted in a positive light 
o	Able to truly assess mental state? -denial 

Need to be situation specific, individually orientated and micro-analytic.
Beware of limitations and flaws.

Question 6

Evaluate the issue in personality research and sports performance

Answer 6

Consider
athletes versus non-athletes: may discourage non-sportspeople from attempting sports that don’t ‘fit’ their personality
personality and sport type: if a personality is assigned to a sport, those not demonstrating will be less likely to take up the sport as they do not think that they suit the stereotype of the sport.
predicting performance: implications of predicting performance, rather than it be a natural progression and taking into consideration environmental factors

Question 7

Define motivation

Answer 7

‘the internal mechanisms and external stimuli which arouse and direct out behaviour’.
(Sage, 1974)

Question 8

Intrinsic motivation

Answer 8

• Comes from within.
• We derive pleasure/satisfaction from participation.
o Excitement, fun, enjoyment, improvement.

Question 9

Extrinsic motivation

Answer 9

• Comes from external rewards.
o Money, trophies, prizes.
o Less tangible: praise status.

Question 10

Addictive principle

Answer 10

intrinsic motivation is boosted by extrinsic motivators.

Question 11

Deci and Ryan (1985)

Answer 11

•	Developed cognitive evaluation theory.
o	If performance is driven by intrinsic motivation, extrinsic rewards may reduce intrinsic motivation.
•	They divided rewards into 2 types:
o	Controlling rewards:
Trophies, praise 
Given to control an individual 
o	Informational rewards
Convey information about competence in a particular task. 
Increase intrinsic motivation.

Question 12

McClelland (1961) Atkinson (1974)

Theory of Achievement Motivation

Answer 12

• They argued that motivation is a balance between the motive to achieve success and the motive to avoid failure.
• Sport environment is entered into with an approach-avoidance conflict.
• On one hand- want to succeed. (NACH)
• On the other hand. (NAF)
• Achievement motivation= desire to succeed-fear of failure.
• AM is a personality trait.
• For some desire to succeed outweighs the fear of failure.
=high achievement motivation. (NAF)
• This is also influenced by the situational factors.
Probability and incentive for success.
• 5 components contribute to NACH theory:
1. Personality factors.
2. Situational factors.
3. Resultant tendencies.
4. Emotional reactions.
5. Achievement related behaviours.

Question 13

Behaviours of high achievers

Answer 13

Select challenging tasks
Display high levels of effort
Continue to try hard in difficult situations
Focus on pride and success

Question 14

Behaviours of low achievers

Answer 14

Avoid challenging activities
Exert less effort when they take part
Exert less persistence when they take part
Focus on shame of failure

Question 15

Goal orientation theory

-Nichollos (1989)

Answer 15

• In achievement setting:
• Main concern is to demonstrate high ability.
o Avoid demonstrating low ability.
• Ability can be viewed in different ways.
• This is based on two states of goal involvement:
o Task involvement.
o Ego involvement.

Question 16

Task involvement

Answer 16

Focus is on:
•	Task mastery.
•	Learning skills.
•	Exerting effort.
•	Self-improvement. 

measure their success against themselves, how well they complete a task (personal bests) (Intrinsic motivation)

Question 17

Ego involvement

Answer 17

Focus in on:
• Demonstrating superior ability.
• Winning competitions.
• Exerting only minimal effort.

measure their success based on beating others and being the best (Extrinsic motivation)

Question 18

3 factors that determine motivation according to goal orientation theory

Answer 18

• Achievement goals.
• Perceived ability.
• Achievement behaviour.

Question 19

How might perceived ability effect motivation in those who are task or ego orientated?

Answer 19

Task:
o Perceived ability not relevant, success self-referenced.
Ego:
o Perceived ability high relevant, need to demonstrate high ability.
o Appears to be a stable trait

Question 20

Attribution Theory

Answer 20

This is the focus on the reasons we use to explain success and failure
How we attribute success and failure will affect:
• Future expectations.
• How you feel.
• Motivation.

Question 21

Weiner (1985)

Answer 21

provided a classification system we can use for all possible attributions:
o	Locus of stability.
o	Ability/luck
o	Locus of casualty.
o	Effort/opposition. 
o	Locus of control.
o	Tactics/weather.

Question 22

SSB

Answer 22

When we win blame internal factors

If we attribute performance to stable, internal factors we tend to feel pride in our achievements.
-increasing motivation.

However when we lose we blame external factors
FAE

Question 23

Learned helplessness

Answer 23

Failure is due to a lack of ability, actions have no effect on the outcome
-failure attributed to internal ability that cannot be changed.

Question 24

Linking this to high NACH individuals:

Answer 24

o They tend to attribute success to high levels of effort and ability, failure to low effort.
Low NACH’s:
o Attribute failure to externals.

Criticisms:
o Suggests why things might go wrong.
o Does this theory tell us how to put things right?
o A lack of application to sport?
o Focus on why people expert to succeed, not why they want to succeed.

Question 25

Arousal

Answer 25

Arousal is an alertness or state of reediness (ranging from deep sleep to intense alertness) of the body for an action
It is neutral and can be triggered by both pleasant/positive and unpleasant/negative situations
It is how motivated/interested/excited an athlete is prior to and throughout the performance

Question 26

Theoretical approaches to arousal:

Drive reduction theory Hull (1943)

Answer 26

o Drive= a state of tension/arousal caused by biological/physiological needs.
• Creates an unpleasant environment.
o This suggests that: the more aroused an athlete is, the better the performance.
o High arousal level=high performance.
o When skills are well-learned.
o Suggests that novices do not perform well under pressure.
o Limitations:
• Over-arousal can lead to choking=decrease in performance.
• Suggests that professional athletes wouldn’t fail-doesn’t allow for failure.
• Suggests that we just keep getting better.

Question 27

Theoretical approaches to arousal:
Inverted-U hypothesis
Yerkes and Dodson (1908)

Answer 27

• Suggested that, for complex tasks, there was an optimum level of arousal.
• Above and below this performance levels would decrease.
• Still often used to explain sports performance.
• Little supporting evidence.
• A very simple explanation.
• Might not account for a sudden/catastrophic loss in performance, it suggests that we can get back to an optimum level of performance easily.

Question 28

Theoretical approaches to arousal:
Catastrope theory
Hardy and Fazey (1987)

Answer 28

• This is a development of the inverted-U.
• It predicts a rapid decline in performance.
• At the back, a gentle inverted U.
• At the front, cognitive anxiety is high, physiological arousal increases, performance suddenly drops.
• This does suggest that a ow cognitive anxiety will allow gradual increase to optimum (followed by a decline) in performance.
• Following a sudden decline Hardy & Fazey proposed that a small reduction in physiological arousal was not sufficient to regain the levl of performance.
• Instead a significant reduction was required.

• This is not shown on the model.
• Limitations:
• Doesn’t explain how it occurs.
• We cannot accurately determine where as athlete is on the “performance surface”
• Limited potential for real-world application.
Development:
1. Another explanation needed.
2. Links between anxiety and attention.
3. As anxiety increases-attention decreases.
4. We take in less information, and often ignore some.

Question 29

Discuss the emotions that may influence an athlete’s performance or experience in physical activity

Answer 29

Participation in sport and exercise influences a range of participant emotions such as depression, anxiety and pleasure.

• positive emotions: excitement, relief, pride
• negative emotions: anger, guilt, shame, anxiety, boredom
• specific emotions that have discrete effect in performance (e.g. negative mood is more likely to prime us to remember negative memories of past failures, and thus reduce our feelings of confidence to perform. e.g. positive mood is more likely to prime us to remember positive previous outcomes, and increase our confidence to perform.

Question 30

Define anxiety

Answer 30

“the subjective evaluation of a situation , which concerns jeopardy to one’s self-esteem during performance or social situations, physical danger, or insecurity and uncertainty” (Schwenkmezger and Steffgen, 1989)

Question 31

Cognitive anxiety

Answer 31

A chain of negative thoughts and images negatively affect-laden and relatively uncontrollable (Borkovec, 1993)
Psychological “worry”.

characterised by negative thoughts and perceptions or worry/doubt and negative expectations about performance, self evaluation and evaluation by others.

Negative effects
-confusion, irrational thoughts, lack of concentration, nervousness or apprehension

Positive effects
-faster information processing, increased attention

Question 32

Somatic anxiety

Answer 32

Closely linked to physiological arousal.
An awareness of physiological changes.
->Butterflies in the stomach.

relates to our perceptions of our bodily state such as increased HR, increased BP, clammy hands, trembling legs, butterflies, dry mouth

Question 33

Trait anxiety

Answer 33

The general level of stress characteristic of the individual.
Varies according to how we have conditioned ourselves to respond to, and manage stress.
High level going to score high on SCAT test and want to avoid failure.

=a relative enduring disposition-it is an innate personality dimension that causes people at the high of this continuum to view a wide range of non-dangerous circumstances as threatening
-a constant characteristic

Question 34

State anxiety

Answer 34

• Stress developed in response to a given situation.
• Can contribute to a state of mental and/or physical paralysis.

=a temporary negative emotion of apprehensiveness and tension experienced in threatening situations and is situation specific

Question 35

Measuring anxiety

Answer 35

• Often use SCAT (Sport Competition Anxiety Test) which measure trait anxiety.
• CSAI (competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2) which measures state anxiety, relates cognitive and somatic anxiety and self-confidence.

Question 36

Issues with measuring anxiety

Answer 36

Difficult to determine levels of anxiety as it is, primarily, a cognitive function.
Very much subjective and has limitations due to self-reporting:
• Memory.
• Don’t wanting to appear weak.
• Understanding?
• How they feel.

Question 37

SCAT

Answer 37

Aimed to find out which competitors are likely to become too
anxious in a competitive situation.

Scoring from a sport specific situation gives an indication of
that person?s level of state anxiety in competition-specific
situations.

Four factors are related to competitive anxiety:-
Individual differences in how performers interact with different situations - some events are more important than others and therefore cause more anxiety
The different types of anxiety (state and trait) that a performer experiences
A specific anxiety trait that only occurs in competitive situations.
The competition itself, which involves interaction between the performer’s personality traits, their own competitive trait anxiety and the specific situation involved

Question 38

CSAI - 2

Answer 38

Measured three components: cognitive, somatic, self-efficacy.

Given out before competition but more than once, such as a week before, a day before, and half an hour before this.

Enables researchers to discover baseline levels of anxiety and compare it with pre-competition levels to see if they differ.

Question 39

Describe the stress process in sport

Answer 39

Stress is the process that involves one’s perception of “an imbalance between the demands of the environment (physical and /or psychological) and one’s response capability (response), under conditions where failure to meet the demands has important consequences.

Question 40

Stages stress process

Answer 40

stage 1: cause of stress (environmental demand-physical/psychological demand)
stage 2: threat= ones own ‘perception of the demand’
stage 3: response to the perception
-stress response (persons reaction)
-stress experience (psychological interpretation/cognitive response)
stage 4: actual behaviour athlete demonstrates(outcome)

The stress process may result in anxiety, but it can also result in other emotions fear, curiosity, sadness ect

Question 41

Discuss psychological skills training (PST)

Answer 41

• It is
– Learnable
– Should benefit everyone who is in a performance setting
– Should complement other preparations

• Psychological Skills Training has 3 phases
– Education
– Acquisition
– Practice

• Goal Setting
• Mental Imagery
• Relaxation Techniques
• Self-Talk

• PST attempts to equip athletes with the skills to manipulate factors that can affect performance
– Self-confidence
– Motivation
– Concentration
– Skill acquisition
– Emotional control
– Coping with pain and injury
– Arousal Regulation 
– Attention 
– Cognitive Regulation – dealing with adversity

Question 42

Outline goal setting

Answer 42

• Outcome Goals
• Results or objectives to be achieved
• involves comparisons with others
• e.g. I want to win the game
Performance Goals
• some measure of personal performance
• e.g. I want to make 8/10 tackles
• Action/Process Goals
• Things that need to be done to achieve desired outcomes
• e.g. I will practice my tackling 20 times a session

OUTCOME GOALS give direction
whilst
ACTION GOALS move us toward that direction

Specific
measurable
achievable
realistic
timed
exciting
reviewable

Question 43

Evaluate mental imagery

Answer 43

o “using the sense to recreate or create an experience in the mind” (Valley & Walter, 1993).
o Has been shown to enhance performance.
o Why does it work:
Psychoneuromuscular theory, symbolic learning theory, attention-arousal theory, bio-informational theory, same neural pathways activated during vivid imagery.
o Lang (1977) Bio-informational theory:
The same neural pathways are fired during vivid imagery as during the performance itself.
o Holmes and Collins (2001)
Devised 7 elements to consider in the delivery of motor imagery-based interventions.
o PETTLEP
Physical, Environment, Task, Timing, Learning, Emotion, Perspective.

Build on Lang’s theory, still requires testing and far from complete.

Question 44

Issues with developing mental imagery skills

Answer 44

– Using all the Senses
– Internal or External Imagery
– Imagery Control

Question 45

Imagery uses

Answer 45

– Improve Technique
– Whilst Injured
– Learning a New Skill
– Motivational Issues

Question 46

Relaxation techniques

Answer 46

Used to
• Cope with pressure.
• Control arousal levels.
• Reduces somatic and cognitive anxiety.

Question 47

Progressive Muscular Relaxation (PMR)

Answer 47

• Commonly used in sport.
• Requires the individual to progress through the body and systematically tense, the relax, each gross muscle group in turn.
• Promotes a greater self-awareness of degrees of body tension.
• Aims to achieve a relaxed state quickly.
• Can be practices to reduce the time taken to relax

When is it used:
• Immediately prior.
• During.
• When aware of tension.

Question 48

Breathing techniques

Answer 48

• Can be used to help clear the mind and clam the body.
• Performer can ‘focus’.
• Increases oxygen in the blood.
• Can be used effectively during performance.
• Requires practice
• Need to be aware of effective and ineffective breathing.
• Can be used effectively with mental imagery.
• Use of deep, slow breathing.
• Encourages focus and control.
• May enter something of a hypnotic state.
• Useful during break, time-out, just before the performance.
• Penalty, free throw.

Question 49

Bio-feedback

Answer 49

Bio-feedback:
• Uses instruments to measure physiological systems
• Feeds this information back to the athlete.
• Lets the athlete know if they are working at the optimum level.
• Can help control the system.
• Pistol shooters are able to lower HR using relaxation technique and even shoot between heart beats.

Question 50

Self-talk techniques

Answer 50

•	What athletes say to themselves to aid performance.
•	Key words or phrases to:
o	Improve self-image.
o	Improve perception.
o	Increase confidence.
o	Aid concentration.
o	Focus attention. 

Encourage-positive self talk
Limit-negative self talk
• Self talk can help control thoughts before, during or after performance.
• Can be very beneficial.-when positive.
• Need to consider when may be beneficial for an individual.
–part of preshot routine?
-what appropriate?
• Monitor regularly.