Psychology of Athletic Preparation and Performance

Question 1

An individual’s negative perception of a situation involving worrisome and negative thoughts

Answer 1

Cognitive Anxiety

Question 2

A physical reaction to cognitive anxiety involving the physical symptoms of tense muscles, fast HR, and upset stomach

Answer 2

Somatic Anxiety

Question 3

A subjective experience of apprehension, uncertainty, and uncontrolled arousal (temporary)

Answer 3

State anxiety

Question 4

A personality characteristic that represents a natural disposition to perceive situations as threatening

Answer 4

Trait anxiety

Question 5

A negative form of stress that generates cognitive and somatic anxiety

Answer 5

Distress

Question 6

A positive form of stress that generates positive mental energy and physiological arousal

Answer 6

Eustress

Question 7

The theory that proposes that as an individual’s arousal or state anxiety increases, so too does performance

Answer 7

Drive Theory

Question 8

True or False: A lower arousal state is more optimal for highly complex tasks and unskilled athletes while a higher arousal state can be more optimal for simple tasks and skilled athletes

Answer 8

True

Question 9

This theory states that arousal improves performance up to an optimal level, after which further increases in arousal result in gradually reduced performance

Answer 9

Inverted-U Theory

Question 10

This theory maintains that different people in different types of performances will perform best with very different levels of arousal (there is no singular universal point of optimal performance)

Answer 10

Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning (IZOF)

Question 11

This theory corrects the Inverted-U Theory by stating that increases in arousal beyond the optimal level result in a sudden negative drop in performance vs a gradual decline

Answer 11

Catastrophe Theory

Question 12

This theory states that the way in which arousal and anxiety affect performance depends on the individual’s interpretation of that arousal and that an athlete can change their perception of the arousal in order to change their performance

Answer 12

Reversal Theory

Question 13

A type of motivation which refers to a person’s motivation to master a task, achieve excellence, overcome obstacles, and engage in competition

Answer 13

Achievement Motivation

Question 14

_____ is a type of practice that involves the athlete in decisions related to practice structure such as what skill to practice or when they would like to receive feedback

Answer 14

Self-controlled practice

Question 15

____ is the act of increasing the occurrence of a given behavior with the addition of a positive action/object/event such as praise or prizes/rewards

Answer 15

Positive reinforcement

Question 16

____is the target behavior that is desired

Answer 16

Operant

Question 17

____is the act of increasing the occurrence of a given behavior by removing an action/object/event such as not having to run sprints after practice

Answer 17

Negative reinforcement

Question 18

_____decreases the occurrence of a behavior with the presentation of an act/object/event such as having to do extra sprints or pushups

Answer 18

Positive punishment

Question 19

_____decreases the occurrence of a behavior with the removal of an act/object/event such as benching an athlete

Answer 19

Negative punishment

Question 20

____is the desired performance state when the athlete can successfully perform the desired movement/action without thinking

Answer 20

Automaticity

Question 21

What are the 4 quadrants of attentional focus?

Answer 21

1) Assess (broad-external) 2) Analyze (broad-internal) 3) Prepare (narrow-internal) 4) Act (narrow-external)

Question 22

______a relaxation technique in which attention is brought to different parts of the body to assess somatic feelings such as warmth or heaviness (does not involve any tensing of the muscles as in progressive muscle relaxation)

Answer 22

Autogenic Training

Question 23

____ is a technique that combines mental and physical strategies to allow an athlete to replace a fear response to various cues with a relaxation response

Answer 23

Systematic desensitization

Question 24

____a form of skill practice that involves breaking down a task into a series of sub-components that have clear breaks between them (I.e. breaking the snatch down into the 1st pull, 1st transition, 2nd pull, and catch)

Answer 24

Segmentation

Question 25

_____breaking down a task into sub-components that occur simultaneously in a movement (I.e. practicing the overhead press and the bending of the knees separately in the push press)

Answer 25

Fractionalization

Question 26

____adjusts the difficulty of the tasks by changing the task characteristics (i.e. replacing a barbell with a PVC pipe)

Answer 26

Simplification

Question 27

_____has the athlete practice the sub-components multiple times independently before practicing the skill in its entirety

Answer 27

Pure-part training (part-whole training)

Question 28

____has the athlete practice the first two skills in isolation, then those two skills together, and then practices the 3rd skill independently before adding it to the first two skills

Answer 28

Progressive part training

Question 29

____has the athlete only practice the first skill in isolation and then each subsequent skill is added one at a time until the skill is practiced in its entirety

Answer 29

Repetitive part training

Question 30

When multiple skills/exercises are practiced in a random order during a given practice session (instead of one skill/exercise at a time before moving onto a completely new skill/exercise)

Answer 30

Random practice

Question 31

Variations of the same skill are practiced in a given training session using different modes of equipment, heights, velocities, etc

Answer 31

Variable practice

Question 32

Feedback provided to the athlete by the athlete’s own senses

Answer 32

Intrinsic feedback

Question 33

Feedback provided to the athlete by a coach or some form of technology (such as video replay)

Answer 33

Augmented feedback

Question 34

What are the 6 characteristics of the ideal performance state?

Answer 34

1. Absence of fear (no fear of failure)
2. No thinking about or analysis of performance
3. A narrow focus of attention on the activity itself
4. A sense of effortlessness
5. A sense of personal control
6. A distortion of time and space

Question 35

A blend of physiological and psychological activation; refers to the intensity of motivation at any given moment

Answer 35

Arousal

Question 36

A substantial imbalance between demands and response capabilities under conditions in which failure has important consequences

Answer 36

Stress