Self-Talk

Question 1

What is Self-Talk?

Answer 1

Verbalizations that are
– Multidimensional in nature
– Having interpretive elements associated with the content of statements employed
– somewhat dynamic
– Are either instructional or motivational

Question 2

What are the 6 dimensions of self talk?

Answer 2

1. Valence
2. Overtness
3. Degree of Self-determination
4. Motivational Interpretation
5. Function
6. Frequency

Question 3

What is Valence? (dimension of self talk)

Answer 3

Valence refers to whether the content of the self-talk is positive or negative
– Positive self-talk tends to lead to desirable results including greater motivation and goal achievement
– Negative self-talk does not necessarily lead to detrimental effects on performance, and may enhance effort

Question 4

What is Overtness? (dimension of self-talk)

Answer 4

– Covert (internal) self-talk refers to the small voice inside one’s head
– Overt (external) self-talk is dialogue we say out loud to ourselves that is not directed at others, although they may hear it

Question 5

What is Degree of Self-Determination? (dimension of self-talk)

Answer 5

– Assigned self-talk someone gives you a word or phrase to say
– may be beneficial if you endorse it and/or can’t generate your own self-talk
– Freely Chosen self-talk – you decide what word or phrase you want to say
– Generally considered more effective

Question 6

What is function? (dimension of self-talk)

Answer 6

Function is the reason why an individual chose to use self-talk
– Instructional – emphasizes technical, tactical and/or kinaesthetic elements of a movement
– Proposed to be more effective for precision-based tasks
– Motivational – focuses on increasing effort, self-confidence and creating a positive mood
– Proposed to be more effective for strength and endurance tasks

Question 7

What is frequency? (dimension of self-talk)

Answer 7

Frequency refers to how often the individual uses self talk
– research suggests that unsuccessful athletes may use more self-talk than successful athletes
– frequency with which athletes employ self-talk increases across phases of the season

Question 8

What are the 4 W’s of self-talk (Gammage et al., 2001)

Answer 8

Where they use it
– Most common setting in which exercisers reported using self-talk was at the workout location

When they use it
– Exercisers reported using self-talk most often during their exercise

What they say
– Structure – most often short phrases said in second person
– Content
– General task instructions
– Anticipated exercise achievements
– Workout details
– Reminders of goals

Why they use it
– Consistent with the sport domain, exercisers use self-talk for instructional and motivational reasons

Question 9

What are the 4 hypotheses for how self-talk works?

Answer 9

1. Attentional Focus
2. Information processing
3. Motivation
4. Self-efficacy

Question 10

Describe the hypothesis of attentional focus (for how self-talk works)

Answer 10

Using self-talk statements, exercises can shift focus from one category in order to optimize their experience
     – Broad-internal
     – Broad-external
     – Narrow-internal
     – Narrow-external

Question 11

Describe the hypothesis of information processing (for how self-talk works)

Answer 11

– Verbal cues are hypothesized to help people (especially beginners) identify what it is they need to do and help them with the decision-making process by reducing options
– Helps the body prepare for action and doesn’t require as much processing when performing the movement

Question 12

Describe the hypothesis of motivation (for how self talk works)

Answer 12

– Self-talk is either an overt or covert verbalization of an individual’s ideas or beliefs
– SDT advocate that such statements should lead to more internalized forms of motivation which will ultimately facilitate exercise engagement

Question 13

Describe the hypothesis of self-efficacy (for how self-talk works)

Answer 13

– Verbal persuasion is 1 of 4 sources of self-efficacy, therefore self-talk serves as a determinant of the self-efficacy.
– If someone makes personal statements that they “can do it” they are more likely to believe that they can.

Question 14

Summarize the study by Blanchfield et al. 2014

Answer 14

Examined the effects of a motivational self-talk intervention on perceived exertion and endurance performance while cycling
– Recorded self-talk statements that they naturally used in a pre-test cycling session
– Selected 4 motivational self-talk statements from what they naturally used or from a list of frequently used statements
– After each of the 3 sessions they evaluated the use and efficacy of their chosen statements using a workbook

Results
– Paticipants in the motivational self-talk group reported an increase in their RPE and their time to exhaustion

Question 15

What are some recommendations for employing self-talk?

Answer 15

– Educate people about self-talk and its benefits
– Individuals should prioritze self-talk that is self-determined
– Use self-talk to facilitate focus
– UUse self-talk to reduce anxiety and increase self-confidence and motivation
– use short, easy to say words or sentences that are well thought out