Seminar 4 - Psychophysiology, Arousal Regulation, Imagery, Attention Control, Routines

Question 1

What is arousal?

Answer 1

A blend of physiological and psychological activity in a person, and it refers to the intensity dimensions of motivation at a particular moment
Weinberg & Gould (2015)

Activation is a term used synonymous with Arousal

Question 2

What are the general and sport-specific definitions of anxiety?

Answer 2

General
anxiety is a negative emotional state characterized by nervousness, worry, and apprehension and associated with activation or arousal of the body.
Weinberg & Gould (2015)

Sport-specific
“an unpleasant psychological state in reaction to perceived stress concerning the performance of a task under pressure”
Cheng, Hardy, & Markland (2009)

Question 3

What are some types of anxiety?

Answer 3

Cognitive anxiety vs somatic anxiety

State anxiety vs trait anxiety

Question 4

What is Drive theory? (Spence & Spence, 1966)

Answer 4

Performance increases with arousal

Question 5

What is the inverted-U hypothesis (Yerkes & Dodson, 1908)?

Answer 5

Low and high degree of arousal leads to low performance level, but moderate arousal leads to high performance level

But,
Difficulty of task not accounted for
Individual differences not accounted for

Question 6

What do the Individualised Zones of Optimal Functioning (IZOF, Hanin, 1997) describe?

Answer 6

Each athlete has their own levels of arousal where performance is optimal

But,
it does not separate cognitive and somatic anxiety

Question 7

What is the multidimensional theory (Martens et al, 1990)?

Answer 7

Cognitive anxiety has a negative relationship on performance
Somatic anxiety follows an inverted-U effect on performance

Question 8

What is the catastrophe model (Hardy, 1990)?

Answer 8

Physiological arousal is related to performance with an inverted-U relationship when cognitive anxiety is low
When cognitive anxiety is high, performance drastically decreases after a certain point of physiological arousal

Question 9

What is the reversal theory?

Answer 9

Contends that the way in which arousal affects performance depends basically on an individual’s interpretation of his arousal level. Anxiety can be interpreted as excitement.

Question 10

What does Jones’ (1995) control model of debilitative and facilitative competitive state anxiety describe?

Answer 10

In response to a stressor, individual differences affect whether there are positive or negative expectancies which leads to symptoms being interpreted as facilitative or debilitative.

Question 11

What is stress?

Answer 11

“a substantial imbalance between demand (physical and/or psychological) and response capability, under conditions where failure to meet that demand has important consequences”
(McGrath, 1970, p. 20).

Question 12

What are the 5 stages of the stress response process?
Reilly & Williams (2003)

Answer 12

Stage 1 - Environmental Demands (Physical & Psychological)

Stage 2 - Individual Perceptions of the Environmental Demands (Amount of threat perceived)

Stage 3 - Stress Response (Arousal, muscle tension, attentional changes, state anxiety)

Stage 4 - Behavioural Consequences (Performance or outcomes)

Stage 5 - (return to homeostatic position)

Question 13

What are some sources of stress?

Answer 13

Personal
- trait anxiety
- self-esteem

Situational
- event importance
- uncertainty

Question 14

What is choking under pressure?

Answer 14

the substandard performance in pressure situations despite the existence of superb skills and individual strivings for best performance
(Baumeister, 1984)
‘an acute and considerable decrease in skill execution and performance when self-expected standards are normally achievable, which is the result of increased anxiety under perceived pressure’
Mesagno & Hill (2013, p. 273)

Question 15

What are some antecedents, mechanisms and consequences of choking under pressure?

Answer 15

Antecedents
- Event importance
- High expectations
- Evaluation apprehension
- Unfamiliarity
- Overload

Mechanisms
- Distraction
- Anxiety
- Perceived control
- Inadequate coping
- Self-focus

Consequences
- Significant decrease in performance
- Highly self-critical
- Lowered self-confidence

(Weinberg & Gould, 2015)

Question 16

What are some common strategies to manage anxiety and stress?

Answer 16

Physical (Activation/Relaxation)
• Breathing/centering*
• Progressive muscular relaxation*
• Meditation/Mindfulness
• Imagery
• Music

Cognitive (Focus/Distraction)
• Routines*
• Attentional training*
• Self-talk/cue words

Question 17

How is breathing used in sport psychology?

Answer 17

Facilitates performance by increasing the amount of oxygen in the blood, carrying more energy to the muscles, & facilitates removal of waste products
Activates Parasympathic nervous system. Counters fight or flight response
Typical effects of stress on breathing:
- Hold breath
- Breathe rapidly & shallowly from upper chest

Question 18

What are some breathing exercises?

Answer 18

Sighing with exhalation: “Exhale completely through the mouth, making an audible sigh. Then close the mouth & inhale quietly through the nose to a count of 4. Then hold your breath for a count of 7, feeling the tension building in the throat & chest. Exhale audibly through the mouth to the count of 8 as you let go of the tension in the rib cage”.

Concentration breathing: Focus attention on breathing rhythm. Redirect to breathing if mind wanders.

Rhythmic breathing: Inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, & pause for 4
ratio: Start with deep, full breath & exhale fully. Breathe to count of 4 on
inhalation & 8 on exhalation.
- 1:2 ratio
- 5-to-1 count: “Say to yourself & visualise the number 5 as you take a deep, full, slow breath. Exhale fully & completely. Mentally count & visualise the number 4 with your next inhalation. During the exhalation, say to yourself, ‘I am more relaxed now than I was at number 5.’ Do not rush the thought.
Inhale while mentally counting & visualising the number 3…As you approach number 1, you should feel totally calm & relaxed.”

Diaphragmatic breathing

Question 19

What is progressive (muscular) relaxation (PR/PMR)?

Answer 19

Jacobson (1930)
developed progressive relaxation (PR).

PR: Contracting a specific muscle group, holding the contraction for 5-7 seconds, then relaxing — from one muscle group to another.
- Tense larger muscle groups longer than smaller ones
- Contraction phase: What muscular tension feels like
- Relaxation phase: What absence of tension feels like
- Build ability to voluntarily relax muscles

Question 20

What are some PR exercises?

Answer 20

Active PR: 12 muscle groups, tense for 5-7 seconds, relax for 20-30 seconds then discuss reactions to exercise.
Differential PR: As above with different amounts of tension generated to enhance ability to learn differential relaxation — relax all muscles except those required for task at hand.
Abbreviated active PR: Shorter version of active PR — combine muscle groups, tense for 5-10 seconds, relax for 30-40 seconds
Passive PR: Relax muscles without tensing them first… “Turn your attention
to your dominant hand. Just tune in to how this hand feels. Become aware of any tension that might be in it & let go of the tension…”
Quick body scan: Shorter passive PR involving a scan of body & releasing tension from muscles where tension is too high. Suitable for during performance.
Neck & shoulder check: Narrow body scan to neck & shoulders.
Sport muscle: Narrow scan to the specific muscles required for specific sport.

Question 21

How can routines be used in sport?

Answer 21

the purpose of preperformance routines (PPRs) is to “put oneself in an optimal emotional, high self-expectant, confident, and focused state immediately prior to execution, and to remain that way during the act”
(Singer, 2002, p. 359)

• Enables effective concentration
• Increase attentional focus Trigger for well-learned movements
• Shifts focus from task-irrelevant to task-relevant thoughts
• Different types — mental, physical, pre-comp, in-comp etc etc.