Social Facilitation

Question 1

What are the two types of ‘others’ that can be present and affect your performance?

Answer 1

Passive others and interactive others

Question 2

What are the two types of interactive others? Give examples of each

Answer 2

Competitive co-actors - people performing at the same time as you e.g. team, opposition
Social reinforcers - watching and directly involved in some way e.g. manager, crowd

Question 3

What are the two types of passive others? Give examples of each

Answer 3

Audience - watching but not directly involved e.g. people watching at home on TV
Co-actors - people watching but are against you e.g. opponent in golf, opponent bench in football

Question 4

How does the presence of others affect somebody’s performance?

Answer 4

The presence of others leads to an increase in arousal/drive (caused by evaluation apprehension) which increases the probability of dominant response occurring. If the dominant response is poor then the performer is said the experience social inhibition. If the dominant response is good then the performer is said to experience social facilitation

Question 5

What is evaluation apprehension?

Answer 5

Evaluation apprehension is the fear of a perceived threat of being judged.

Question 6

How do the following factors affect evaluation apprehension: confidence, expertise of audience, situation, personality, previous experience

Answer 6

Confidence - low in confidence, higher evaluation apprehension
Expertise of audience - more knowledgeable the audience, the greater the evaluation apprehension
Situation - more important the situation, the greater the evaluation apprehension
Personality - more introvert a person, the greater they will suffer from evaluation apprehension. Someone with high trait anxiety will suffer from evaluation apprehension more
Previous experience - little experience in successful situations, greater effect of evaluation apprehension

Question 7

Name 12 ways in which you can help prevent evaluation apprehension

Answer 7

1 - familiarisation
2 - mental rehearsal
3 - mental rehearsal in conjunction with physical practice
4 - improve selective attention
5 - lowering arousal with relaxation techniques
6 - enhancing focus and concentration
7 - lower the perceived importance of an event
8 - avoid social comparison with others by teaching in a non-evaluative environment initially
9 - encourage support from teammates
10 - self-talk/goal setting/breathing control/other stress management techniques
11 - use attributions correctly
12 - ensure skills are over learned so dominant response is positive