Sports Psychology Flashcards
Define Personality
The sum total of an individual’s psychological characteristics which make him or her unique
What are the three theories of personality?
Trait, Social Learning, Interactionist
Describe trait theory of personality
- Involves characteristics that are innate, stable and enduring
- Behaviour is genetically programmed
- In sport you will display similar behaviours to other situations
- Suggests the situation does not impact upon the individual’s behaviour
- Behaviour = Function of Personality (B = F(P))
Eyesnck identified four personality traits. What were they?
Extrovert, Introvert, Stable, Unstable
Girdano suggested there were two ways of classifying someone’s personality. What are they?
Type A & Type B
Describe a Type A Personality
- Highly competitive
- Works fast
- Strong desire to succeed
- Likes control
- Impatient
Describe a Type B Personality
- Non-competitive
- Works more slowly
- Lack in desire to succeed
- Does not enjoy control
- Work slowly
Describe an Extrovert
-Perform better in higher arousal situations
Aroused more slowly than introverts & have low levels of internal arousal
-Low sensitivity of the reticular activating system (A network of nerves responsible for regulating consciousness/awakeness)
-Prefer gross motor skills/activities
What is the reticular activating system?
A network of nerves responsible for regulating consciousness/awakeness
Describe an Introvert
- High levels of excitation (nerves)
- Don’t need added stimulation & excitement.
- Become aroused more quickly than extroverts
- There is a high sensitivity of the reticular activating system (RAS)
Describe Social Learning theory of Personality
- Social Learning is in direct contrast to trait theory and proposes all behaviour is learned
- They say behavior changes according to the environment and the situation
- BEHAVIOUR = FUNCTION OF ENVIRONMENT (B = F(E))
- SLT (Bandura) involves behaviour being imitated through observation & following reinforcement in a social environment
- Learning occurs through environmental experiences and is influenced by others such as friends, peers, family & role models
Describe Interactionist theory of Personality
-Personality is determined by an interaction
between traits and the situation
-(B = F (P x E))
-Behaviour = Function of Personality x Environment
-Behaviour changes depending on the situation/role
Define attitude
An attitude is a predisposition for feelings or
behaviours towards something or someone
Identify 6 ways attitudes can be formed
- Past experiences - good or bad, they shape your attitudes
- Social learning - learn from role models e.g - parents
- Media - shape attitudes through coverage - can reinforce stereotypes (e.g. - women’s rugby)
- Education - class, course, school, teacher
- Social norms - e.g. - football is big sport in the UK
- Culture/ religion - e.g. - women in Muslim cultures have limited sporting opportunities
What is a prejudice?
An attitude based on pre-judgement arising from an evaluation based on unfounded beliefs or opinions
Which three components make up the Triadic Model of attitude?
Cognitive, Affective, Behavioural
What is dissonance within the triadic model?
- Creating disagreement or differences between the components of an attitude is likely to cause emotional discomfort
- Changing one aspect of the triadic model is likely to cause such dissonance.
When their is dissonance, what do humans naturally try to do?
Create resonance/consonance (agreement)
What are the three components of persuasive communication?
The message, The persuader, The recipients
Identify 6 ways you could change an attitude
- Reinforcement
- Punishment
- Cognitive methods – educate/ raise awareness
- Effective methods – help them feel the benefits
- Role models
- Raise self esteem
- Peer/ group pressure
- Goal setting
- Re-attribution
- Create cognitive dissonance
Define Motivation
The direction and intensity of one’s effort
What is intrinsic motivation?
Intrinsic Motivation is performing for its own sake, for personal reasons, for personal satisfaction or personal challenge
What is extrinsic motivation?
Extrinsic Motivation is performing to earn a reward or when you are driven to perform for external reason e.g. medals, trophies, money
Define arousal
- The intensity of emotion/motivation/behaviour
- Degree of psychological readiness
- The amount of drive to achieve
What are the two types of arousal?
Cognitive & Somatic
Describe Drive Theory of arousal
- There is a linear relationship arousal and performance. As arousal increases, performance increases
- Dominant response is more likely as arousal increases
- P = f (H x D)
What is a dominant response?
Dominant behaviours: EMP and learned behaviours
What is the Inverted U Theory?
- Inverted U theory states that performance increases with arousal until it reaches an optimum point at a medium level of arousal
- Any further increases to arousal will result in a decline in performance
What does the Inverted U Theory suggest about different types of skill or different levels of learner?
- It suggests complex or fine skills best with low arousal whereas simple or gross skills best with high arousal
- Extroverts cope with higher arousal or introverts cannot cope with higher arousal
- Autonomous learners = higher arousal to bring about the dominant response
- Cognitive learners = lower arousal to focus on relevant cues and sub-routines
Describe the Catastrophe Theory of arousal
- As (somatic) arousal increases, performance increases up to an optimum or midway point. If arousal continues to increase or is (too) high there is a sudden or extreme decline in performance
- If high cognitive arousal/anxiety coincides with or interacts with high somatic anxiety, it causes loss of control/coordination/concentration or decision making skills
- BUT if arousal/ anxiety is controlled or reduced, performance can improve again
Define anxiety
Negative feelings of worry and nervousness relating to activation or arousal
What are the two types of anxiety?
Trait & State
What is the ZOF (Zone of Optimal Functioning)?
- When the performer’s level of anxiety is at the optimum level they will give their best performance (This can also refer to arousal)
- Every individual has a different ZOF
What does peak flow or being in the zone look or feel like?
-Relaxed:
High levels of arousal are not necessary
-Confident:
Believe in your own ability.
-Focused:
Attend to the task at hand (selective attention).
-Effortless:
A great deal can be completed without much effort.
-Automate/ sub-conscious:
Your movements can be done automatically without much thought (grooved).
-Fun/ enjoyable:
Without enjoying yourself you are unlikely to achieve peak flow.
-In control:
You are in FULL control of your actions
What is cue utilisation theory?
That every performer is able to focus on or block out relevant & irrelevant cues depending upon their attentional band
Define aggression
Intent to harm outside of the rules of sport
What is Instinct theory of aggression?
- Aggression is a ‘natural response’ or ‘trait’ (Freud)
- Lorenz (1966) advocated this viewpoint who suggested humans generate aggressive energy which needs to be released
What is social learning theory of aggression?
- Bandura (1977) suggested by watching/observing others who are aggressive we learn to copy their behaviour
- More likely if aggression is shown by significant others/ role models
What is frustration-aggression theory?
- Frustrating circumstances or blocked goals causing frustration, drive and therefore aggression
- Frustration caused by poor personal performance or perceived unfairness
- Aggression helps achieve catharsis which is a release of frustration
What is aggressive cue hypothesis?
- Frustration creates a ‘readiness’ for aggression
- Signals/cues/stimuli from the environment trigger aggression (e.g. - crowd)
What is social facilitation?
-The positive influence of others, who may be watching or competing, on sports performance
What is social inhibition?
-The negative influence of others, who may be watching or competing, which leads to decrease in sports performance
What is the impact of others on arousal?
The mere presence of others causes an increase
What is evaluation apprehension?
-Increases in arousal occur when the performer perceives the audience were assessing or judging their performance
What determines if the presence of others results in social facilitation or inhibition?
- Home/Away crowd
- personality
- experience levels
- type of skill being performed
- proximity
Describe what is meant by the term ‘group’
-‘A collection of people (2+) who share similar goals and interact with one another’
This will often involve:
- Collective identity
- Common goal
- Shared purpose
- Group unity
- Structured patterns of communication
What is cohesion?
-Concerns the motivation which attracts individuals to the group and the resistance of those members to the group breaking up
-Cohesiveness is ‘the total field of forces which act on members to remain in the group’
(Festinger, 1963)
What are the four stages in Tuckman’s model of group development?
Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing
Describe the forming stage in Tuckman’s model
- High dependence on the leader for guidance & direction
- Group members start to get to know each other
- Little agreement on aims
- Roles are unclear and leader must give strong direction
Describe the storming stage in Tuckman’s model
- Group decisions are difficult
- Members jostle for position and attempts to establish themselves against each other, and may potentially challenge leaders
- Clearer focus and stronger sense of purpose (some uncertainty)
- Cliques and power struggles may form
- The team needs to focus on goals to avoid being drawn into power struggles
Describe the norming stage in Tuckman’s model
- More agreement and consensus on opinion of the team
- Roles and responsibilities are clearer and generally accepted
- Decisions increasingly made through agreement
- Less important decisions are delegated
- Stronger sense of commitment, unity and group become more social
- General respect for the leader
Describe the performing stage in Tuckman’s model
- Clear strategies, visions and aims
- No interference or direct participation from the leader (team don’t need instruction)
- Focus on achieving goals and the team makes decision
- Team members are trusted to get on with the task
- Disagreements are resolved positively
- Team members may ask for assistance from the leader on personal issues
Identify the equation for Steiner’s Group Model
Actual Productivity = Potential productivity
– (minus) Losses due to faulty processes
Identify faulty processes described as co-ordinational losses
- Team performance affected by inability to work together. Eg. Poor communication
- Ringelmann effect: Individual performance decreases as group size increases
- Inadequate leadership
- Poor tactics/strategies
Identify faulty processes described as motivational losses
- Social loafing or lack of motivation
- Lack of confidence or internal stable attributions for failure. Blaming themselves for failure
- Lack of identifiable roles for the team
- Individual efforts not recognised
- Injury, illness or fatigue
- Lack of incentives to work together
- Too high a level of competition
- Negative effects of others or criticisms from team-mates
- Environmental stressors
Define social loafing
When individuals lessen their effort as part of a group
What is an outcome goal?
Goals focusing on end result
E.g. - winning match
What is a personal performance goal?
-Focus on the individual / team performance
-Less stress-inducing and put the performer in control
-May make outcome/ losing bearable
E.g. - achieving a PB
What is a process goal?
-Goals used to improve a skill/ technique
E.g. - improve front foot drive in cricket
What is each part of the SMART goal setting strategy?
-S - specific (need to be personal/clear)
-M - measurable
(need to be assessed/help monitor progress)
-A - achievable
(shared, realistic goals are most powerful)
-R - recorded
(recorded, measured against progress)
-T - time phased
(Short/Medium/Long-term)
