SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY Flashcards

Question

. What are the characteristics of over arousal?

Answer 1

. Causes attentional field to narrow . Relevant environmental cues are lost . Performer is often in a state of panic . AKA hyper vigilance . Selective attention can’t operate . Concentration is seriously impeded

Answer 2

. Like inverted U theory , catastrophe theory claims that as somatic arousal (physiological anxiety) increases, the quality of performance improves . However, a 3rd dimension is added to this prediction by stating that performance will reach max potential at optimum level only if cognitive arousal (psychological anxiety) is kept low . If high cognitive anxiety coincides with high somatic anxiety, the athlete will go beyond the optimal level of arousal- “gone over the edge” and under these conditions performance drops

Answer 3

. The drop isn’t a smooth curve like the Inverted U theory but plummets vertically . The vertical descent shows performance disaster or catastrophe . After a catastrophe, performer can rejoin upward curve of arousal and once again attain the optimum threshold . This return requires athlete to reduce cognitive anxiety . When somatic arousal is low, skill learning and performance can be enhanced if cognitive arousal is increased . Serious debilitation in learning performance will arise when low levels of physiological and psychological arousal converge

Answer 4

. Anxiety is the negative aspect of experiencing stress and can be caused by worry, apprehension or fear of failure.

Answer 5

. Trait anxiety: a trait that is enduring in an individual. A performer with high trait anxiety has the predisposition or the potential to react to situations with apprehension- relates to personality . Example: during stressful situations- exams or interviews . Competitive trait anxiety: a tendency to perceive competitive situations as threatening and to respond to these situations with feelings of apprehension or tensions - during or about a competition . State anxiety: the athlete’s emotional state at any given time; variable from situation to situation - The sport competition anxiety test (SCAT) is used to help predict how anxious a performer will be in future competitions

Answer 6

. Both can be experienced at different levels before, during and after sports performance . The control of both types of anxiety is very important to ensure optimal performance . SOMATIC ANXIETY: Anxiety experienced physiologically . Symptoms: Increaes BP, sweating, adrenaline boost, need to urinate, muscle tension, pacing, yawning, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, loss of appetite . COGNITIVE ANXIETY: Anxiety experienced by the mind . Symptoms: Indecision, confusion, negative thoughts, poor concentration, irritability, loss of confidence, images of failure

Answer 7

. Thought as an important state of well-being . This zone is an emotional response that facilitates top performance and is often referred to as the peak flow experience . Top performers ‘in the zone’ are: \> relaxed \> confident \> completely focused- concentrating on relevant cues \> effortless in activity \> automatic in movement \> having fun \> in control

Answer 8

. Aggression is the intent to harm or injure outside the rules of the game . Assertion is forceful behaviour within laws of an event

Answer 9

. The positive influence on sport performance of others who may be watching or competing.

Answer 10

. The negative influence on sports performance of others who may be watching or competing

Answer 11

1. The presence of an audience increases arousal 2. Increases in arousal will trigger the dominant response 3. If a skill is well-learned, response will be correct 4. If the skill is new or poorly learned, the response will be incorrrect

Answer 12

. Increases arousal levels which can increase heart rate and cause other detrimental effects . Example: a person who is trying out for cheerleading may be feel a heightened sense of arousal leading to incompetence not just because others are around, but because of the fear that others are observing and ridiculing them

Answer 13

. Presence of audience will spur some athletes onto great performances, others may ‘choke’, adversely affecting their performance . Effects: \> Home v Away: . Teams more often win at home, maybe due to nature of audience, but some research suggests that it’s harder to win at home due to increased pressure \> Personality factors- introverts v extroverts: . Type A performs worse in front of an audience than Type B . Extroverts tend to perform better than introverts in front of a crowd \> levels of experience (beginner vs expert): . Previous experiences in front of an audience can help to alleviate nerves and improve performance, but if the performer has failed previously they may expect to fail again . Elite perform better than beginners due to dominant response being correct . Performing in front of peers can aid experts but increase anxiety if novices \> Type of skills/activities: . Gross skills -helped by high arousal therefore audience can facilitate performance . Fine or complex skills are more desirable at lower levels of arousal- audience can inhibit performance \> Other influences: . Nature of crowd- if hostile or noisy performer may feel more anxious . Proximity if audience, e.g. a close audience can make performers feel threatened and increase arousal

Answer 14

. Imagery techniques to ‘shut out’ the audience . Relaxation techniques . Training with audience present . Preparing to deal with negative reactions of co-actors . Decreasing importance of event . Remaining calm and focused

Answer 15

. A collection of people who both share similar goals and interact with one another.

Answer 16

. Forming . Storming . Norming . Performing

Answer 17

. High dependence on leader for guidance . Group members are getting to know each other . Very little agreement on aims of team . Individual roles are unclear . Team leader needs to give strong direction

Answer 18

. Group decisions are difficult . Team members are establishing themselves in the group . Focus is clearer . Cliques form- may be power struggles . Need for environmental compromise . Leader has a more advisory role

Answer 19

. Much more agreement and consensus of opinion . Roles and responsibilities accepted . Decisions made through group agreement . Strong sense of commitment and unity . Team members are social and friendly with eachother . Respect for leader and leadership is shared

Answer 20

. More strategies, clear vision and aim . No interference of participation from leader . Focus is on achieving goals . Team is trusted to get on with job in hand . Disagreements occur but resolved within team . Team’s able to work and be personable . Team doesn’t need to be assisted or instructed . Team members may ask for assistance from leader for personal and interpersonal issues

Answer 21

. Used when describing group dynamics . Festinger states that cohesiveness is ‘the total field of forces which act on members to remain in the group’

Answer 22

. Group integration- how individual members of the group feel about the group as a whole . Individual attraction to the group- how attracted the individuals are to the group

Answer 23

. Helpful when looking at relationship between individuals and group performance . Actual productivity= potential productivity- losses due to faulty process

Answer 24

. Refers to best possible performance of group, taking into account resources available and ability of player. . Example: a non league team losing 4-0 to Chelsea might well be reaching their full potential but aren’t winning due to their limited resources

Answer 25

1. Coordination problems: if coordination and timing of team members don’t match, team strategies that depend on them will suffer, e.g. positional error or an ill time do move 2. Motivational problems: if individual team members of team aren’t motivated to same extent players will be withdrawing effort

Answer 26

. Occurs when individual performances decrease when group size increases . Research on coordination and motivational losses based on studies into rugby of war, found that team of eight didn’t pull eight times as hard compared to solo performers .

Answer 27

. Found that group performance suffered as a group got larger. . Called motivational losses- social loafing

Answer 28

. Some individuals in a group seem to lose motivation. . It’s apparently caused by individual losing identity when placed in a group . Individual efforts may not be recognised by those spectating or by those taking part

Answer 29

. Highlight individual performance . Support from others in the team- social support . Feedback . Peer pressure to reinforce individual effort

Answer 30

. Can develop positive self-perception and reduce anxiety that may arise prior to or during performance . Correct use of goal setting can help improve confidence and motivational levels of athlete .

Answer 31

. Directs attention of performer onto required task or strategy . Increases effort applied by performer . Improves persistence when task becomes difficult or when failure is experienced . Performer becomes increasingly motivated to learn and apply different approaches to learning to complete task successfully . Successful completion of goal will help raise confidence and self-efficacy . Goals can help break down performance into manageable tasks, helping to control arousal and anxiety

Answer 32

. **S**pecific- goals must be clear and specific . Measurable- goals must be assessed . Achievable- goals that are shared by performers and coaches are more likely to be achievable, as all parties have common purpose and goal set is realistic to ability of performer . Recorded- goals should be recorded so progress can be monitored . Time-phased- goals should be split into short-term goals leading on to long-term goals

Answer 33

. Performance goals- e.g. to achieve a certain time, Such as 100m under 10 seconds . Process-orientated goals- e.g. to ensure front crawl arm technique is correct . Outcome goals- e.g. to win the race

Answer 34

. Attribution is the perceived cause of a particular outcome . Comprises the reasons, justifications and excuses we give fro winning, losing and drawing in sport . Attribution theory is linked to motivation, as our attributions will directly affect future efforts and performances

Answer 35

. Outcome of event → Available info→ Causal attributions Expectancy \\> Affective response (Of future results) (Feelings: pride; shame] . Depends on subsequent participation (Motivated behaviour or action)

Answer 36

. Often attributions are inappropriate or unreal; it’s important to change these to have a positive effect on future performance

Answer 37

. Model Isn’t sport-specific . Locks of causality refers to whether attributions come from within the person (internal) or environment (external) . Stability refers to whether the attribution is changeable or unchangeable . If reasons for winning are stable, individual is motivated to achieve again . If failure is attributed to unstable factor, individual is more likely to try again because there’s a good chance the outcome will change

Answer 38

. Sports performers who lose tend to attribute their failure to external causes, while those who succeed attribut their success to interns, causes

Answer 39

. Whether attributions are under the control of the performer or under the control of others , or whether they are uncontrollable, i.e. nothing can be done by anyone (e.g.luck, weather).

Answer 40

. Ability: internal, stable, uncontrollable (at top of model) . Attributed causes according to internal-external (locus of causality), stability and controllability continuum (middle of model) . Luck: external, unstable, uncontrollable (left of attributed causes) . Effort: internal, unstable, controllable (right of attributed causes) . Task difficulty: external, stable , controllable/uncontrollable (bottom of attributed causes)

Answer 41

. The belief that failure is inevitable and that the individual has no control over the factors that cabuse failures . Low achievers often attribute their failures to uncontrollable factors which can lead to this

Answer 42

. Mastery orientation is the view that an individual will be motivated by becoming an expert (master) in skill development . An athlete who is mastery orientated will often attribute failure to internal, controllable and unstable factors

Answer 43

. Attributions should be encouraged to be controllable, unstable factors . Example: hockey team that has just lost narrowly should be encouraged to ‘try harder next week.’ This isn’t more likely to result in mastery orientation.

Answer 44

. The belief or degree of certainty individuals possess about their ability to be successful i sport

Answer 45

. Performance- you’ll be more motivated to achieve and will take firm decisions that are more likely to have positive outcomes . Participation- low levels of sport confidence may mean you shy away from activities with; high levels enable people to participate and not feel inhibited . Self- esteem- high levels of sport confidence will mean high self-esteem; those with low levels of sport confidence may experience low self-esteem and feel they’re not good enough

Answer 46

. Sporting context- sporting situation you’re in . Example: penalty kick in football . SC-trait- everyone has an existing level of sport confidence . Example: high levels of confidence in football (high levels of SC- trait) . Competitive orientation- everyone has an existing level of competitiveness . Example: enjoying highly competitive situations . SC- state- the confidence that can be shown in a specific situation in sport \> SC- state = (SC- trait) x (competitive orientation) . Example: experienced penalty taker has been successful in same situation many times = high levels of SC- state so likely to be successful. If SC-state was low, an inexperienced nervous penalty taker would be unlikely to be successful . Behavioural response- response to situation . Example: penalty is scored or not scored . Subjective outcome- the emotion felt towards behavioural response and these perceived feelings affect future SC-trait and competitive orientation: positive perceived feelings may increase confidence and negative perceived feelings may decrease confidence . Example: satisfaction if penalty is scored and disappointment if it isn’t. Increased future confidence if outcome is successful, possible decreased confidence if outcome is poor

Answer 47

. The confidence we have in specific situations

Answer 48

. Expectations of self efficacy depend on: \> Performance accomplishments: a reminder of previous successes in related skill or situation \> Vicarious experiences: watching others perform the skill in question \> Verbal persuasion: convincing athlete of their ability to perform the skill \> Emotional arousal: the evaluation the performer makes of a physiological state

Answer 49

. Good communication skills . High motivation . Enthusiasm . Clear goal or vision of what needs to be achieved . Empathy . Comprehensive knowledge of sport/ being good at sport . Charisma

Answer 50

. Becomes a leader through hard work and determination . People look up to, respect and help to become a leader . May be skilful in their sport and become leader to show others how well they can do and inspire team mates

Answer 51

. Someone appointed by people of a higher authority . Example: Gareth Southgate was appointment manager of England men’s football team by football association in 2016

Answer 52

. Authoritarian . Democratic . Laissez- faire

Answer 53

. Task-oriented and dictator style . Leader makes all the decisions and is very direct in their approach . Used when discipline or control isn’t needed . Used with hostile groups or if there’s a lack of time . Used if situation is dangerous or task is clear . Novice performance and male performers like this style

Answer 54

. Person-orientated . Takes into account team members’ ideas and feelings . Leader shows interest in others . Used when group members want to be involved in decision making . Used if situation isn’t dangerous and task required greater interpersonal communication . Used with small teams or Individuals . Used with advanced performers and females like this style

Answer 55

. Leader provides little support or input . Lets team member do as they wish . Used with high- level performers or elite athletes . Used with developing creativity for team members . Used when leader can fully trust member capabilities . Used when group is being assessed . Used if leader is incompetent

Answer 56

. Trait theory . Social learning theory (SLT) . Interactionist theory

Answer 57

. Leaders are born with their leadership qualities . Traits are stable and enduring and can be generalised across different situations . Popular belief that ‘great leaders are born not made’. Leaders have characteristics that make them effective . People in sport tend to be quite specific in their leadership skills, which works against the generalised trait approach

Answer 58

. Leadership characteristics can be learned from other . Behaviour of others is watched and copied- vicarious learning . High status models are more likely to be copied. This theory shows the importance of social environment for adopting leadership qualities, rather than trait approach which doesn’t take environment into account

Answer 59

. An individual may have certain in-born traits, such as assertiveness, but they’re not evident unless a situation (state) demands the leadership behaviour . This theory accounts for the fact that people may not be leaders in everyday life but show leadership qualities in sports situations

Answer 60

. The more the elements of this model match each other, the more effective the leadership is likely to be . If leadership qualities are what the group members want and expect, the they’re more likely to follow the leader . If leadership style matches situation, leadership is likely to be more effective

Answer 61

1. Situational characteristics: environmental conditions e.g. activity (football, rock climbing), number of people in group, time constraints, strength of oppositon, etc 2. Leader characteristics: the personality/skill level/experience of leader. Leader may have preferred style of leadership 3. Member characteristics: what is the group like? Skill level/attitudes/experiences/age/personalities 4. Required behaviour: what style of leadership is needed for this task? The situation (and member characteristics) dictates appropriate style of leadership 5. Actual behaviour: what does the leader actually choose to do? The behaviour the leader displays as a result of situation and member characteristics and the leader characteristics 6. Preferred behaviour: what leadership style do the group prefer? Member characteristics (and situation) dictate appropriate style of leadership 7. Performance and satisfaction: the overall performance of members and leader and level of satisfaction.

Answer 62

. In sport, stress is more often linked to negative feelings and can be seen as a psychological state produced and perceived by physiological and psychological forces acting on our sense of well-being

Answer 63

. Stressors are environmental changes that induce a stress response . They generally arise when there’s an imbalance between person’s perception of demand being made on them by situation and their ability to meet that demand

Answer 64

. Competition (powerful stressor) . Conflict (with other players or opposition) . Frustration (with your own or team members’ performance) . Climate (excessively hot or cold)

Answer 65

. Cognitive anxiety (stress response of mind) . Somatic anxiety (stress response of body)

Answer 66

. Mental rehearsal: recalling movement experiences from memory or creating a mental picture of new experiences. Forming a mental image of skill you’re about to perform e.g. seeing yourself score the goal . Evaluation: For a novice it may help improve confidence and control arousal. . Research has shown it can create optimism in performance . Positive thinking/positive self talk: used to motivate and ‘psyche up’, being positive about past performance, by talking to yourself can help confidence and performance e.g. saying to yourself ‘I’m going to score today!’ . Evaluation: it’s only of value if performer is experienced and of high standard . Goal setting: setting SMART goals can break tasks downs and reduce levels of anxiety. Setting short-term goals which can lead to long-term will make performers feel in ck troll and less stressed. . Evaluation: goals need to be clearly defined and decisions shared performers should be aware of outcome, performance and process goals . Negative thought stopping: instructions aimed at halting negativity, e,g, stopping feeling like ‘I can’t score’ . Evaluation: individuals prone to learned helplessness may find stopping negative thoughts difficult . Rational thinking: challenging any negative thoughts by looking at logical and real aspects of situation . Evaluation: perception is key because it’s the interpretation of situation that dictates level of stress the performer experiences . Mindfulness: therapeutic technique often involving meditation- concerns our environmental awareness and relationships with others at particular point in time. . Evaluation: can lead to ‘peak flow experience’ of zone of optimal functioning . Imagery- external (seeeing yourself from outside your body) and internal (seeing yourself from within): can help improve concentration and develop confidence. Involves formation of mental pictures often related to actual activity. Can be visual, auditory, kinaesthesic or emotional . Evaluation: internal imagery is more effective than external . To be effective you must practise in relaxed environment, key exercises short but frequent and set goals for each session

Answer 67

. Centering: combines somatic and cognitive responses- similar to mindfulness because you focus on here and now. Concentration is shifted to centre of body . Through Centering athlete will redirect energy to body and achieve calm steady state . Evaluation: skill needs to be mastered, focusing on breathing . Requires regular practice so it can be used automatically . Progressive muscular relaxation: ‘Jacobsen technique’. Athletes have to learn to be ‘aware’ of tension in muscles and ‘let it go’. Gradually muscle groups should combine until whole body can be relaxed on one command . Evaluation: take longer than self-directed relaxation, but is thought to be more effective . Biofeedback: performers are taught to control muscular tension by relaxing specific muscles showing tension in a machine. Degree of tension is noted by sound machine makes- linking feeling with noise, performer can eventually identify tension without assistance. . Breathing control: slow deep breaths ensure you get enough oxygen and feel more relaxed and in control. . Evaluation: can be helpful as part of a routine e.g. between serves in tennis

SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY Flashcards

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