sports pyschology - arousal

Question 1

what is arousal in sport

Answer 1

energised alertness, a readiness to perform and a drive to achieve a goal. State of pyschological activation of a performer.

Question 2

what are the signs of phsiological arousal

Answer 2

• focused on the goal, motivated by what you want to achieve
• butterflies in stomach
• worried/anxious
• positive thinking

Question 3

what are the signs of psychological arousal

Answer 3

• pacing, cant sit still
• increased HR
• sweaty

Question 4

what is attentional focus

Answer 4

what the performer is considering when they are performing. This can be wide ( taking in a lot of environmental cues ) or narrow ( taking in very few attentional cues )

Question 5

what are the factors which can increase arousal in an individual

Answer 5

• expeiriance
• teammates/opposition
• crowd/audience
• importance of the game
• injury
• rivalry

Question 6

what is the drive theory of arousal

Answer 6

• linear relarionship between arousal and performance
• increase in motivation and therefore drive, there will be an increase in performance of an athlete
• performance is a result of drive multiplied by habit

Question 7

what is the dominant response

Answer 7

the response a performer will provide to a given stimulus with the least thought. This is the one which the performer considers to be the most appropriate.
autonomous performers the response is likely to be correct, leading to an increase in performance
cognitive learners the response is lilely to be incorrect

Question 8

what is the inverted U theory

Answer 8

as arousal increases so does performance, but only up to an optimal level of arousal.
after this point there is a steady decline in performance .
both under and over arousal are bad.

Question 9

what is the catastrophe theory

Answer 9

once the performer has gone past the optimal arousal, there is a sudden and dramatic decline in performance.
result of high levels of somatic and cognitve anxiety.
if arousal is decreased back to below optimum, there can be a recovery of their performance. if not, and arousal increases further, there is no recovery and they remain having a poor performance.

Question 10

what is the zone of optimal functioning

Answer 10

zones of arousal in which each indivdual will be able to perform at their optimal level. The difference suggests that you can perform well at any point within the bandwith and not just an optimal point.
To acheive their zone of optimal functioning individuals can hype themselves up etc
when they are in the zone, they will expeirnace ;
- focus on the job
- appropriate levels of adrenaline
- confidence
- alert

Question 11

what is the peak flow expieriance

Answer 11

fully focused on performance, timing, action and movement are all perfect. You feel completely in control and everything you attempt is successful.

Question 12

what do you need to expieriance peak flow

Answer 12

• total focus on the performance
• high levels of confidence
• high levels of intrinsic motivation
• high fitness levels
• optimal environment