stress and anxiety

Question 1

Arousal definition

Answer 1

general physiological and psychological activation varying on a continuum from deep sleep to intense excitement (Gould and Krane 2002)

Question 2

HULL 1943- drive theory (arousal)

Answer 2

linear relationship
more psyched up= better performance
increased drive (arousal) will increase the likelihood of dominant behaviour- as pressure increases perforamnce increases
-so when arousal is high performance is high

disadvantages to this theory=but just coz its dominant does not mean it will be correct or may be novices so will not perform well

BUT even highly skilled players may choke in highly charged situations like a penalty shoot out

so for the theory to be correct the skill must be well learned or it might actually be a negative relationship

Question 3

Yerkes an Dodson 1908- inverted U hypothesis

Answer 3

predicts performance effectiveness will increase as arousal will increase to an optimal point- after this point there will be a decrease in performance

At low and high levels of arousal, performance will be lowered compared to moderate levels of arousal

recent evidence supports this- Landers and Arent 2010

Criticism (Gould and Udry 1994; Hardy 1990)- is the optimal level arousal always at this mid point
what about the nature of the task e.g. simple a complex tasks=- surely we cant have the same optimal point for simple and complex tasks

Question 4

Anxiety

Answer 4

A negative emotional state with feelings of nervousness, worry and apprehension associated with activation or arousal of the body

Question 5

Types of anxiety

Answer 5

trait- aspect of our personality- those with high trait anxiety will usually have high levels of state anxiety in highly competitive situations- however they can learn coping skills to overcome this anxiety. Knowing some ones trait anxiety will be a good predictor

state anxiety- how you feel right now in the current situation- this is multidimensional so we look at it from a cognitive and somatic view point and behavioral

Question 6

cognitive anxiety

Answer 6

concerned with extent to which one worries or has negative thoughts- lack of self confidence/ sense of worry, fear, doubt/ attention can be disrupted/worrisome expectation of failure

Question 7

somatic anxiety

Answer 7

concerned with moment to moment changes in ones perception of physiological activation (physiological changes)- unusual feelings of nausea/ increased HR/ increased BP/ increased muscle tension/ increased perspiration

Question 8

Behavioural anxiety

Answer 8

tense facial expression, changes in communication

Question 9

Stress

Answer 9

A substantial imbalance between demand and response capability, under conditions where failure to meet that demand is hgih

fight or flight response- HR, pupils dilate, sweating, glycogen to glucose

Question 10

The stress process

Answer 10

stage 1- enviromental demand

stage 2- individuals perception of the environmental demand

stage 3- stress response - arousal/state anxiety/muscle tension/attention changes

stage 4- behavioural consequences- performance or outcome

Question 11

what causes anxiety and stress?

Answer 11

situational sources- the more important the event the more stressful/ too much pressure and high expectations also lead to anxiety (also low expectations relating to performance

Individual factors; Trait anxiety/ performance concerns/ locus of control (those who need high control)/ self esteem/ social physique anxiety- anxiety when others observe their physiques

Question 12

Cognitive and somatic anxiety-

time to event paradigm- Martens et al 1990

Answer 12

CSAI-2= measure cognitive anxiety, somatic

findings- cognitive anxiety is high 48 hrs before competition- high and stable
somatic anxiety was low leading up to competition
But getting closer to competition somatic anxiety started to increase.

This is crucial to understand as a coach - those who have anxiety they will definitely go through this process- understanding individual differences are very important e.g. normally loud performers go quiet

Question 13

Multidimensional state anxiety-

Burton et al 1988 study

Answer 13

Burton et al 1988- ‘Do anxious swimmers swim slower’

Findings- cognitive anxiety somatic and self confidence have different relationships with performance

cognitive anxiety has a negative relationship with performance

self confidence has a positive relationship with performance

somatic anxiety- performance will increase up to a certain point

these relationships were strongest in short duration events

Question 14

Woodman and Hardy 2003- meta analysis on anxiety and performance in sport

Answer 14

48 studies investigating cognitive anxiety and self confidence subscales

higher standard athletes experienced more cognitive anxiety

males other than females displayed higher cognitive anxiety and self confidence

Question 15

anxiety and performance in sport-

why are findings inconsistent

Answer 15

Anxiety often impairs performance on ‘;difficult’ tasks-Eysenck and Calvo 1992-

why its inconsistent- Anxiety is complex/ in event coping strategies/ self report measures/ task characteristics

Question 16

Individuals zone of optimal functioning

Answer 16

Holds the view thatelite level performers have an optimal zone of arousal/anxiety where they are able to reach peak performances. If their arousal/ anxiety is outside the zone (too low or too high) performance will decline

Question 17

Catastrophe theory Hardy and Parfitt 1991

Answer 17

focuses on the interactive effects of arousal, cognitive anxiety and performance

Under conditions of low cognitive anxiety = Fazey and Hardy proposed we get an inverted u shape

With high cognitive anxiety we hit Catastrophe- dramatic drop in performance
With coping mechanisms you can reactivate the athlete.

Implications for athletes- after a catastrophic decline in performance, the athlete must relax/ cognitively reconstruct/ and reactivate themselves

Basketball study- hysteresis- under high cognitive anxiety= performance will follow a different path when physiological arousal increases compared to when it decreases. IN low cognitive anxiety these paths are similar.

Question 18

directional anxiety- neil et al 2007

Answer 18

sematic intensity and worry intensity= n sig diff in intensity between elite and non elite rugby players

semantic direction and worry direction= sig diff
elite= more facilitative
shows elite athletes interpret anxiety as a good thing