Week 3 Flashcards
Define Sports and Exercise Psychology?
“the scientific study of people and their behaviours in sport and exercise contexts and the practical applications of that knowledge - Weinberg & Gould (2015)
Describe Period 1: Early Years
- (1895-1920)
- Norman Triplett (psychologist & bicycle racing enthusiast)
- He ran the first social psychology and sport psychology experiment examining why cyclists rode faster when they raced in groups or pairs compared to when they rode alone.
Describe Period 2: Griffith Era
- (1921-1938)
- Coleman Griffith was the first to devote a career to sport psychology; regarded as the Father of American sport psychology; published 25 research articles about sport psychology
- Dorothy Yates was also a pioneer practitioner in this era as she worked with aviators and boxers on mental preparation.
Describe Period 3: Preparation for the future
- (1939-1965)
- Franklin Henry establishes the first psychology of physical activity graduate program.
- Some students became university professors who initiated systematic research programs on the area.
Describe Period 4: Establishment of Academic Sport Psychology
- (1965-1989)
- P.E was now an academic discipline, motor learning and sport psychology were a separate component with this discipline
- Primary goal was to gain acceptance for the field by advancing the knowledge base through experimental research.
Describe Period 5: Multidisciplinary science & practise in sport and exercise psychology
- (1990-2000)
- Area has tremendous growth and becomes more accepted by public
- More and better research was conducted, due to more grant opportunities and external funding being available, which resulted in speciality journals being created such as ‘Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology’
Describe Period 6: Contemporary sport and exercise psychology
- (2000-present)
- Today, sport and exercise psychology is a vibrant and exciting field, but there is still much more to develop
What are the 3 Approaches to Sport Psychology?
Psychophysiological, Social Psychological, and Cognitive Behavioural.
What is the Psychophysiological approach to sport psychology?
Examines psychological processes of the brain to understand behaviour e.g. eye movement, heart rate, brain wave activity, muscle activation.
What is the Social Psychological approach to sport psychology?
Behaviour is determined by the complex interaction between the environment (especially the social environment) and the individual e.g. team cohesion, leadership.
What is the Cognitive Behavioural approach to sport psychology?
An individual’s thoughts and feelings determine behaviour e.g. assessment of self-confidence, anxiety, motivation.
What are the 2 Sport & Exercise Psychology Specialists?
Clinical Sport Psychology and Educational Sport Psychology
What is Clinical Sport Psychology?
- Treat athletes and exercisers who have severe emotional disorders
- Have extensive training in psychology so they can detect and treat individuals with emotional disorders.
What is Educational Sport Psychology?
- “Mental coaches” who educate athletes and exercisers about psychological skills
- Not trained to work with individuals who have severe emotional disorders
- Extensive training in sport and exercise science, P.E, physiology, and biomechanics, and they understand the psychology of human movement
What are 6 attributes to the Scientific Method?
- Systematic Approach (approach that is methodical, repeatable and able to be learned by step-by-step procedures)
- Control
- Unbiased
- Theoretical
- Generalisable
- Empirical (observation; underpinned through evidence, thus should be unbiased)
