Exam 1 Topics Study Cards

Vocabulary flashcards covering all 80 major concepts, models, and sub-topics from Modules 1 to 4 in preparation for Exam 1.

Exam 1 Format

A 50-question multiple-choice exam covering topics across Module 1 through Module 4.

Kurt Lewin's Formula

The formula $B = f(P, E)$, which states that behavior ($B$) is a function ($f$) of the person ($P$) and their environment ($E$).

Behavior (B) in Lewin's Formula

The observable action, performance, or response of an individual in a sport or movement context.

Person Factors (P)

Internal individual characteristics, traits, thoughts, motives, and physiological factors that influence behavior.

Environmental Factors (E)

External situational, physical, social, and cultural conditions that surround and influence an individual's behavior.

Motor Behavior

An umbrella sub-discipline encompassing motor learning, motor control, and motor development to understand human movement.

Motor Learning

The study of the processes involved in acquiring and refining motor skills through practice and experience.

Motor Control

The study of how the nervous system coordinates and controls the muscular system to produce purposeful movement.

Motor Development

The study of continuous age-related changes in movement capabilities and motor behavior across the human lifespan.

Trait Factors

Enduring, relatively stable personal characteristics or dispositions that influence how an individual typically behaves.

Interaction of Personal and Environmental Factors

The perspective that behavior is best understood by analyzing how internal personal traits interact dynamically with external situational conditions.

Role of Theory in Research

Providing a systematic framework to guide hypothesis testing, organize scientific findings, and explain complex phenomena.

Role of Theory in Practice

Guiding practitioners in choosing evidence-informed interventions and practical strategies to solve real-world performance problems.

Evidence-Based Practice

The integration of the best available scientific research evidence with professional expertise and client values.

Effective Research Question

A specific, testable, and clear inquiry designed to address a gap in knowledge or resolve a practical problem.

Non-Scientific Sources of Knowledge

Methods of acquiring knowledge based on intuition, personal experience, tradition, authority, or trial-and-error rather than empirical scientific testing.

Internal Validity

The degree to which observed changes in a dependent variable can be confidently attributed to the independent variable rather than confounding factors.

External Validity

The extent to which research findings can be generalized to other populations, settings, real-world environments, and times.

Internal vs. External Validity Trade-off

The balance in experimental design where increasing controlled laboratory conditions (internal validity) often reduces real-world applicability (external validity).

Independent Variable

The variable in a research study that is manipulated, controlled, or categorized by the investigator to observe its effect.

Dependent Variable

The variable being measured or observed to assess the outcome or effect of manipulating the independent variable.

Limitations of the Scientific Method

Constraints such as difficulty controlling all confounding variables, artificial lab environments, time delays in publication, and potential researcher bias.

Major Types of Research

Broad methodological classifications of scientific inquiry, including quantitative, qualitative, experimental, observational, basic, and applied research.

Psychological Skills Training (PST)

Systematic and consistent practice of mental or psychological skills to enhance performance, increase enjoyment, or achieve sport self-satisfaction.

PST Components

Core techniques and modalities used in mental training, such as goal setting, imagery, arousal regulation, self-talk, and attentional control.

PST Focus

Developing and fine-tuning an athlete's mental skills, emotional control, and cognitive strategies across training and competition environments.

PST Goals

Enhancing athletic performance, improving mental toughness, building self-confidence, and supporting psychological well-being.

PST(Psychological Skills Training) Routine for Competition Preparation

A structured pre-event mental and physical sequence designed to help an athlete achieve optimal mental readiness and ideal arousal levels.

Example PST Routine

A step-by-step pre-game mental plan combining progressive relaxation or dynamic breathing, imagery, focused self-talk, and execution cues.

Personality

The dynamic organization of psychological systems that create an individual's characteristic patterns of behavior, thoughts, and feelings.

Freud's Psychodynamic Theory

An approach to personality emphasizing unconscious drives, underlying instincts, and dynamic conflict between the id, ego, and superego.

Unconscious Determinants of Behavior

A key concept in psychodynamic theory proposing that human actions are heavily influenced by unconscious thoughts, desires, and conflicts.

Behavioral Approach to Personality

A psychological theoretical framework emphasizing that personality and behavior are learned through environmental interactions and conditioning.

B.F. Skinner's View on Personality

The perspective that personality is a collection of learned behavior patterns established through operant conditioning and reinforcement history.

Eysenck's Personality Model

A trait-focused framework structuring personality along biological dimensions: Extraversion-Introversion, Neuroticism-Stability, and Psychoticism.

Extraversion-Introversion (Eysenck)

A continuum measuring sociability, outgoingness, and stimulation-seeking (extraversion) versus reserved, reflective behavior (introversion).

Neuroticism-Stability (Eysenck)

A continuum measuring emotional instability and anxiety proneness (neuroticism) versus emotional calmness and resilience (stability).

Psychoticism (Eysenck)

A personality dimension characterized by aggressiveness, egocentricity, impulsivity, and lack of empathy or social conformity.

The Big Five Personality Traits

A widely accepted five-factor model of personality comprising Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Openness to Experience

A Big Five personality trait reflecting curiosity, creativity, open-mindedness, and willingness to try new experiences.

Conscientiousness

A Big Five personality trait reflecting self-discipline, organization, goal-directed behavior, and dependability.

Extraversion (Big Five)

A Big Five personality trait characterized by high enthusiasm, social energy, assertiveness, and positive emotionality.

Agreeableness

A Big Five personality trait characterized by cooperativeness, trust, empathy, and consideration for others.

Neuroticism (Big Five)

A Big Five personality trait reflecting emotional instability, vulnerability to stress, and a tendency to experience negative emotions.

Interactionist Approach to Personality

The view that personality traits and environmental situations interact dynamically to determine behavior, rather than either factor acting alone.

Personality Assessments

Standardized tools, questionnaires, or inventories used to measure specific personality traits, psychological states, or behavioral profiles.

Trait Anxiety

A general, enduring personality disposition to perceive various non-dangerous situations as threatening and respond with anxiety.

General Trait Anxiety

A broad inclination to experience anxiety across a wide variety of everyday situations regardless of specific context.

Situation-Specific Trait Anxiety

A dispositional tendency to experience anxiety in specific contexts, such as competitive athletic events or public speaking.

State Anxiety

A transient, temporary emotional state characterized by conscious feelings of apprehension, tension, and heightened physiological arousal.

Perfectionism

A multidimensional trait involving setting extremely high standards of performance accompanied by overly critical self-evaluations.

Adaptive Perfectionism

A healthy aspect of perfectionism focused on setting high goals and striving for excellence without severe self-criticism.

Maladaptive Perfectionism

An unhealthy aspect of perfectionism marked by excessive fear of failure, harsh self-criticism, and constant concern over mistakes.

Personality Traits Associated with Elite Athletes

Common characteristics observed in high-level performers, including high conscientiousness, emotional stability, high self-confidence, and mental toughness.

Performance Profiling

A client-centered assessment method used to identify key psychological and physical attributes needed for sport performance and evaluate current levels.

Purpose of Performance Profiling

To raise athlete self-awareness, highlight strengths and weaknesses, and assist in designing targeted psychological skills training programs.

Nideffer's Attentional Model

A framework mapping attentional focus along two primary dimensions: width (broad to narrow) and direction (internal to external).

Attentional Width (Nideffer)

The range or extent of information an athlete attends to, spanning along a continuum from broad to narrow focus.

Attentional Direction (Nideffer)

Where an athlete directs their attention, spanning along a continuum from internal (thoughts, feelings) to external (environment, cues).

Broad-External Attentional Style

Focusing on a wide range of environmental cues simultaneously, useful for rapidly assessing dynamic athletic situations.

Broad-Internal Attentional Style

Focusing on multiple internal thoughts, plans, and strategies, useful for analyzing past performance or planning game strategy.

Narrow-External Attentional Style

Directing focus toward one or two specific external cues, essential for executing precise physical tasks like aiming or hitting a ball.

Narrow-Internal Attentional Style

Directing focus inward on a single thought, physical sensation, or muscle group, useful for mental rehearsal or relaxation techniques.

Attentional Styles for Performance Analysis

Applying Nideffer's attentional dimensions to evaluate an athlete's focus patterns during tactical decisions and skill execution.

Attentional Processes

The cognitive mechanisms governing how sensory and mental information is prioritized, monitored, and processed during tasks.

Attentional Selectivity

The ability to screen out irrelevant or distracting stimuli while focusing intently on task-relevant cues.

Attentional Alertness

The level of autonomic arousal and physiological vigilance that affects the sensitivity and speed of dynamic attentional processing.

Attentional Capacity

The limited amount of information or cognitive effort that an individual can process at any given moment.

Mindfulness

Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.

Mindfulness in Sport

Maintaining present-moment non-judgmental awareness of internal feelings and external environmental cues during athletic execution.

Flow State

An optimal psychological state of consciousness where an athlete feels fully immersed, focused, and performing effortlessly.

Characteristics of Flow State

Includes total absorption in the task, clear goals, altered sense of time, loss of self-consciousness, and a feeling of effortless control.

Controlled Processing

Mental processing that requires deliberate attention, conscious effort, and intentional awareness, operating slowly and sequentially.

Automatic Processing

Mental or motor processing that occurs rapidly, effortlessly, and without conscious awareness or deliberate effort.

Controlled vs. Automatic Processing

The cognitive shift from conscious, effort-heavy skill execution (controlled) early in learning to fluid, effortless execution (automatic) after extensive practice.

Expertise Development

The long-term process of elite skill acquisition through deliberate practice, domain-specific instruction, and cognitive adaptation.

Deliberate Practice

Highly structured, goal-directed practice specifically designed to improve performance through continuous feedback and focused effort.

Arousal Regulation in PST

Managing physiological and cognitive activation levels to stay within an optimal zone of functioning for athletic performance.

Arousal vs. Anxiety

Arousal is a general blend of physiological and psychological activation, whereas anxiety is a negative emotional state marked by worry and tension.

Exam 1 Overview

A comprehensive assessment evaluating student mastery of foundational topics across Modules 1, 2, 3, and 4 in sport behavior and psychology.