Psychology of Sport

Personality

The characterisation of individual differences

Social learning theory

is based on the philosophy that individuals can learn through observing and imitating the observable behavior of others. 

Context specificity

certain psychological structures relevant in one situation are not relevant in another.

Psychological change

manner in which competencies are acquired.

Beliefs

relate to how the world is

Expectancies

concern what an individual thinks will happen in the future; evaluating the worth and quality of an event.

Self-efficacy

expectation that people have their own capabilities for performance.

Self esteem

a person's global evaluation of their personal worth.

Performance Profiling

stems from Kelly’s work on personal construct psychology which emphasizes that psychologist need to try and understand the ways in which athletes perceive the world in which they train, live, and perform, it is the athlete’s view what makes them effective

Goal setting

SMARTER, should include negative and positive goals.

Described as modeling

seeing an example of how to complete a task can act as a stimulus to attempt an activity you might not have considered otherwise. 

Negative Standpoint

acts of aggression – implication for the repetition of socially undesirable behaviors like bullying.

Persuasion

Comes from a high-status individual and is designed to encourage you to act in a particular way. 

Construct of attention: concentration

(effortful awareness) – listening intently to your coach during timeout.

Selective Attention

ability to focus “zoom in” on relevant information and ignore distractors. 

Ability to coordinate 2+ actions at the same time

checking the scoreboard and listening intently to the coach.

Negative impact

somatic standpoint (physical sensations experienced) – increases HR, dry mouth, butterflies, sweaty hands.

Albert Bandura

was a psychologist who developed social learning theory.

Attention

In behavioral theories, it is emphasized that individuals engaged in a knowledge acquisition model need to closely observe observable human learning behaviors.

Retention

In the view of social cognition theorists, the second requirement for observational learning is the retention of the observed behavior.

Reproduction

According to theorists focusing on child behavior and development, the process is intricate and involves both the mental and physical capacity of an individual to replicate observed behavior while performing a physical task.

Motivation

As per theorists focusing on child behavior and development, observational learning's most crucial knowledge acquisition opportunities arise from motivational factors.

Kurt Lewin

most influential social psychologists of 20th century.

What are the 3 levels of personality?

Psychological core, Typical responses, Role-related behavior

Competencies

our skills and knowledge.

Encoding strategies

our particular style and the schemas we use in processing information.

Expectancies

what we expect from our own behavior and our anticipations of our performance levels.

Plans

what we intend to do.

L-data

lifetime history

O-data

observations from knowledgeable others including parents and friends

BASIC-ID

allows researcher to develop a considered picture of how an individual is functioning in a particular setting

T-data

experimental procedures and standardized tests; assess someone’s suitability for a specific occupational role

S-data

information provided by the client

Direction of effort

refers to whether an individual is attracted to, seeks out, or approaches certain situations

Intensity

how much effort a person exerts in a particular situation

Intrinsic motivation

associated with doing an activity for itself and for the pleasure and satisfaction derived from participation 

Extrinsic motivation

results from external rewards 

Additive principle

intrinsic motivation can be boosted by extrinsic motivators; not always a good idea; the reward provides positive information with regard to the performer’s level of competence

Autonomy

make our own decisions, be in control of one’s own behavior (exercise because you want to, not because you are told to do so)

Competence

need to feel competent and able to accomplish things (master sports skill or improve expertise in activity)

Relatedness

need to relate to others and feel a sense of belonging (being part of a team and feeling accepted and valued by teammates)

Instinctive

a player always wants to compete regardless of the event. 

High AM

desire to succeed > fear of failure

Low AM

fear of failure > desire to succeed

NACH (Need to achieve)

welcome challenge and competition

NAF

avoid competitive situations (need to avoid failure)

Achievement Goal Theory

refers to how people evaluate/judge their competence/ability and define successful accomplishments.

Task involvement

Individuals focus on mastering the task, learning skills, exerting effort, and self improvement. 

Ego-Involvement

Individuals focus on demonstrating superior ability compared to others, as well as winning in competitions with less effort than others. 

Ego-Oriented Behavior

measure their success based on beating others and being the best (Extrinsic motivation) 

Task-Oriented Behavior

measure their success against themselves, how well they complete a task (personal bests) (Intrinsic motivation)

Locus of Causality

Assesses the extent to which the reasons for success or failure are due to the personal control of the performer. 

Internal

within the performer’s control and it is felt that some personal influence is exerted on the outcome; due to personal factors - effort and ability; amount of effort a performer puts in might be one example.

External reasons

out of the performer’s control and might exert little influence in the future; due to external factors – luck, chance; example – referee’s decision

Stability

Stable/unstable dimension 

Stable reasons

based on past experience; reasons for success or failure that are unlikely to change in the short term; relatively permanent; examples -0 teach coach who is unlikely to charge for a season, fact you’ve won six time against this opponent already this season, we are likely to do it again. 

Unstable reasons

changeable in the short term and even within the game; amount of luck.

Learned Helplessness

A problem that occurs in athletes when reasons for failure are attributed to internal factors which can not be changed (lack of ability). 

Task orientation

positively related to effort, enjoyment, persistence, satisfaction, and interest

Ego orientation

negatively associated with enjoyment and interest; positively related to boredom

Motivational Climate

Perceived motivational climate influences an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and achievement behavior.

Performance climate

comparison with others is most important source of information for self-evaluation.

Mastery Climate

performance is evaluated in terms of personal mastery and improvement and not in comparison to others.

Arousal

is an alertness or state of readiness (ranging from deep sleep to intense alertness) of the body for an action.

Autonomic arousal

immediate response to a stressor

Drive Reduction Theory

States that humans are motivated to reduce the state of tension caused when certain biological needs are not satisfied

Inverted-U Hypothesis

For complex tasks there was an optimal level of arousal above and below which performance levels would decrease.

Catastrophe Theory

Pressure seems insurmountable and athletes will fall victim to not performing tasks.

Anxiety

is a negative emotion of apprehension and tension (stress) which includes irrational thoughts, fear of failure, self-doubt and worry.

Cognitive Anxiety

Characterized by thoughts and perceptions of worry/doubt and negative expectations (mind), about performance, self-evaluation, & evaluation by others.

Somatic Anxiety

Relates our perceptions of our bodily state (physiological arousal).

Trait Anxiety

Relatively enduring disposition that causes people at the high end of the continuum to view a wide range of non-dangerous circumstances as threatening.

State Anxiety

Temporary negative emotion of apprehensiveness and tension experienced in threatening situations and is situation specific.

What does SCAT stands for?

Sport Competition Anxiety Test

CSAI - 2

Measured three components: cognitive, somatic, self-efficacy.

What does STAI stands for?

State-Trait Anxiety Inventory

SCAT

Aimed to find out which competitors are likely to become too anxious in a competitive situation.

STAI

Is a self-report questionnaire in which people rate how nervous they feel both in general and in specific situations.

Stress

is a process that involves one’s perception of an imbalance between the demands of the environment (physical and/or psychological)and one’s response capability (response), under conditions where failure to meet the demands.

PST skills

psychological qualities or attributes that need to be developed – confidence, concentration

PST method

tool that will be used to improve the PST skill

What are the 3 phases of Psychological skill training?

Education , Acquisition, Practice

Outline Goal Seting

Goal setting helps with motivation to the individual and also can give self confidence to the individual.

What does “SMARTER” stands for?

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely, Evaluate, Review

Outcome Goals

Results or objectives to be achieved

Performance Goals

Some measure of personal performance.

Action / Process Goals

Things that need to be done to achieve desired outcomes.

Mental imagery

A symbolic sensory experience that may occur in any sensory mode.

Mental rehearsal  

The employment of imagery to mentally practice an act

Relaxation Techniques

Can promote both physical and cognitive relaxation.