section `B

definition of personality

• your unique psychological make up

• players will react differently to same situation

trait theory of personality

• suggests that innate characteristics produce consistent behaviour

• traits are innate characteristics that are stable and stay the same in different situations

• behaviour is consistent and performer will behave the same in most situations

• predicts behaviour

drawbacks of trait theory 

• doesn’t take into account personality change

• doesn’t consider that personalities can be formed by experience

• too simplistic

• doesn’t account for situational influences

what does social learning approach to personality suggest

• that behaviour is learned from significant others

• provides an explanation to why there is individual differences in attitude, motivation and aggression

3 factors that make copying behaviour more likely (social learning)

• it is seen as successful and powerful

• consistently shown to us

• witnessed as a live event

interactionist perspective of personality (lewin approach)

• combines personality with environment

• existing, consistent traits can be adapted to the situation

interactionist perspective of personality (hollander approach)

• model suggests that personality is made up of 3 features

• core of performer - stable, solid - beliefs and values

• typical responses - use of inherited traitors, usual responses prayer would make

• role related behaviour - dynamic, changeable, changes dependent on the role, direct consequence of immediate environment

how can a coach having knowledge of interactionist approach improve performance

• predict player behaviour, remove from situation if unacceptable to prevent red card

• recreate situations in training that caused inappropriate actions or poor performance and teach them how to cope with situation

• offer advice/ support to allow individuals to adapt to specific circumstances 

what is an attitude

• a value aimed at an attitude object 

• also an opinion, belief or value 

• formed by associating with others and picking up their opinions

• learn attitudes from significant others 

• more likely to be learned if behaviour is reinforced 

• praise can develop positive attitudes 

• can become negative due to bad experiences or when their is no reinforcement 

attitude components - the triadic model 

• cognitive - what you think/ represents your beliefs

• affective - feelings and emotions, shown when a player enjoys taking part in training and playing

• behavioural - reflects what you do, actions and habits of performer 

cognitive dissonance definition

• new information given to the performer to cause unease and motivate change

how does cognitive dissonance cause an attitude change and how can it be used

• puts pressure on existing attitude components so that the performer becomes uneasy and is motivated to change their existing behaviour

• making activity fun and varying practise may make session more enjoyable

• using rewards as reinforcement

• coach could bring in specialist or role model player from another club to encourage participation

persuasive communication - definition and how is it most effective

• an effective communication to promote change

• talked into changing their attitudes

• core beliefs could be resistant to change

• communication has to be relevant and important, message needs to be understood

• giver of message has to be of high status

• positive attitudes gives positive outcomes.

arousal definition and 5 factors that effect arousal

• a level of activation/ degree of readiness to perform 

• increase in level of competition

• importance of competition 

• effect of audience - proximity effect

• not playing well

• losing

what does the inverted U theory of arousal suggest 

• increased arousal improves performance to an optimal point at moderate levels of arousal, anything below or above moderate arousal is detrimental

drawbacks of inverted u theory 

• arousal levels may be different according to what skills are being carried out and by who 

what does drive theory of arousal suggest

• as arousal increases so does performance (product of drive and habit)

• the more drive we have, the more chance of an increase in effort so increase in performance

drawbacks of drive theory

• increased drive does not always improve performance

• at high arousal less information is processed and so performer tends to concentrate on dominant response

• if performer is autonomous, performance may continue as it does not require much thinking and they have the experience to focus on correct dominant response

• if performer is cognitive then performance could suffer as a lot of information to process so they may focus on incorrect response

dominant response

• the stand out response a performer thinks is correct

catastrophe theory of arousal

• increased arousal causes performance to peak at an optimal level but rather than a gradual drop, there is a sudden dramatic reduction in performance

• performer can try to lower anxiety to get back into optimal level but only if they have time to recover which doesn’t typically happen

• caused by combination of somatic and cognitive anxiety 

zone of optimal functioning theory of arousal

• increase in arousal can improve performance and that the optimal level of arousal varies for individuals from high to low levels, best level of performance is a zone not a point

why does being in the optimal functioning zone increase performance

• things flow effortlessly

• performer reaches state of supreme confidence and remains calm

• athlete feels in control of their actions and totally focused

• leads to peak flow performance

peak flow experience - arousal

• ultimate intrinsic experience felt by athletes from a positive mental attitude, with supreme confidence, focus and efficiency

positive effects peak flow performance has on an athlete 

• positive mental attitude 

• high levels of confidence 

• feelings of relaxation and anxiety control 

• belief that optimum environmental conditions are present 

• factors affecting peak flow experience 

• poor mental preparation and failure to reach optimal arousal levels

• environmental influences such as pressure from crowd or frustration caused by referee decision 

• effect of injury or fatigue 

anxiety definition

• state of nervousness and worry, a negative response to a threatening sporting situation

• positive - we can beat the threat 

• negative - if we think we can’t meet the demands of the situation

causes of anxiety 

• pressure from coaches

• pleasing crowd

• parent pressure

• internal pressure 

• letting team down 

• injury 

cognitive anxiety 

• a psychological response 

• worry in the mind

• belief that they do not have the ability to complete the task

• may have ability to deal with situation but anxiety causes irrational thinking 

somatic anxiety

• physiological response to a threat

• increased HR

• response of body due to belief in lack of ability 

• rise in adrenaline, sweating, muscular tension 

• symptoms often reduce as game gets underway 

competitive trait theory of anxiety 

• a diposition to suffer from nervousness in most sporting situations

• displayed before all competitions regardless of importance 

competitive state theory - anxiety

• a nervous response to specific sporting situations

• more temporary

• taking a penalty

anxiety measures

• questionnaire

• observation

• physiological measures

questionnaire positives and negatives for anxiety

• +:quick, cheap, easily compared, large numbers assessed quickly

• -:players may not understand questions, answers may depend on mood, people can rush leading to incorrect answers

observation positives and negtives’s 

• +: realistic approach

• -: based on opinion of observer, highly subjective, time consuming, performers may change behaviour is they realise they are being watched

physiological measures + and -

• +: factual, comparisons made easily, can be measured in training and games

• -: training is required to use equipment, wearing measuring device can restrict movement, can cause additional stress and cause false readings

agression

• intention to harm outside rules of sport

• out of control 

• reactive 

• deliberate and hostile 

assertion

• a forceful act within the rules of the sport

• controlled

• well motivated 

• goal directed

• no intent to harm 

instrumental agression 

• the overlap between agression and assertion, has an intent to harm but is within the rules (boxing)

causes of aggression - instinct theory 

• when aggression is spontaneous and innate 

• all performers are born with an aggressive instinct 

• surface in reaction to a threat of injury, may be defending yourself 

drawbacks of instinct theory

• not all aggression is reactive and spontaneous, some aggression is learnt and pre intended 

frustration - aggression hypothesis

• suggests that inevitable aggression occurs when goals are blocked and performer becomes frustrated

• agressive drive can be reduced through catharsis

• if player is unable to release aggressive drive, more aggression will occur (self punishment)

• once initial aggressive act is over, player starts to calm down

• if player is unable to retaliate, they may remain frustrated until they are able to seek revenge

catharsis

• letting off steam

• cleansing emotions

• release of channelling aggression

• aggressive drive is reduced when aggressive intent is given an outlet

aggressive cue hypothesis 

• aggression is caused by a learned trigger

• aggressive responses will only occur if certain learned cues are present to act as a stimulus for performer to not act aggressively 

social learning theory - causes of aggression

• learning by associating with others and copying others

• observe, identify, reinforce, copy 

• aggression is learnt from significant others 

• live behaviour more likely to be copied then recorded behaviour 

how can players prevent aggression

• walk away from situation

• channel aggression

• relaxation techniques

• set non aggressive goals

how can coaches prevent aggression

• punish players

• reinforce non aggressive acts

• substitute players

• talk to players to calm them down

how can officials prevent aggression

• send players off

• apply rules consistently

• give immediate sanctions

• talk to players to calm them down

definition of motivation 

• the drive to succeed 

intrinsic motivation

• motivation from within

• feeling of pride and satisfaction when completing a task

extrinsic motivation

• motivation from an outside source, crows, coaches etc

tangible motivation 

• rewards that can be touched, trophies, medals

intangible motivation 

• non physical rewards, praise/encourgement 

how can a coach maintain motivation

• offer rewards

• make performer feel responsible for any success

• make activity fun 

• make tasks easy so performer can be successful 

• set achievable goals 

• attribute success internally 

achievement motivation 

• the tendency to approach or avoid competitive situations

approach behaviour - NAch

• need to achieve

• welcomes challenge 

• takes risk 

• confident 

• task persistent 

• attribute success internally 

avoidance behaviour - NAf

• need to avoid failure

• gives up easily

• doesn’t like feedback

• takes easy options

• avoids risks

how can you help develop a NAch performer

• reinforcement

• attribute success internally

• improve confidence

• allow success

• goal setting

achievement goal theory

• motivation and task persistence depend on the type of goals set by the performer 

• task related goal - measured against performers own standards 

• outcome goal - if performer fails to get intended result then confidence can be lowered 

evaluation apprehension

• a sense of anxiety caused by performer thinking they are being judged 

social facilitation

• beneficial influence of presence of others on performance

social inhibition 

• negative influence of presence of others on performance 

Zajonc’s model of social inhibition/faciliation

• suggests that the presence of others increases arousal 

• passive - audience and co actors 

• interaction - social reinforcers and competitive co actors 

• increased arousal leads to increased chance of dominant response 

• dominant response of cognitive performer will be incorrect - inhibition 

• dominant réponse of autonomous performer will be correct - facilitation 

characteristics of a team

• collective identity

• interaction

• communication

• shared goal or purpose 

stages of group formation

• forming - get to know each other

• storming - potential conflict (status)

• norming - settles down 

• performing - interactive and working together 

the factors affecting time spent in group formation stages 

• size of the group 

• learning unfamiliar tactics 

cohesion - team dynamics 

• tendency of members to work together to achieve goals

• looks at forces acting on team members to keep them integrated 

co action - team dynamics 

• every team member working hard on the same thing (rowing)

interaction - group dynamics

• each player has a different role (netball)

carrons antecedents - group dynamics

• environmental factors (age/gender)

• personal factors (interests/morals)

• leadership factors 

• team factors (previous success)

task cohesion

• individuals working together to achieve end result

social cohesion

• individuals relating to each other to interact with group 

steiners model - group dynamics 

• actual productivity = potential productivity - losses due to fault processes

• actual productivity - outcome of group  performance at given time 

• potential productivity - best performance based on player ability and group resources

• faulty processes - reduce group outcomes and prevent group potential 

motivational faulty processes

• social loafing

• too little arousal

coordination faulty processes

• poor tactics

• miscommunication

• misunderstanding

social loafing and causes (4)

• individuals loss of motivation due to lack of performance

• lack of confidence, negative attitude, lack of fitness, cliques in group 

how can a coach reduce social loafing

• set goals

• video analysis

• rewards

• give specific roles

ringlemann effect

• group performance decreases with size due to more opportunity for social loafing

goal setting (SMARTER)

• S - specific 

• M - measured 

• A - achievable 

• R - realistic 

• T - time bound 

• E - evaluate 

• R - re do 

benefits of goal setting

• increases motivation

• players become task persistent

• reached target = sense of pride and satisfaction 

• improves confidence 

• sustains effort 

outcome goals

• based on success and winning 

performance goals 

• judged against previous performances to improve personal achievement 

process goals 

• based on improvements in technique - improve technique = improved performance 

attribution theory

• perception of the reason for an outcome of an event

locus of causality - attribution

• the amount of control the player has over the outcome

locus of stability - attribution 

• how changeable the reasons are for winning and loosing 

self serving bias - attribution

• using externals and unstable reasons for losing to promote self esteem 

learned helplessness - attribution 

• when players are given internal and stable reasons for losing

• can be caused by negative feedback, negative experienced or lack of success 

• general - no good at sport overall

• specific - specific to a sport or event 

mastery orientation - attribution

• perfumers confidence is high and believe that failure is temporary

confidence

• a belief in the ability to master a task 

trait confidence

• a belief in the ability to do well in a range of sports 

• long term, innate and stable 

state confidence

• a belief in the ability to master a specific sporting example

competitive orientation - confidence

• the degree to which a performer is drawn to challenging situations 

banduras self efficacy theory

• a belief in the ability to master a specific sporting situation

factors affecting self efficacy - banduras model

• performance accomplishments

• vicarious experiences 

• verbal persuasion 

• emotional arousal 

improving confidence

• control arousal - stress management 

• give accurate demonstration

• point out past successful performances

• allow success

• set attainable goals  

vealys model of self efficacy

• objective situation - trait & competitive orientation - state - performance of skill - subjective outcome 

home field advantage - confidence 

• influence of home crowd can increase confidence for home team and increase anxiety for away team

• home audience can cause functional assertive behaviour 

• sometimes home crowd can cause too much pressure and cause home team to ‘choke’ 

leader

• someone who has influence in helping others to achieve their goals

qualities of a leader

• communication

• confidence 

• experience 

• organisational skills 

• interpersonal skills