Arousal and Anxiety

what is arousal

a blend of physiological and psychological activation of the autonomic nervous system —> anxiety is not arousal!

what is anxiety

a negative, multidimensional emotion —> lack of balance between demand and coping

wwhat are the two catgories of psychological arousal

positive (exhiliration or excitement) and negative (feeling od qoeey, nervousnaess, uncomfortable)

what are the two main components of anxiety and when do they arise

mental (cognitive anxiety) and physical (somatic anxiety) —> ones responce is depedant upon perception of a situation

what is the difference between cognitive and somatic anxiety?

cognitve —> comes from frequent intrusive thoughts that increase before a performance or competition. Somatic —> comes from perceptions of physiological responces that tend to increase rapidly beofre a preformance or competition

how is anxiety context-specific?

it is related to sport and exercise —> competative, social and social phsyciqu anxiety all differ

anxiety has both state and trait components. What are these components?

state anxiety —> can change moment to moment and is associated with worry and apprehension due to perceived threatening situations. trait anxiety —> a stabel part of personality

what are the dimensions of the anxiety responce

intensity of psymtoms (psychiological responce), requency of cognitive intrusions, and directional interpreations of symptoms (cognitive refraining)

how does cognitive appraisal contribute to athletes anxiety

appraisal can elicit a different set of mental and somatic responses —> it contributes to feeling anxious/worried vs. just feelign excited

what is the difference between primary vs secondary appraisal

Primary interprets the situation and how it relates to you (am I in danger?) and secondary assesses the resources you have available for coping (what can I do about this?)

what are some personal buffers to anxiety?

self confidence/efficay and self presentationn efficacy

how does self confidence/ efficacy buffer anxiety

personal beliefs about capabilities are sources of anxiety - confidence/SE lowers levels of pre-competitive anxiety

how does self presentation efficacy buffer anxiety

confidence in ones ability to successfually present a desired image to others

whata re the anxiety sport preformance models

drive there/inverted U, catastrophe model, individual zones of optimal functioning

what is the drive theory

suggests that preformance is a fucntion of arousal or drive

what is the inverted U theory

high arousal is associated with increased performance (but only up to a point) —> performance is lowest when arousal is very low or very high, and highest when arousal is at a moderate level

what is the inverted u theory/hypothesis

As physiological arousal increases, performance improves but only up to a certain point, after preformance will decline

what is the catastrophe model

a 3-dimensional model for interactions of arousal, anxiety(somatic/cognitive), and preformance —> proposes the inverted U best describes the influence of arousal on preformance for people only at low-moderate levels of cogntive anxiety

in the catastrophe model, if performance pressure is high + moderate to high cognitive anxiety, increased anxiety can lead to what?

a “catastrophe” that is a sudden and substantial drop in performance

what is the individual zone of optimal functioning

the level of arousal (or anxiety) that leads to peak performance differs for different athletes —> each athlete has optimal levels of arousal or optimal “zone” which varies among athletes

what is chocking defined as in sports

the inability to preform up to previously exhibited standerds —> experience and acute, temporary dcrease in performance under high pressure and / or anxiety

what are the causes of chicken

can be internal or external —> arousal or anxiety, loss of autonomy, Fragile SE, heightened self-focus (internal chatter too high), crowds, coach, teammates, culture

what are the 5 strategies for overcoming “the choke”

1. inlcude competition/game like conditions in training

2. improve athletes self efficacy/comfidence

3. put the contest - and sport in general- into perspective (whats the worst that could happen)

4. avoid pressue statements/focus on process

5. intervaention ‘toolbox’

Pre-contest arousal modification includes 5 steps to help athletes achieve their optimal level of arousal. What are they?

1. clapping, chanting

2. psychical contact

3. using players names

4. process goals

5. PST/SPI elements (imagery, relaxation, breathing)

what are some coaching strategies for half time

delay offering input for time to process, limit amou tof info provided, allow time before restart for relfection, increase arousal if needed, avoid pressure statements

what are controllable changes?

these are statements that allow players to make actual changes —> saying “those were bad passes” vs. “you are playing badly”