arousal and anxiety

Aim - fazey and hardy

• to identify the limitations with the inverted U model of arousal and performance

• To make use of the distinction of somantic and cognitive anxiety

• To propose an alternative model

• To explain the relationship between anxiety and performance

diagram of the two theories

Criticisms of the inverted U hypothesis

1) physical anxiety is not seperate from cognitive anxiety - one effects the other

2) when Somone passes the optimal level of anxiety and there performance drops, it’s often not gradual but a sudden steep decline

3) if you manipulate a players anxiety back to the optimum performance doesn’t usually recover from a collapse

Catastrophe theory

• If cognitive anxiety is high, the increases in arousal passed a point of optimal arousal causes a rapid decline in performance occurs

• From this point forward it is difficult to return to optimal performance

application - Diaphragmatic breathing techniques

Cox (2002): each expiration should be mentally linked with the feeling of expelling anxiety

Woods (1998) suggests controlled breathing techniques has 3 advantages:

• Less likely to be distracted and tune out irrelevant cues that increase arousal

• Simple so can be used in a wide variety of sports

• Taking a ‘breathing space’ can provide a brief relief from the pressure of the situation

application - Biofeedback

• Learning to judge our physiological state and control it

• De Witt (1980) – football player able to see his EMG (electrical activity in muscle) score decreasing as he practised relaxation techniques

Application - CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy)

Puig and Pummell (2012)

• Precipitating factors (triggers)

• Predisposing factors (earlier experiences)

• Maintaining factors (additional factors)

The therapist and athlete work together to test the validity of negative thoughts.

Some are irrational and so can be challenged