PSY 139H Midterm IP

Sport and Exercise Psychology

Scientific study of people and their behaviors in sport and exercise contexts and the practical applications of that knowledge

Sports and exercise psychology studies how people…

Think—cognition

Feel—Affect

Behave--action

The two main objectives for sports psychology are to

A. Understand how psychological factors affect physical/motor performance

B. Understand how participation in sport and exercise affects psychological development, health, and wellbeing

Specialists typically fulfill three primary roles

Research

Teaching

Consulting

Clinical sport psychologist

Extensive training in psychology

Licensed in psychology

Trained to detect and treat emotional disorders

Clinical sport psychologists focus on treating emotional disorders such as

Severe depression

Suicidal tendencies

Eating disorders

Substance use disorders

Educational sport psychology specialists

Understand the psychology of human movement and function as mental coaches.

Have extensive training in

Sport and exercise science

physical education

kinesiology

They are not licensed to treat emotional disorders

What do educational psychology specialists educate about

Anxiety management

confidence development

communication

The Early Years (1893-1919)

Sport psychology began in North America

Early research focused on motor behavior and social facilitation

Norman Triplett

Conducted the first social psychology and sport psychology experiment (1898)

Found that cyclists performed better when racing against others rather than alone

E.W Scripture

Studied how sport participation could develop character and personality

Demonstrated the value of scientific psychology and shifted from an introspective/philosophical standpoint

Pierre de Coubertin

Founder of the modern Olympic Games

Promoted the psychological aspects of sport and organized sport psychology congresses

Laboratories and psychological testing (1920-1938)

Sport psychology labs were established

Psychological testing and research became increasingly connected to sport and athletic performance

Coleman Griffith

Considered the father of American sport psychology

Established the first sport psychology lab in Illinois (1925)

Conducted research on psychomotor skills, motor learning, and personality

Evgeny Puni

Focused on realistic goals, uncompromising effort, optimal emotional arousal, high tolerance for distractions and stress, and self-regulation.

Labs and research were developed in Germany, Russia, and Japan

Preparation for the future (1939-1965)

Period characterized by the field’s scientific development

In 1965, the first World Congress of Sport Psychology was held in Rome

The International Society of Sport psychology was founded

Franklin Henry

Studied the psychological aspects of sport and motor skill acquisition

Trained physical educators who later:

A. became university professors

B. Initiated systematic research programs

C. Helped develop sport and exercise science/kinesiology

Dorothy Hazeltine Yates

Worked with university boxers using relaxation and positive affirmations

Developed the relaxation-set method

Relaxation-set method

Used to manage emotions and enhance performance

Was experimentally tested to see if it was effective

Establishment of Academic Sport psychology (1966-1977)

Sports psychology became a separate component of physical education, distinct from motor learning

Sport psychology societies were established in the U.S. and internationally

Ex., North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity

The European Federation of Sport Psychology provided forums to

discuss research and growth of the field, fundamental the development of the field

Multidisciplinary Science and Practice in Sport and Exercise psychology (1978-1999)

Increased interest in applied issues, became more accepted by the public, and developed as a specialty area.

Became more multidisciplinary and separated from motor learning, control, and development.

Modern sport psychology addresses what professional practice issues?

Trained standards,

Ethical standards

Licensure

Full-time positions

Dorothy Harris

Helped establish the Penn State graduate program of sport psychology

She is the first

American and female member of the ISSP

Woman awarded the Fulbright Fellowship in sports psychology

Female president of the NASPSPA

Contemporary Sport and Exercise Psychology (2000-now)

Sport psychology has expanded into other performance contexts such as:

Military

Medicine

Music

Business

Increased attention to organizational and cultural issues

Professional Practice Knowledge

Knowledge is gained through experience and is developed through guided trial and error learning

Professional Practice knowledge comes from what type of sources

Scientific method

Systematic observation

Single case study

Shared public experience

Introspection

Intuition

Introspection

Examining your thoughts/feelings

Intuition

Immediate understanding without a conscious, rational process

Research to Practice gap

Scientific findings do not always transfer directly to real world settings

RE-AIM Model

Helps researchers evaluate how effciently research/programs transfer into practice

Reach

Who the program effects or the target audience

Efficacy

Positive and negative outcomes of each program

Adoption

Who actually uses the completed program

Implementation

Assessment of whether the program is delivered as specified

Maintenance

Sustaining the program over time

Psychophysiological orientation

Best way to study behavior during sport and exercise

Social-psychological orientation

Behavior is determined by a complex interaction between the environment and the personal makeup of the athlete/exerciser

Cognitive/behaviorial orientation

Emphasizes the athlete/exerciser’s cognitions/thoughts and behaviors

Psychologists may use self report measures to assess

self confidence

Anxiety

Goal orientations

Imagery

Intrinsic motivation

Ethical standards in clinical sport psychology

Social responsibility

Competence

Professional, legal, and scientific responsibility

Integrity

Protect the client’s welfare

Confidentiality

Trait anxiety

can be defined as the behavioral disposition to perceive as threatening circumstances that are objectively not dangerous and to then respond with disproportionate state anxiety.

What are the types of role-related behavior

External and dynamic

What are the parts of the psychological core

Internal and constant

KP Personality

characteristics that make someone unique, and the study of personality can help us how to work better with people/athletes

Role-related behavior

How you act based on what you percieve your social situation to be

What are the six major ways to study psychology

Psychodynamic

Trait situation

Interactional

Phenomenological

Integrative

Approaches

What are the weaknesses on the psychodynamic approach

Testing is weak

Focuses on the internal determinants of behavior and doesn’t focus enough on the social environment

Trait approach

Assumes that the fundamental units of personality and the beginning traits are stable.

Dominated in the early study of personality and typically does not consider the particular situations that may influence someone’s behavior

Situation approach

Behavior is determined largely by situation or environment

Interactional approach

Considers a situation and/or person as a co-determinant of behavior

Win Orientation

The focus on interpersonal comparison to others; winning is everything for the athlete

Goal orientation

 focus on own personal comparison; winning is not everything 

What the four stages of competition

Objective competitive

Subjective competitive

Response

Consequences

Subjective competitive

this stage of competition identifies how the athlete perceives, accepts, and appraises the objective competitive situation; factors such as perceived motivation and the importance of the situation may influence the athlete's subjective appraisal of the competitive situation

What does gills research show

females are more goal oriented, and males are more win oriented

What does Marten’s research show

Competition can be good or bad based on the situation

Reinforcement

The use of rewards and punishments that increase or decrease a similar response in the future 

Motivational feedback

Facilitates performance by enhancing confidence and creating a positive mood

Instructional feedback

rovides information on the certain behaviors and efficiency that should be performed 

How is competitive behavior influenced

Providing appropriate rewards

Providing performance feedback

What help athletes become more task/ goal oriented

behavioral programs

Athletes and intrinsic motivation

Intrinsically motivated athletes participate because of their love for the sport

Athletes and extrinsic motivation

Extrinsically motivated athletes participate because of a goal, experience praise, and skill

What is embedded in intrinsic motivation

passion

Passion is sport is what

obsessive and harmonious

Obsessive passion in sport is what

Controlling in nature

Harmonious passion in sport is what

Autonomous in nature

Intrinsic motivation must decrease if

the athlete thinks the reward is meant to control their behavior and takes away the pleasure of the sport

Positive feedback does what to intrinsic motivation

increases it

What are the methods to increase intrinsic motivation

Successful experiences

Rewards

Praise

Goal setting

What does Csikszentmihalyi say about flow

The flow concept is a balance between the athlete's perceived ability and the challenge of the task 

Flow is a holistic sensation causing an athlete to feel very involved in the activity, or on autopilot

What is the four-stage process of making a team dynamic

1. forming

2. storming

3. Norming ‘

4. performing

Forming

 teammates get acquainted with one another and learn basic information about one another

Storming

teammates become more comfortable with expressing thoughts and feelings

Norming

cohesion and harmony develop between athletes, roles and tasks become more clear, trust starts to happen 

Things to have to create a healthy group dynamic

Social support

Proximity

Distinctiveness

Fairness

Similarity

Social loafing

an athlete on a team puts less effort into the team than what is expected of them

Methods to reduce social loafing

Have the athlete play all positions of the sport so they get an idea of how they fit into the team, and can see how their impact of slacking can affect all aspects of the team

Cohesion

The degree to which the team members work together to achieve an identifiable goal

What are the six components of group cohesion

1. Practice effective communication 

2. Outline individual roles and responsibilities 

3. Promote team pride 

4. Set challenging goals 

5. Highlight team success 

6. Hold regular team meetings

Active listening

When the listener has complete attention to the speaker, favorable in psychology

Superficial listening

When the listener will zone out once they get a certain amount of information 

Supportive listening

When the listener values the speaker’s comments

Arrogant listening

When the listener is more interested in what they have to say, instead of what others are saying

Reflective listening

When the listener listens to the speakers emotions and feelings

What are the types of active listening

Active

Superficial

Aware

Arrogant

Reflective

What are the different types of reflective listening

Questioning

Clarifying

Encouraging

Paraphrasing

Reflecting

Understanding

Summarizing

Why should a sport psychologist avoid asking “why” questions

Why questions make people feel defensive

Confrontation and sport psychology

Confrontation can be used effectively in sport psychology to address issues or conflicts that affect an athlete's performance or negatively impact the team's performance. 

Constructive criticism

 involves the use of planned, respectful and direct conversations that focus on specific behaviors and their negative effects that is intended to prevent issues from escalating, and getting worse.    

What are the different phases of psychological skills training

Initial meeting and education

Development of a needs assessment plan

Acquisition

Practice

Initial meeting and education phase (PST)

You take the time to educate the athlete and team on the importance of using PST in sport 

Development of a needs assessment plan (PST)

You meet with the athlete to identify the athlete's psychological strengths and weaknesses; you can observe the athlete during practice to see how the athlete copes with any psychological issue. If the athlete does better in practice, means that they are a good candidate for PST

Acquisition phase (PST)

Establish which PST skills to be used to optimize the athlete’s performance

Practice phase (PST)

• Help the athlete automate the skills 

• Integrate PST skills into their performance 

• Help simulate skills to integrate into their performance 

• Present the PST approach with the athlete  

Questions to think about in order to use PST

What works best? 

Was the athlete given sufficient time? 

Does the PST need to be edited?

Be accessible for the athlete

Individual self-energizing strategies

strategies used to induce immediate activation

Types of individual self-energizing strategies

Individual goal setting

Self talk

Attentional focus

Imagery

Self activation

Attentional focus

an athlete's ability to focus on relevant information during performance