Sport Science Option B

Personality

Those relatively stable and enduring aspects of individuals which distinguish them from other people, making them unique but at the same time permit a comparison between individuals.

Competencies & Skills

How you behave depends on the actual skills you have and how good you expect to be at it.

Beliefs & Expectations

Belief relates to what is thought to be so, while expectancies relate to what the individual thinks will happen. High belief in ones abilities to do a task results in high expectations.

Behavioral Standards

Judging the goodness or worth of your own behavior. Fundamental to human motivation and performance.

Personal Goals

Identification and realization of goals.

Social Learning Theory

Skilled behavior is learned through observation of demonstrations, even in the absence of rewards. This makes demonstration a powerful teaching tool in skill acquisition. Structures are mainly cognitive so they are related to knowing, thinking, and judging.

Use of SLT Through Demonstrations

Attention -provide cues about how best to perform. Retention - the process of remembering the demonstrated behavior. Motor reproduction - the attempt by the performer of the demonstrated skill. Motivation - performers tend to imitate when they are interested in a task and have been motivated to achieve.

Interactionists View of Personality

The trait (genetic) approach does not consider the particular situations that might also influence an individual's behavior. Personalities are developed through continued interaction between the person and their environment making the person and their situations co-determinants of behavior. B= f(P,E). Fills the gap between nature (genetics) and nurture (environment).

Measuring Personality

When measuring personality we should consider both situations and psychological traits to understand and predict behavior.

Raymond Cattell developed a personality inventory with 16 independent personality factor that he believed describe a person who is participating in sport.

Issues with Measuring Personality

Data collection , validity and reliability Issues, and ethical issues.

Issues in Personality Research

Although personality traits can help predict sport behavior and success, they are not precise. Personality alone does not account for behavior in sport and exercise. There is ambiguity in definitions of an athlete. No specific personality profile has been found that consistently distinguishes athletes from non-athletes. Profiling results are often subjective, inaccurate and invalid.

Motivation

The internal mechanisms and external stimuli which arose and direct our behavior.

Types of Motivation

Intrinsic- the activity is pursued for its own sake. Extrinsic- stems from other people, through positive and negative reinforcement or from tangible rewards.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Individuals initially motivated intrinsically may become reliant on extrinsic rewards. This may be seen as extrinsic motivators dictating one's behavior.Extrinsic rewards provide information about the level of performance (gold, silver, bronze) and removal of the extrinsic rewards may reduce overall motivation.

Atkinson's Model

Suggests a link between personality and motivation. The need to achieve success: athletes high in this component will actively seek out opportunities where they can succeed, tend to be risk takers, andwill select tasks with a 50/50 chance of success. The need to avoid failure: this type of performer will avoid situations where they may fail, tend to choose tasks which are either very easy or very difficult, and play against someone of similar ability.

Goal Orientation Theory

The outcome goal-oriented individual: is more likely to select tasks in which they are guaranteed success, judges success by how they compare to others, is emotionally fragile when they perceive they may be evaluated negatively, is more likely to reduce their efforts or make excuses and is associated with higher levels of competitive state anxiety. The task goal-oriented individual: has a strong work ethic without immediate reward, does not fear failure, is protected from disappointment, is protected from having a lack of motivation when the performance of others is superior, selects realistic tasks and challenges, and associated with intrinsic motivation.

Attribution Theory

Explores how individuals "attribute" causes to events and how this cognitive perception affects their motivation. Locus of Stability: Stable-unchanging. Someone is good because they practice so the outcome is expected to be the same. Unstable- inconsistent. Something happens by chance like a completes Hail Mary pass and the outcome is not expected each time. Locus of Causality- the cause is within (internal) or outside (external) an individual. Factors like mood and ability are internal causes, whereas luck and coach bias are external causes. Locus of Control- whether the outcome is believed to be under your control such as skill and competence, or not controllable such as mood or luck. Self-Serving Bias- we tend to equate successes to internal and failures to external attributes. Learned Helplessness- the expectation, based on previous experience, that one's actions cannot possibly lead to success. More prominent with performance goals than task goals.

Arousal

Considered to be the immediate response to a stressor and is governed by the sympathetic nervous system and corresponds to the alarm reaction.

Approaches to Arousal

Drive Theory- performance directly related to arousal (activation). Positive linear relationship.

Approaches to Arousal 2

Inverted-U Hypothesis- suggests that there is an optimal level of stimulus at which performance peaks. At levels higher and lower, performance deteriorates.

Approaches to Arousal 3

Catastrophe Theory- looks at how cognitive anxiety and physiological arousal interact rather than examining somatic anxiety and cognitive anxiety in isolation. Each athlete will respond in a unique way to competitive anxiety.

Influence of Emotions

Participation in sports and exercise influences a range of emotions such as depression, anxiety, and pleasure. Positive emotions such as excitement, relief, and/or pride. Negative emotions such as anger, guilt, shame, anxiety, and/or boredom. Specific emotions have a discrete effect on performance. A negative mood is likely to recall memories of past failures while a positive mood is likely to increase confidence by recalling past successful outcomes.

Anxiety

A negative emotional state in which feelings of nervousness, worry, and apprehension are associated with arousal.

Cognitive vs. Somatic Anxiety

Cognitive anxiety are the thoughts and perceptions of worry and doubt. Somatic anxiety is the perception of physiological arousal.

Trait & State Anxiety

Trait Anxiety- A general predisposition to perceive many situation as threatening and to respond to them with high anxiety. State Anxiety- An individual's anxiety at a particular moment (right now).

Measuring Trait Anxiety

Trait anxiety is measured using a Sport Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT) which allows weak predictions of an athletes likely state anxiety.

Measuring State Anxiety

State anxiety is measured using a Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2R). Questionnaire of 27 items and measures three constructs :cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, and self confidence.

Stress Process

Stress is defined as a substantial imbalance between the demand (physical/psychological) and response capability, under conditions where failure to meet that demand has important consequences. Causes of stress (environmental demand), stress response (persons reactions), stress experience (psychological interpretation) , and actual behavior (outcome).

Psychological Skills Training

Systematic and consistent practice of mental or psychological skills. Education: helps to clarify expectations, roles, and potential usefulness as PST is not for everyone. Acquisition: learning and understanding specific strategies and skills. Helping athletes understand themselves, emotions, and behavior will enable them to become independent problem solvers. Once they have the skills, they can apply them to new & similar situations in the future. Practice: Weinberg & Gould's three phases include to automate skills through over learning, integration of skills into performance situations, and simulate skills athletes want to apply in competition.

Goal Setting

Associated with enhancing self confidence and motivation.

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Time

Evaluate

Review

Types of goals: Outcome- usually involve comparison with others. Performance- relatively independent of others. Process- how the actions are carried out.

Mental Imagery

Internal imagery- visualizing participation from a first person view and what it feels like to compete. External imagery- visualizing yourself from the outside.

Mental Imagery 2

Improves neuromuscular pathways. Experimental methods have shown that imagery can improve performance. Effectiveness of imagery is influenced by both situational and personal factors: nature of the task, skill level of performer, and imaging ability of the person. Uses of imagery include: enhancing emotional control, building self confidence, enhancing concentration, recovering from injury, and practicing specific skills and strategies. Requires training and development as a skill. Athletes use visual, kinesthetic, olfactory, and auditory senses.

Not totally the full, authentic performance experience and therefore, not as useful as actually practicing the skill. Requires the involvement of a specialist in sports psychology.

Relaxation Techniques

Arousal regulation as well as reducing cognitive and somatic anxiety. Progressive muscular relaxation (PMR)- tense each muscle group for at least five seconds and then relax for up to 30 seconds. Repeat before moving to the next muscle group. Typically start with feet and work up to face while laying down. Breathing techniques- when you take deep breaths from the abdomen, rather than shallow breaths from your upper chest, you inhale more oxygen. The more oxygen you get, the less tense, short of breath, and anxious you feel. Biofeedback- you're connected to electrical sensors that help you receive information (feedback) about your body (bio). This feedback helps you focus on making subtle changes in your body, such as relaxing certain muscles.

Self-talk Techniques

Instructive self-talk can enhance self-esteem, motivation, attention, and cognitive regulation. Positive self-statements: self-talk can help sustain effort and positive self-talk focuses on increasing energy, effort, and positive attitude. Use of thought stopping to change negative self-talk to positive self-talk. Positive categories of self-talk include:psych-up, confidence, instruction,and anxiety control. Metaphors are helpful for improving performance. Self-talk techniques for improving performance include using short, specific phrases in the first person and present tense. Focusing on relevant cues.