Keywords provided by the exam board that may be asked on the exam! Easy marks.
Achievement motivation
A form of motivation which predisposes an athlete to engage in or avoid achievement-related situations.
Advertising
Using sport to promote goods or services for sale in order to make them more well-known/promote them.
Aggression
In sport, behaviour intended to harm another person, either physiologically or psychologically, outside the laws of the game.
Americanisation
The influence American sport has on the values of sport in other countries.
Anxiety
A negative aspect of stress. Worries over the possibility of failure.
Arousal
The state of general preparedness of the body for action involving both physiological and psychological factors.
Assertion
The use of physical force that is within the rules or ethics of a sport and is therefore legitimate.
Associative stage of learning
The second stage of learning where a motor programme becomes established through practice and gross error detection, feedback and correction (Fitts and Posner).
Attitude
A predisposition to respond positively or negatively to a person, object, idea or situation.
Attribution theory
A theory of motivation which proposes that individuals formulate common-sense explanations for their own behaviour and future behaviour (Weiner).
Autonomous stage of learning
The third stage of learning, where a motor programme is performed ‘automatically’ without conscious thought, thus becoming habitual (Fitts and Posner).
Behavioural anxiety
Feelings of tension, agitation or restlessness as a result of anxiety.
Bosman ruling
The court ruling which confirmed sports performers became 'free agents once their contract had been completed. thus changing the relationship between sports employers and players (1995).
Bracketed morality
The suspension of ethics, or morality, during competition.
British Empire
The collection of countries ruled by Britain that subsequently formed the Commonwealth of Nations. This imposed forms of government, religior and culture on those nations considered less advanced or civilised.
Broken time payments
Payment made to performers to compensate for lost wages when takin time off work to play.
Bungs
Secret payments between an agent and a member of statt at a football club as part of football transfers.
Centering
Using deep breathing as a way to refocus your concentration.
Chunking
Individual pieces of information are bound together to increase the amount stored in the LTM and facilitate recall.
Clarendon Commission
A royal commission set up in 1864 to investigate the great public schools.
Classical conditioning
An unconditioned stimulus is paired with a conditioned stimulus to create a conditioned response (Pavlov).
Closed loop
A control system which appears to be self-regulating. A closed-loop system involves feedback and a reference of correction during movement.
Closed skill
A motor skill that is performed in a stable or largely predictable environmenta setting. The movement can be planned in advance.
Coaching style: Command
A coaching style where the coach makes all the decisions, while the athlete is eynected to follow directions.
Coaching style: Guided discovery
A coaching style where the athlete is guided in order to achieve an outcome. The athlete/learner discovers a solution througn task experiences.
Coaching style: Problem solving
A coaching style where a problem is set and the athlete/learner finds the answer.
Coaching style: Reciprocal
A coaching style where both the coach and the athlete/learner work together and have equal input to achieve mutual advantage.
Cognitive anxiety
Thoughts, nervousness, apprehension or worry that a performer has about their lack of ability to complete a task successfully.
Cognitive dissonance
Tension resulting from having contradictory thoughts or beliefs about something or someone.
Cognitive stage of learning
The first stage of learning, where cognitive, intellectual ability, is paramount in forming a motor programme through internalising information, discovery and initial practice (Fitts and Posner).
Colonial diffusion
The spread of British values, religion, sport and recreation throughout the British Empire during the 19th century.
Commercialisation
The treating of sport as a commodity, involving the buying and selling of assets, with the market as the driving force behind sport.
Commodification
The quality or state where an item or individual becomes saleable.
Cult of athleticism
A philosophy of physical, moral and challenging activities that fostered the development of character in young men. A term associated with sport development in the public schools of England in the 19th century.
Deviance
Behaviour that falls outside the norms or outside what is deemed to be acceptable (can be positive or negative).
Discrete skill
A movement with a clear beginning and end.
Distributed practice
A form of practice which includes periods of rest between trials.
Encoding
Storing information in memory.
Endorsement
Giving approval to a product or service and receiving payment in return.
Evaluation apprehension
A sense of anxiety caused by the performer perceiving that he or she is being judged by those in the audience (Zajonc).
Externally paced skill
A skill for which the timing and form are determined by factors outside the control of the performer.
Feedback
Any information received by the learner during or after a performance about the performance.
Fixed practice
A form of practice that involves defined responses to a stimulus in order to reinforce the correct movement. Practice conditions and requirements remain the same.
Franchises
An authorisation given by a league to own a sports team.
Gamesmanship
Bending the rules/laws of a sport to gain an unfair advantage without actually breaking the rules, for example time wasting.
Generalized motor programme
The basic form of each movement stored in the LTM. Modifications may be made to meet the specific parameters which define exactly how the movement is to be executed on each occasion.
Gentleman amateur
Wealthy and of a high social position; did not need financial compensation to participate in sport.
Golden triangle
The link between sports events, sponsorship by businesses and the media.
Guidance
Information to aid the learning of a skill. This information can be given visually, e.g. through demonstrations; verbally, e.g. by the coach explaining how to perform the technique; manually, e.g. by physically moving a performer into the correct position; and mechanically, e.g. by using a harness in trampolining.
Hick’s Law
Relationship between the number of choices and reaction time. The more choices there are available, the slower the reaction time; as the number of choices increases, so does the reaction time.