social facilitation

Evaluation apprehension

A sense of anxiety caused by the performer perceiving that he or she is being judged by those in the audience.

 

Social facilitation

The influence of the presence of others on performance. These others could be in the audience or performing in the same activity (called co-actors).

 

Social inhibition

Decrease in performance due to the presence of others.

Habit strength

How automatic consistent and resistant to change an athletes skills have become through repetition and reinforcement

Others

• Audience

• Co actors

• Competitive co actors

• Social reinforcers

Zajoncs model

dominant response

How a skill is most likely to be performed.

Depends on the stage of learning of skill – cognitive, associative or autonomous

Performance equation

Performance = habit strength x drive

Cottrells evaluation apprehension theory

If the audience is perceived as evaluating/judging (not just present as in Zajonc’s model) this causes increased stress in an athlete.

This increased stress causes increased arousal, which may lead to over-arousal/anxiety or ‘choking’.

This means that Evaluation Apprehension causes increased arousal.

Elite athletes can handle it better

EG. TRIALS

Barons distraction-conflict theory

How to help manage an audience impact

• mental rehearsal

• Selective attention

• Thought stopping

• Breathing techniques