psychological skills 2

Question 1

what is the definition of imagery?

Answer 1

crafting or recreating experiences in the mind

may also be called: visualisation, mental rehersal, symbolic rehersal

ues: memory and senses

Question 2

what is aphantasia?

Answer 2

Inability to picture objects using the minds eye.
Opposite of imagery

Question 3

how is imagery used in sport?

Answer 3

• Purposefully using the senses (and memory) to create/ imagine in your mind’s eye
  ○ Imagining using your brain.
  
  • Mental Rehearsal (often how imagery is discussed in sport)
    ○ Practice of task without the physical movement

Question 4

why is imagery important in sport?

Answer 4

typically forms part of a pre-performance routine
Concentration, motivation, confidence, emotional responses, skills, strategy, prep, injury, problem solving

Question 5

how are the senses used in imagery?

Answer 5

sight= used the most, allows individuals to visualise a specific scenario
hearing= used to help create the full picture, what the crowd sound like, what the coach/teammates say etc
taste= not used as much as the tastes often arent pleasent
touch= individuals imagine how something feels
smell= not always used as the smells arent always pleasent
kinaesthetic sense= (movement) equally as importnat as sight and when used with visuals, imagery is the most effective.

Question 6

in Simonsmeir et al’s (2021) paper what did they find about imagery?

Answer 6

Medium overall effect with significant enhance in motor performance, motivation, and affective outcomes (e.g.: emotional responses)
* Imagery combined with physical practice more effective than just psychical practice
* Dose response? But what are the moderators?
○ Dose response= if you do more imagery, will you get better performance and imagery ability?
○ Moderators= what things moderate imagery and performance in sport (what gets in the way of them- skill level, type of imagery etc.)

Question 7

where do athelets use imagery the most?

Answer 7

practice, competition (pre-performance routines- helps with confidence)

Question 8

when do athletes use visualisation?

Answer 8

○ Typically, before and during practice and comp
○ If using imagery after, it may be useful as the experience of executing the skill are still fresh in the mind- can be used later on.

Question 9

why do athletes most commonly use imagery?

Answer 9

Motivation (to increase it)- Goal oriented behaviour
Cognitive (enhancement)- Specific skill enhancement

Question 10

what do athletes visualise?

Answer 10

• Surroundings (what is around them)
• positive or negative (can look at both but positive an be more useful)
• types (visual and kinaesthetic, how does it feel to execute the skill- where is the body)
• perspective (whether you are imagining yourself from your own perspective or from a third person perspective)

Question 11

what is specific, motivational imagery?

Answer 11

• goal oriented responses
• e.g.: imagining oneself winning a medal

Question 12

what is specific, cognitive visualisation?

Answer 12

• skill goal
• e.g.: imagining performing on the parallel bars successfully
• skill based imagery, acquisition and developemnt of skills

Question 13

what is general motivational visualisation?

Answer 13

• arousal
• e.g.: relaxation by imagining a quiet and calm place
• not very specific

Question 14

what is general, cognitive visualisation?

Answer 14

• strategy
• e.g.: imaging carrying out a strategy to win a competition
• how you are going to approch the competition

Question 15

what are the 3 imagery theories?

Answer 15

• psycho-neuro-muscular
• symbolic learning
• bio-informational

Question 16

what is the psycho-neuro-muscular imagery theory?

Answer 16

• Proposes that imagery produces similar neuromuscular activity to the actual movement
• When imaging a movement, you use similar neural pathways to when you do the movement
  ○ Less intense, but still there (ideomotor principle)
  Suinn (1972, 1976)

Question 17

what is the imagery theory of symbolic learning?

Answer 17

• Proposes that imagery creates a mental “blueprint” of the required action
• Enables rehearsal of cognitive aspects of a skill
  ○ E.g., strategy, decision making
• Mental practice more beneficial for cognitive than motor tasks (that we are executing in sport)
• Imagery involves same neural pathways as actual perception
  ○ Similar to psycho-neuro-muscular theory
  Sackett (1934)- old theory.

Question 18

what is the bio-informational imagery theory?

Answer 18

• Image: a functionally organised set of propositions stored in the brain.

Question 19

what are the 3 statements of the bio-informational theory?

Answer 19

• Stimulus- specific stimulus/scenario we are trying to imagine in the brain
• Response- imaginers response to the imagined scenario
• Meaning- final statement associated with an imagine in the brain, how the response is interpreted by the individual - anxious or motivating.
• Linking these three propositions through imagery enhances execution
• The more we can add to the imagery (colour, sounds, smells etc.), the better it will be.
  Lang (1977, 1979)

Question 20

what is PETTLEP (functional equivalence)?

Answer 20

Based on the idea of functional equivalence- Imagery and functional practice are physically equivalent.
* Physical nature of the task
○ What do we want them to do
* Environmental specifics
○ Situational awareness
* Task type
○ What is the skill they are executing
* Timing of the movement
○ Is the movement quick or slow
○ when does it happen
○ pre-comp, during comp, post-comp?
* Learning the content of movement
○ Need to know what goes into the skill (the different movements)
* Emotion of the movement
○ What is the meaning/ emotions for the situation
* Perspective of the person
○ Are we doing 1st or 3rd person
○ How are we imagining the situation

Question 21

what are the benefits of imagery in sport?

Answer 21

Reduce anxiety
Increase self-efficacy
Improve accuracy and performance

Question 22

what is the background of goal setting?

Answer 22

• Our knowledge of goal setting originally came from industrial and organisational settings
  ○ Truck loading
  ○ Clerical work
  ○ Typing
• This research demonstrated that goal directed behaviour increases performance
• central to performance

Question 23

what is the goal setting theory according to Locke & Latham (1990)?

Answer 23

• A goal is an ‘end state’ or the ‘aim of action’
  ○ Something we’re working towards (Locke et al., 1981)

Question 24

According to goal setting theory, why does gol setting work?

Answer 24

directs focus away from irrelevant tasks
§ Once goal is set, we map the behaviours to suit the task.
○ Energises our pursuit of work
§ Makes us more focused to achieve the goal.
§ Motivates us towards something.
○ Influence persistence through difficulty
§ Become more resilient.
§ Work quicker?
○ Discovery of task-relevant strategies
§ Discover strategies to help us achieve the goal quicker.
§ Prioritise time better (for example)
□ Helps maintain motivation and keeps tasks relevant.

Question 25

what are the 5 goal characteristics that are important to GST (Locke & Latham, 1990)?

Answer 25

1. Goal difficulty- needs to be achievable
   * Attainable goals are more motivating (elite athletes), more challenging goals for people with less skill.
2. Goal specificity- how specific are our goals
   * The more specific the goal is, the better it is.
3. Goal proximity- how far away the ideal is
   * Long term, short term, mid term goal (a mixture of all three is most useful)
4. Goal source- who is setting the goal
   * Mutually set, client based, coach based
   * Goal is best when individual agrees that the goal is specific enough for them
5. Goal types- learning or performance goals.
   * Learning goal= task-mastery
   * Performance goal= ego based goals (winning, performance outcome)

Question 26

what does the accronym of SMARTER stand for in goal setting?

Answer 26

• Specific
  ○ who, what, where, when, why?
• Measurable
  ○ How will you know it has been achieved?
  ○ Some form of measurement/unit to know it ahs been achieved.
• Actioned
  ○ What are you going to do?
  ○ Can be so philosophical that they cant be taken into action.
  ○ Broken down into performance, process and outcome goals
• Resourced
  ○ What do you need?
  ○ Do you have the resources you need to achieve the goal?
• Time based
  ○ how long is it going to take?
  ○ Proximity of the goal: act on goals if we have a deadline.
• Evaluate
  ○ How successful were you?
  ○ Did you achieve your goal?
• Reset
  ○ Once achieved, start fresh!

Question 27

what is the difference between task vs ego approches to goal setting?

Answer 27

○ Task: goals about improvement and mastery of skills
○ Ego: I’m better than everyone else or worse, comparisons
* according to Nicholls Achievement Goal Theory

Question 28

what are outcome goals?

Answer 28

• Outcome: getting a professional contract, winning a match, clean sheet
  ○ More of an ego focus to the goal
  ○ Set overarching goal then the performance goal

Question 29

what are performance goals?

Answer 29

increase pass completion %, increase shooting accuracy to %
○ More specific than an outcome goal.
* Setting performance goals, instead of outcome, reduces feelings of anxiety and increases performance
○ The goal doesn’t feel too big- more attainable.
§ Can be anxiety inducing.
○ It’s easier to picture (think back to imagery!)

Question 30

what are process goals?

Answer 30

Scan for the best target for my pass, relax elbows and breathe out before shot
○ What is the process or skill that is needed to complete the performance goal?
○ To achieve the outcome goal, need to be able to set process goals to make the overall goal more achievable.

Question 31

explain the importnace of PST in sport?

Answer 31

• Basic PST issued by sport psychologists AND other practitioners in sport
• PST is an approach to sport psychology practice
  ○ Applied sport psychology includes a lot more than just PST
• Relaxation, self-talk, imagery, and goal setting are powerful tools for individuals (and sometimes groups)
  ○ But they have an appropriate time and place to be used and must be backed by evidence!