6.3 Psychological Influences on the Team

Question 1

What is BEDTOP?

Answer 1

• An acronym used for the behavioural effects due to others present
• stands for (behavioural effects due to others present)
• Proposed by psychologist Zanjoc

Idea that for some people crowds can help them excel but for others it can affect their performance
* Can lead to both social inhibition & facilitation

Question 2

What are the 4 types of others zanjoc suggested can be present when playing sport?

Answer 2

• The audience
• The co-actors
• The competitors
• The social reinforcers

Question 3

What is the audience?

Answer 3

• Those people who are watching, either as spectators at the event or as the large tv audience watching national events
• Their prescence causes pressure

Question 4

What are the co-actors?

Answer 4

• Those who are doing the same thing at the same time but who might not be in competition

e.g such as a jogger passing on the opposite side of the road
e.g. you doing a 100m sprint & someone else doing javelin

Question 5

What are the competitors?

Answer 5

(sometimes called competitive co-actors)
- People who are in direct competiton

Question 6

What are social reinforcers?

Answer 6

• People who have a direct influence on the performance & their prescence is a part of the event - such as the coach

Question 7

Within Zanjocs model what are the types of others who are passive and interactive?

Answer 7

Passive:
Audience
Co-actors

Interactive:
Competitive co-actors
Social reinforcers

Question 8

What is social inhibition and social facilitation?

Answer 8

Social Inhibition- The negative effect of the prescence of others on performance

Social facilitation- The positive effect of the prescence of others on performance e.g. friends family etc

Question 9

What did Zanjoc suggest about the dominant response?

Answer 9

• An autonomous performer (expert) will have their arousal increased due to the effects of others. They will have well learned skills & give an automatic response.
• This will increase likelihood of their dominant response, & therefore will improve performance, known as social facilitation.
• A cognitive performer will have their arousal increased due to the effects of others.
• Are unlikely to have well–learned skills & may produce a wrong action. This will decrease the likelihood of dominant response, & therefore will hinder performance, known as social inhibition.

e.g. A cricketer not being able to make a choice of shot, feeling pressure from the crowd and a more experienced bowler.

Question 10

What is evaluation apprehension?

Answer 10

• The percieved fear of being judged

e.g. when parents watch their kids playing sport it may cause evaluation apprehension

Question 11

What ways are there to prevent social inhibition and evaluation apprehension?

Answer 11

• Getting the players familiar with playing in front of a crowd
• Gradually introducing evaluation- level of assestment & evaluation should be built up gradually
• Improving focus & concentration- players could try to focus on the game & not the audience so they focus on the things that matter

Question 12

What characteristics are there that a team have?

Answer 12

• A collective identity- team can be reconised easily since they are usually wearing same colour kit-members will often feel strong affiliation w the team & gain a sense of pride
• Interaction- Team members should operate in their own role successfully & also be able to link this role with other members of the team
• Communication- To help with interaction, individual players should talk to each other & communicate non-verbally in game setting
• A shared goal or purpose - Prospect of achieving success is what often keeps players in the team- all players should want to aim for same goal to have maximum motivation

Question 13

What did Tuckman suggest the 5 stages were of group formation that a group must pass in order to be able to start working as a unit?

Answer 13

• Forming
• Storming
• Norming
• Performing
• Mourning

Question 14

What is forming?

Answer 14

• Short first stage- group comes together & gets to know each other with individuals often finding out how they feel about the team & if they think they will fit in

Question 15

What is storming?

Answer 15

• Stage of potential conflict when individuals may compete w others to establish position, status or role in the team
• May be that two players are competing for the same position

Question 16

What is norming?

Answer 16

• Once conflicts have been resolved, the team begins to settle down & co-operate with the intention of achieving their goals
• Group standards are accepted & the cohesion of the team develops

Question 17

What is performing?

Answer 17

• In this stage all the players are now interactive and working together to achieve their goals
• The team members support each other & understand their role in the team

Question 18

What is the mourning stage?

Answer 18

• Once a team has achieved their goals/completed the season they may split & the team gets re-made

Question 19

What is cohesion?

Answer 19

• The tendancy for individuals to work together to achieve their goals

Question 20

What are Carrons antecedents?

Answer 20

The factors that might influence cohesion

Question 21

What are Carrons 4 antecedents?

Answer 21

Environmental factors: Include size of the group & the time avaliable- the longer the group are together the more time they will actually have to learn each others roles

Personal factors: Refers to the similarity of group members in terms of their aspirations, opinions & values whether they are happy w the role they play in the team & even how fit they are

Leadership factors: Leadership style chosen by coach or captain is important here, as how the captain or coach gets on w others in the team

Team factors: Team success is important here & the more success is achieved the more each team member wants to be successful, the higher cohesion will be.