Arousal Stress and Anxiety

Question 1

What is arousal?

Answer 1

Continuum of physiological and psychological activation

Symptoms: HR, respiratory rate, adrenal flow, action potential

Question 2

Why does arousal influence performance?

Answer 2

-Increased muscle tension, fatigue and coordination difficulites
-Change on attention, concentration adn visula search:
>Narrowing of attention
>Shift to dominant style
>Attending to inappropriate cues
>Performance worries and situation (irrelevant thought)
>Visual cues are differently identified and processed when performers are anxious

Question 3

What is anxiety?

Answer 3

• Negative/unpleasant emotional state associated with high arousal
• Two key dimensions:
  1) Cognitive anxiety
  2) Somatic anxiety

Question 4

What is cognitive anxiety?

Answer 4

Worry, self doubt, concern, apprehension

Question 5

What is somatic anxiety?

Answer 5

Physiological symptoms associated with automatic nervous systems

Question 6

What is trait anxiety?

Answer 6

A relatively stable personality predisposition to view situations as threatening, prompting heightened state anxiety

• HTA= greater intensity and duration in SA
• Competitive TA = associated with sport competitions

Question 7

What is competitive trait anxiety?

Answer 7

A stable personality disposition that describes an individual’s “tendency to perceive competitive situations as threatening and respond to these situations with A-state
-Influences the way that people interpret/ perceive and respond to the same situation

Question 8

What is state anxiety?

Answer 8

Unstable/fluctuating emotional state “ characterised by subjective, consciously perceived feelings of apprehension and tension, accompanied by or associated with activation of the autonomic nervous system”
-Perceived demands of the situation influence A-state
> situational criticality
>threat to personally meaningful goals

Question 9

What is the relationship between A-trait and A-state?

Answer 9

High CTA athletes generally experience higher S-state levels than low CTA athletes in evaluative competitive situations
-High CTA athletes may not always experience high A-state in threatening situations

Question 10

How do you measure arousal and anxiety?

Answer 10

-Arousal: HR, BP, respiratory rate
-Self report measures of anxiety:
> competitive state anxiety inventory -2
measures somatic a-state
cognitive a state
state confidence

Question 11

How is CTA multidimensional?

Answer 11

Sport anxiety Scale
Measures 3 dimensions of CTA
-Somatic A-trait (9 items)
-Cognitive/worry A -trait (7 items)
-Concentration disruption A-trait (5 items)
> tendency to lose focus due to anxiety

Question 12

What is stress?

Answer 12

A substantial imbalance between physical and psychological demands placed on an individual and his or her response capability under conditions in which failure to meet demands has important consequences

Question 13

What is the stress process?

Answer 13

Implications of the stress process for practice

Question 14

What is stage one of the stress process?

Answer 14

Athlete is confronted with an environmental demand

… demands are placed upon an individual’s physical and psychological capability

Question 15

What is stage two of the stress process?

Answer 15

Athlete perceives/appraises the nature of the demand

• primary appraisal: is situation threatening to physical/psychological well-being
• Secondary appraisal: Do I feel that I have the ability to successfully deal with the demands of the situation?

Question 16

What is stage 3 of the stress process?

Answer 16

If athlete feels that demands exceed coping capabilities, threat is perceived and the “stress” response occurs

• Negative affect
• State anxiety
• Loss of focus/attention

Question 17

What is stage 4 of the stress process?

Answer 17

Behavioral consequences (performance outcomes) associated with the stress response

• in general, performance decrements, occur
• are alternatives available? (avoidance strategies)

Question 18

What is the event importance/situational criticality?

Answer 18

1) overall importance of competition/event (note: the location of each stage on the continuum will vary according to each individual perception of the circumstance)
2) Situation criticality during the competition
-Stressor severity is influenced by the stage in the competition, the time remaining and the score/standing at the moment the stressor is encountered
(social spotlight of the situation)

Question 19

How is the severity of stressor linked to degree of uncertainty?

Answer 19

Fear of Unkown

• 3rd - 5th yrs. had fewer concerns about situational uncertainties
• Female volleyball players reported feeling most anxious when she did not know the details of opponents play

Question 20

What are theories relating Anxiety/Arousal and Performance?

Answer 20

• Drive theory
• Inverted U principle
• Individual zone of optimal functioning (IZOF)
• Catastrophe theory
• Reversal Theory
• Anxiety direction and interpretation

Question 21

What is the social facilitation theory?

Answer 21

Contention: the presence of evaluative others in the performance environment increases an individuals arousal level

Question 22

What is the an application of the drive theory?

Answer 22

• Zajonc noticed the performance on well-learned and simple task improved in presence of others
• dominant response= skilled performance
• Zajnoc noticed performance on poorly learned and complex task decreased in presences of others
• dominant response = unskilled performance

Question 23

What are practical implications of the drive theory?

Answer 23

Perform simple motor skills in the presence of evaluative others for improved performance
Learn complex motor skills away from the presence of evaluative others
… increased arousal will lead to deterioration in performance if the dominant response is the unskilled performance

Question 24

What are major limitations to the drive theory?

Answer 24

Theory cannot explain why elite athletes sometimes choke when highly aroused

Question 25

What is the inverted U principle?

Answer 25

Optimum poitn of arousal varies as a function of task and individual characteristics
Different sports are likely to demand different levels of arousal to practice the best results
Individual demand characteristics of each sport may dictate arousal needed

Question 26

What are task characteristics>

Answer 26

More complex the task, the less arousal is necessary for optimal performance
Simple tasks -tolerate higher arousal levels
Complexity characteristics:
-decision
-perception
-motor skill required

Question 27

What are individual characteristics?

Answer 27

Trait anxiety
introversion/extroversion
Skill level/experience
Coping abilities

Question 28

What are situational characteristics?

Answer 28

Home or away

Importance of game/event

Question 29

What are criticisms of the inverted U?

Answer 29

Curve shape - relationship not entirely symmetrical
Uni-dimensional in defining arousal/anxiety
Consistent for only simple performance tasks
Descriptive not explanatory
Present methodological, interpretive, conceptual and statistical probabilities
Optimal performance always moderate levels questioned
Doesn’t recognize individual appraisal of task

Question 30

What is the individual zones of optimal functioning?

Answer 30

Assumes that every athlete has an optimal zone of anxiety associated with best performance

Question 31

How do you find the IZOF?

Answer 31

Established using an intra-individual assessment protocol based on multiple observations
Multiple measures of pre-competition A-state and corresponding performance measures

Question 32

How is performance measured in the IZOF?

Answer 32

Subjective athlete rating
Subjective coach rating
Objective measures?

Question 33

What are practical IZOF issues/ considerations?

Answer 33

Takes a long time given need for multiple assessments
Difficultly getting valid measures of performance
Need considerable expertise to identify performance anxiety
Hanins original model was based on unidimensional assessments of A states
… establishing IZOF combinations of cognitive and somatic scores is much more complicated

Question 34

What is the catastrophe Cusp model?

Answer 34

Hardly and colleagues tried to better explain relationship between cognitive anxiety, physiological arousal and performance

• Cognitive anxiety is a mediator of physiological arousal - performance relationship
• When cognitive anxiety is high and prominent, then drastic falls in performance occur once optimal arousal is passed

Question 35

What are issues surrounding the catastrophe model?

Answer 35

1) theory suggests that higher levels of cognitive anxiety can be good, when combined with moderate arosual
2) theory helps account for sudden crash in performance (explains the classic choke in higher performance sport)
3) Theory suggest that performers need to completely relax after catastrophe and then re-activate themselves to moderate arousal
4) Recognizes interaction between somatic and cognitive anxiety
5) Problem: confusion over arousal vs somatic anxiety
6) Problem: extremely hard to test
… requires anxiety and arousal measures during performance

Question 36

What is the reversal theory?

Answer 36

… postulates that the manner in which an individual interprets their level of physiological arosual affects performance
Theory predicts that reversal in interpretation ca noccr very quickly (linked to appraisal/interpretation of situational demands)

Question 37

What is the anxiety direction and intensity?

Answer 37

• Interpretation is important for understanding the anxiety performance relationship
• To understand the anxiety performance relationship, we must consider both the intensity and the direction of anxiety as facilitating or debilitating to performance
• View anxiety as facilitative leads to superior performance
• State anxiety is perceived as facilitative or debilitative depending on how much control the person perceives
• Some support has been found for this view
• Developing cognitive skills and strategies helps people view anxiety as facilitative

Question 38

What is the significance of all arousla-performance views?

Answer 38

• Arousal is multifaceted
• It consists of the following (physical activation of arousal and interpretations)
• It is doubtful that the optimal level of arousal is always at the midpoint of the arousal scale
• Arousal and state anxiety do not always have negative effects on performance
• Self-confidence and enhanced perceptions of control are critical to perceiving anxiety as facilitative
• Some optimal level of arousal leads to peak performance, but optimal levels of physiological activation and arousal related thoughts are not the same
• Interaction of physiological activation and arousal interpretation is more important than actual levels of each
• “psyching” up strategies should be employed with caution (difficult to recover from catastrophe)
• Athletes should have well-practiced self talk, imagery etc for coping

Question 39

What are the implications of practice?

Answer 39

• Identify optimal combinations of arousal-related emotions for best performance
• Recognize how personal and situational factors interact to influences arousal, anxiety and performance
• Recognize signs of arousal and state anxiety
• Tailor coaching strategies to individuals: sometimes arousal must be reduced, other times maintained and others facilitated
• Develop performers confidence and perception of control