Chapters 11-16

Question 1

Error correction strategy applied when athlete is making errors at practice because of lack of natural reinforcers

Answer 1

Make available reinforcers contingent upon improved performance
Coach must assess whether or not available reinforcers are being used effectively= that reinforcers are contingent upon desirable performance
If use of contingent reinforcers for performing without error leads to improved performance across several prac, then the athletes could be gradually weaned off extra reinforcers, in hope that natural reinforcers for improved performance may begin to take over

Question 2

When is it necessary to use multiple-component error correction program to decrease errors?

Answer 2

when athlete has skill that results in early success and all components of skill are strengthened, including flawed component that experts might consider as improper technique
*has to be used when flawed component of skill became engrained and habit because it has contributed to the success of the athlete

Question 3

3 reasons why beginners might make errors or mistakes when executing previously learned skill

Answer 3

1. errors due to lack of focus
2. errors due to lack of reinforcement for correct performance
3. persistent and well learned errors due to habit

Question 4

mastery criterion

Answer 4

specific guideline for performing a skill such that if the guideline is met, the skill is likely to be mastered
should identify a particular quantity/level/standard of performance

eg. swimmer reaching 3 consecutive practices with 2 r fewer errors on each of 6 required laps

Question 5

Freeze Technique

Answer 5

1. If behaviour is correct (rule governed control over behaviour), players complete play and are praised (positive reinforcement)
2. If behaviour is incorrect, the coach screams “freeze” and the player has to remain in the same position (punishment)
3. The coach then models the correct behaviour, and then player moves to this correct position and coach gets player to notice various aspects of correct position and notice difference between positions

Question 6

limitation of the Freeze technique

Answer 6

athlete’s momentum may make it impossible to freeze (skiing, mid jump)
when freezing and listening are not possible (swimming)

Question 7

5 behavioural components that appear to be included in old way/new way error-correction technique

Answer 7

1. Instruction regarding correct/incorrect techniques
2. Awareness training to discriminate correct/incorrect techniques
3. Key words to prompt correct behaviour
4. Practicing correct technique with an approx of mastery criterion
5. Receiving immediate videotaped feedback on each practice tape

Question 8

several possible causes of problem behaviours shown by athletes at prac

Answer 8

1. bad behaviours immediately followed by natural reinforcers, while desirable alternative behaviours do not lead to immediate reinforcers
2. they don’t have the skills to earn rewards for skilled athletic performance. reinforcers not unavailable but no skills in athlete’s repertoire that enable to get reinforcers
3. from operant extinction- when usual reinforcers are withheld following previously reinforced behaviour, that behaviour is likely to decrease in frequency. in LR, that behaviour will go away but in SR, withholding reinforcers following previously reinforced behaviours may cause emotional reaction as side effect
4. dynamics of interpersonal interactions of athletes away from athletic environment

Question 9

List 5 desirable behaviours for basketball

Answer 9

Actively participating
Using proper shooting form
Making proper 2 hand passes
Listening to the coach's instructions and feedback
Running hard during drills

Question 10

List 5 undesirable behaviours for basketball

Answer 10

Looking at the clock a lot during practice
Talking to teammates while coach is talking
Doing improper form because lazy
Lying on court because tired after running
Purposely being silly

Question 11

4 steps coach can take at beginning of season to minimize problem behaviours

Answer 11

1. Identify reasonable rules concerning desirable/undesirable behaviours
2. Identify consequences for rule violations
3. Obtain commitment from athletes to follow rules
4. Monitor desirable/undesirable behaviours during season and provide feedback

Question 12

3 steps of strategy followed by Coach Hume to decrease off-task practice behaviours (figure skaters)

Answer 12

1. Identify specific desirable prac behaviours= itemized in checklist of jumps/spins that 3 girls expected to prac for 45 mins per day
2. Devise strategy for skaters to self-monitor the occurrence of desirable prac behaviours= big chart for each skater with checklist of jumps/spins, instructions, graphs
3. Provide feedback to skaters for improvement= summary bars added to charts of off-task behaviours/elements attempted at end of prac to show progress. Good progress praised

Question 13

Stimulus control over behaviour and how it was used by Coach Hume

Answer 13

degree of correlation between stimulus and behaviour
Used by Coach Hume in the big chart= which allowed skaters to prepare checklists and view instructions for practice
Had direct correlation with improved jumps and spins over course of practices

Question 14

Positive reinforcement and how it was used by Coach Hume

Answer 14

Stimulus that when presented immediately after behaviour, causes that behaviour to increase. Positive when used to strengthen behaviour
Coach Hume immediately provided feedback to skaters for improvement following practice and gave positive reinforcement when skaters improved or did well

Question 15

2 diff between Coach Hume’s self-recording program and public posting program

Answer 15

1. Coach Hume- alternative behaviours and reinforcers for them were identified once they occurred at practice
   Public posting- identified problem behaviours before practice and suggested alternative behaviours for athletes to work on
2. Coach Hume- used chart that displayed both positive and negative applications
   Public Posting- displayed only negative

Question 16

Advantages/disadvantages of Coach Hume’s program

Answer 16

Advantage= all behaviours displayed so athlete can not only see what they need to work on but can also feed good about what they are doing well on already

Disadvantage= more information present on chart, which can lead to lack of focus on what needs improvement if athlete focusing on what they already doing well

Question 17

Advantages/Disadvantages of public posting program

Answer 17

Advantage= met with athletes before program began to let them know what it is they are doing wrong and what can be done to change- focuses athletes attention on what needs to be improved

Disadvantage= only presenting negative behaviours may have negative effect on athletes because provides less confidence/motivation to want to do well since not reminded of good behaviours

Question 18

Educational sign-prompting program

Answer 18

Golf:
Large amount of ball marks on putting greens
Put sign on entrance of clubhouse that showed pics of unprepared ball marks and description of how to repair ball marks as depicted in photos, and request for golfers to repair ball marks
Prompting decreased # of unrepaired ball marks
Relied on deliberately managed reinforcers because sign displayed at entrance acted as reinforcer used to deliberately change behaviour
*change behaviour

Question 19

Example of self-reinforcement

Answer 19

eg. Badminton:
Athlete provide self-reinforcement by using praise after every good serve over the net
say to self: “thats a perfect serve, I need to keep making serves like that and I will win this match”
Praise work toward increasing likelihood that good serve will result next time

Question 20

3 approaches to gathering info during functional assessment

Answer 20

1. Conduct interview/questionnaire assessment of people familiar with client to allow behaviour analyst to identify causes of problem behaviour
2. To discover a problem behaviour’s controlling variables- perform observational assessment in which observer carefully observes/describes apparent antecedents and immediate consequences of problem behaviour of indiv in natural settings
3. Conduct functional analysis= systematic manipulation of environmental events to experimental test their role as antecedents or consequences in controlling/maintaining specific problem behaviours

Question 21

2 causes of self-control problems involving behavioural excesses

Answer 21

1. Immediate reinforcement of the problem behaviour wins out over the unnoticeable neg effects that are only cumulatively significant
2. Neg effects of problem behaviour are too small to be noticed immediately, but only accumulation of problem behaviour over time has noticeable effect

eg. Powerlifter can squat lot of weight with bad form
Bad form reinforced overtime heavy squat done successfully, but overtime the bad form will damage back (cumatively- single lift won’t cause injury)

Question 22

6 steps that characterize programs of self-management

Answer 22

1. Set goals for quantity/quality/competition situations
2. Increase athlete’s commitment to change
3. Design monitoring sheets for key behaviours
4. Manage antecedents to motivate quality practice
5. Manage consequences to motivate quality prac
6. Present relapse, make it last

Question 23

example of quantity goal

Answer 23

eg. basketball player sets goal to take 30 foul shots each practice

Question 24

“commitment to change” in behavioural self-management

Answer 24

refers to the statements or actions by athlete which imply that it is important to improve in specific area, that they will work toward doing so and recognizes benefits

Question 25

example of how athlete might improve prac performance by rearranging immediate surroundings

Answer 25

eg. soccer player might always go to certain field that lots of his friends are always at and theres loud music and lots of distractions, so he starts going to empty field to focus more on improving and less on distractions

Question 26

3 ways of manipulating consequences in self-control programs to motivate quality prac

Answer 26

1. Get rid of reinforcers that may be maintaining program behaviour that interferes with desired prac behaviour (stop talking to friends etc) 2. Self recording and charting target behaviours 3. Arranging for specific reinforcers to be earned by athlete for improvement, or event sticking to practice plan (self-reinforcement, others present reinforcement, remind themselves of delayed natural reinforcement after doing behaviour)

Question 27

2 possible causes of relapse in situations + how they're handled

Answer 27

1. failure to anticipate setback situations= situation where one is at risk for returning to earlier unwanted behaviour patterns - some can be avoided until individual is better able to cope with them 2. counterproductive self-talk - recognizing this kind of self-talk is bad and replacing with positive self-talk

Question 28

2 possible causes of relapse in specification of the response + how they're handled

Answer 28

1. Response component is too vague - target must be phrased in a way so that it can be easily recognized when it occurs, "I want to be able to make a baseline jumper" opposed to "I want to be better at ball" 2. LR goals have not been translated into specific SR goals - instead of just having one LR goal, set daily/weekly SR goals that move athlete in direction of LR goal

Question 29

possible cause of replies in consequences + how they're handled

Answer 29

1. Extra work from recording/graphing/rearranging environment can becoming burdensome - prevent relapse by linking the self-management program to everyday activities that are rewarding (if don't meet practice goals, don't get car tomorrow) - prevent relapse by involving supportive others in program

Question 30

Simulations

Answer 30

attempts to make many stimuli in the practice environment as similar as possible to the stimuli that will be encountered in the competitions eg. running an offensive play in soccer under game-like conditions: running at game speed, taking good shots at net, wearing game jerseys

Question 31

7 categories of cues that are useful for simulating competitive stimuli at prac

Answer 31

1. Cues from physical environment 2. Cues from the behaviour of the coach 3. Cues from the behaviour of other athletes 4. Cues from the level of autonomic arousal/degree of anxiousness of the athlete 5. Proprioceptive cues from muscles of athlete 6. Athlete's imagery as cues 7. Athlete's self-talk as cues

Question 32

Example of how athletes use imagery at prac to stimulate aspects of comp to increase likelihood of skill transfer

Answer 32

eg. basketball player practicing foul shots may use imagery to imagine the players lined up beside him and his bench cheering to help his foul shot technique transfer to games

Question 33

Example of "pressure game"

Answer 33

eg. football kicker "pressure game" could be lining up for field goal with entire team in positions and jerseys. If he misses the field goal, team runs

Question 34

"programming a few common stimuli"

Answer 34

Deliberately bringing desired athletic behaviours under control of a few specific stimuli in prac, then take those stimuli to the competition **increases likelihood of stimulus generalization to the comp environment is increased eg. basketball player bounces the ball twice and spins it in his hands before taking every foul shot. Bouncing the ball and spinning it help him perform the foul shot in the exact same form everytime

Question 35

"vary many of the training conditions"

Answer 35

Conducting practice under many different conditions If athletic skills are brought under the control of a greater variety of stimuli during training, then there is increased probability of some of those being present during comp eg. lacrosse player training under different weather conditions, different noise conditions etc

Question 36

Peak performance

Answer 36

outstanding athletic performance, when an athlete puts it all together athletes at top of their game feel lots of confidence and have excellence concentration

Question 37

Confidence

Answer 37

Not some internal cause of successful athletic performance, but rather is SUMMARY LABEL Used to describe athletes who have performed well in recent prac/comp or show certain behaviour patterns that would be described collectively as illustrating the belief that they will perform well

Question 38

4 steps for developing confidence/concentration at prac

Answer 38

1. Develop skills to a high level w prac drills 2. Teach orientation to proper cues 3. Transfer the control of sports skills from rules to natural cues 4. Athletes should perform well in simulations

Question 39

7 steps for maintaining confidence on competition day

Answer 39

1. restful, stress-free day prior to comp 2. relive best performances 3. focus on what they can control, not the uncontrollable 4. focus on realistic goals for execution/performance standards, rather than worrying about outcome 5. focus on strengths, not limitations/mistakes 6. use "countering"/"reframing" to counteract neg thoughts 7. prepare and follow competition plan

Question 40

Interverted U relationship between arousal and performance

Answer 40

before competition: athlete should not be too laid back or too pumped-up/tense athlete wants to feel both loose and energized at right point

Question 41

Optimal level of arousal

Answer 41

level of psychological arousal associated with peak performance optimal level of arousal is likely to differ from individual to individual

Question 42

4 things to decrease arousal

Answer 42

1. deep centred breathing 2. muscle tensing/relaxing 3. use of relaxing mood words 4. use of humour/tuning out during break

Question 43

4 things to increase arousal

Answer 43

1. energizing imagery 2. energizing mood words 3. physical actions (high fives) 4. energizing music

Question 44

Example: of solution to problem of athlete w interfering emotions

Answer 44

eg. basketball player: frustrated with his point guard for never passing to his side of the court. Anger stays with him for next points. Should: relax, regroup, refocus

Question 45

Example: of solution to problem of athlete who loses concentration during comp (thinks too far ahead)

Answer 45

eg. football quarterback throws an interception and thinks to himself "well thats it, I'm useless and that going to lose us the game" Should: say to self "next throw will be better"

Question 46

Competition-focusing plan timeline

Answer 46

covers period of time from beginning to end of the competition eg. when time starts at the beginning of a soccer game, to when the end of game buzzer goes off

Question 47

Competition-focusing plan goal

Answer 47

goal of plan is to ensure that once the competition beings, the athlete will experience the covert and overt behaviours that characterize optimal performance

Question 48

2 aspects of athlete's performance post-comp that evaluation should assess

Answer 48

should self-assess: 1. athletic performance 2. mental performance/readiness