Group Success

Question 1

Carrons- characteristics of a group

Answer 1

1) two or more interacting
2) all the individuals have a shared goal
3) they have a collective identity
4) they are structured forms of communication

Question 2

Tuckman- 4 stages of development

Answer 2

1) Forming- develop social relationships- rely on coach to bring group closer together
2) Storming- conflict as individuals establish their position
3) Norming- group cohesion develops- motivation and success rises
4) Performing- all players work together- respect other members and fully focused on achieving goals

Question 3

Steiners model of group performance

Answer 3

Actual Productivity= potential productivity- losses due to faulty processes

Question 4

What is Actual Productivity?

Answer 4

The level of achievement on a specific task

Question 5

What is Potential Productivity?

Answer 5

The best level of achievement possible when it is consistent

Question 6

Faulty processes can be divided into 2…

Answer 6

1) Co ordination losses- lack of teamwork- tactics

2) Motivational losses- losing concentration- over aroused

Question 7

What is the Ringlemann Effect?

Answer 7

The greater the number of people in the group, the lower the performance of the individuals

Question 8

What is Social Loafing?

Answer 8

When performers may hide when in a team often because they feel their effort is not being recognised

Question 9

How can social loafing be caused?

Answer 9

• no clear role in the team
• low self efficacy
• learned helplessness
• teammates are doing the same
• poor leadership
• social inhibition due to an offensive crowd

Question 10

Strategies to minimise social loafing

Answer 10

• giving player responsibility
• giving feedback
• using video analysis
• setting challenging goals
• develop social cohesion
• develop high levels of fitness
• highlight their role in the team

Question 11

What is Task Cohesion?

Answer 11

• group members work in unity to meet a common aim

- may not socialise away from the team but come together for the task to get good results

Question 12

What is Social Cohesion?

Answer 12

• group members feel attached and get along with others- they communicate and support one another outside the sport

Question 13

Strategies to develop cohesion within a group

Answer 13

• practice and training drills
• roles and expectations
• setting specific targets
• giving individual responsibility
• devolving social cohesion away from training
• create group identity
• encourage peer support
• attempt to maintain stability
• identifying social loafers

Question 14

Identify and explain Carron’s antecedents (factors) that contribute to the cohesiveness of a group. (3 marks)

Answer 14

A. Environment/situational factors – size of group/time/facilities/age or equivalent

B. Member/personal factors – ability/motivation/satisfaction/similarity
of group or equivalent

C. Leadership factors – style/behaviour/personality/relationship with
group or equivalent

D. Team factors – task/motivation/stability/ability/shared experiences
or equivalent

E. Four correct factors named but no explanation

Question 15

Explain the importance of cohesion to group productivity and outline possible
strategies that can be used to reduce the negative impact of faulty processes on
performance. (14 marks)

Answer 15

Importance of Cohesion

A. Cohesion – tendency of a group to stay together to achieve their goal/task
B. Cohesion depends on group members/task/leader/teambased factors/equiv.
C. Actual productivity = potential productivity – losses due to faulty processes
D. Co-ordination losses/faulty processes eg poor teamwork/ poor tactics
E. Motivational losses/faulty processes eg loss of concentration/low self-confidence
F. Social loafing – performer ‘hides’ within a team
G. Ringelmann effect – Performance/cohesion may decrease as group size increases
H. Task cohesion – ability of group to work together to achieve a common goal
I. Social cohesion – interaction of players and their interpersonal relationships
J. Task cohesion is more important than social cohesion/ team can be successful with poor social cohesion
K. Social cohesion can undermine performance/formation of cliques/not challenging poor performance for fear of upsetting others
L. Social cohesion can aid performance by challenging the norm

Strategies

M. Practice/training to ensure all understand the tactics
N. Give individuals specific responsibility/set goals
O. Explain specific roles within the team
P. Give feedback/video analysis of performance/ reinforcement
Q. Develop peer support/encourage each other/encourage open discussion/an effective leader
R. Vary practice to maintain motivation/train in small groups
S. Improve fitness levels
T. Team bonding exercises/social outings
U. Avoid social cliques
V. Create a group identity eg team kit
W. Develop self-confidence/self-efficacy/self-esteem/ credit use of attributions
X. Maintain team stability if possible/limit change

Question 16

Explain the term task cohesion and why it is vital for success in any game (4)

Answer 16

1) The ability of the group to achieve a common goal.
2) Players need to be able to interact effectively / good communication
3) Understand own role – good co-ordination
4) Poor cohesion is a faulty process
5) Good task cohesion means good social cohesion
6) Social cohesion – the ability for the group to relate well to each other

Question 17

Games players have to work alongside their team mates and try to maintain their levels of
exertion right up to the end of the game.

a) Name and explain the stages that groups tend to go through before they become
established as a successful team. (4 marks)

Answer 17

1. Forming – get to know each other/relationships
2. Storming – roles become established, often contentious/conflict
3. Norming – stability/co-operation/cohesive
4. Performing – roles and relationships established/feel part of team/working
   towards common goals

Question 18

According to Steiner, a team’s actual productivity depends upon their potential
productivity less their faulty processes. What are the two main faulty processes that
can limit a team’s productivity? (2 marks)

Answer 18

1. Motivational factors

2. Co-ordination factors

Question 19

Distinguish between social loafing and the Ringlemann effect. (2 marks)

Answer 19

1. Social loafing – reduced motivation/effort

2. Ringlemann effect – more people - less effort/co-ordination

Question 20

Explain the terms actual productivity and potential productivity and identity
factors that might affect the potential productivity of a team. (4 marks)

Answer 20

1. Actual productivity – performance achieved by a team
2. Potential productivity – teams’ possible best performance
3. Depends on resources eg ability/skills/knowledge/fitness/experiences
4. Second eg given

Question 21

What are the possible causes of losses due to faulty group processes?
(4 marks)

Answer 21

1. Co-ordination losses
2. Player’s skills are not interwoven into unity/tactical failings/lack of
   teamwork
3. More interactive sports suffer the more difficult co-ordination
   losses/accept reverse
4. Ringlemann effect
5. Less interactive/co-active sports suffer less from co-ordination
   losses/accept reverse
6. Motivational losses
7. Social loafing
8. Players feel they can expect others to do the work

Question 22

What antecedents (factors) may affect the cohesiveness of a group? (4 marks)

Answer 22

1. Size of group;
2. Similarity of status/ability/performance level;
3. Type of sport/interactiveness of the activity;
4. Stability of group members;
5. External threats/outside influences;
6. Satisfaction of team members/get on well together/share the same
   goals/role acceptance;
7. Success of group;
8. Leadership/style/type.

Question 23

What do you understand by the term cohesion and explain the different types of
cohesion. (3 marks)

Answer 23

A. (Forces) keeping a group together/resistance to breaking up/team works
together;

B. Task cohesion . working to common goals/targets/tasks;

C. Social cohesion . interpersonal attraction/liking each other/socialising
together.

Question 24

Social loafing can occur within sports teams. What do you understand by the
term social loafing and what factors may cause it? (5 marks)

Answer 24

A. Individuals put in less than 100% effort/lack of motivation/can.t be bothered;

B. Individual.s output not measured effectively/able to hide/shirk responsibility;

C. Task/goal lacks meaning for the individual/;

D. Individuals. personal involvement is low/role conflict/not understanding the
role/lack of assigned role/disagree with role;

E. Individual.s efforts cannot be compared to group standards/lack of fitness;

F. Some of the group are not known to other individuals/sub groups/cliques/
limited cohesion;

G. Individual expects other co-workers to do well/relying on others;

H. Individual believes his efforts will go unnoticed/undervalued/unappreciated;

I. Easier to loaf with more people sub max 4 marks

Question 25

Suggest potential causes of losses due to faulty group processes. (4 marks)

Answer 25

1. Co-ordination losses; 2. Player.s skills are not interwoven into unity/tactical failings/lack of team work; 3. More interactive the sports the more difficult co-ordination of skills become/accept reverse; 4. Ringlemann effect; 5. Motivational losses; 6. Players not playing to their best/not trying 7. Social loafing;

Question 26

Explain how leadership styles should be adapted depending on the different characteristics such as age, gender, size and skill levels of a team. (4 marks)

Answer 26

1. Younger teams . relation-orientated preferred/democratic/person orientated; 2. Older teams . autocratic/task-orientated/authoritarian/command; 3. Female teams . democratic style/person orientated; 4. Males . autocratic style/command style; 5. Highly skilled prefer relationship-orientated; 6. Weaker players prefer task-orientated; 7. Larger . autocratic/command style; 8. Smaller . democratic;

Question 27

How would you distinguish a group from a collection of individuals? (4 marks)

Answer 27

1. Collective identity; 2. Shared norms/values; 3. Sense of shared purpose/common goals; 4. Interaction between members/efforts of one affect the other; 5. Structured methods/hierarchy of communication; 6. Task interdependence/work together/task cohesion; 7. Interpersonal relationships/social cohesion; 8. Independence from others.

Question 28

Discuss whether cohesive groups are always more successful. (3 marks)

Answer 28

1. Initial eccentric/downward contraction; 2. Stimulates muscle spindle apparatus/detects stretch; 3. (Sensory) nerve impulses to CNS; 4. Role of gamma motor neurons; 5. Spindles are adapted muscle fibres; 6. Added to normal fibres/intrafusal fibre contraction; 7. (Concentric) contraction more powerful/greater force produced; 8. More overload/power/fitness gains. Max 4 mar

Question 28

Explain how the size and structure of a group may affect its cohesiveness. (3 marks)

Answer 28

1. Generally the larger the group the greater the productivity; 2. But group can get too large; 3. Leading to formation of sub-groups or cliques; 4. And loss of productivity; 5. Breakdown in co-ordination strategies/ Ringleman effect 6. Poorly-led or disorganised groups may perform worse than smaller groups; 7. Social loafing; 8. Reduction in commitment/motivation; 9. Reduced cohesiveness if obvious/known participants; 10. Cohesion is better if they have similar status.

Question 29

Discuss whether cohesive groups are always more successful. (3 marks)

Answer 29

1. Not clear whether success leads to cohesion or cohesion leads to success; 2. Usually cohesive groups lead to success; 3. Exceptions usually involved where joint goals override personal dislikes; 4. Task cohesion greater than social cohesion; 5. Many other factors involved in success apart from cohesion/e.g personality/ability/leadership are involved in success apart from cohesion.

Question 30

Explain the importance of cohesion to group productivity and outline possible strategies that can be used to reduce the negative impact of faulty processes on performance. (14 marks)

Answer 30

Importance of Cohesion A. Cohesion–tendencyofagrouptostaytogetherto achieve their goal/task B. Cohesiondependsongroupmembers/task/leader/team- based factors/equiv. C. Actualproductivity=potentialproductivity–lossesdueto faulty processes D. Co-ordinationlosses/faultyprocessesegpoorteamwork/ poor tactics E. Motivationallosses/faultyprocesseseglossof concentration/low self-confidence F. Social loafing – performer ‘hides’ within a team G. Ringelmann effect – Performance/cohesion may decrease as group size increases H. Taskcohesion–abilityofgrouptoworktogetherto achieve a common goal I. Social cohesion – interaction of players and their interpersonal relationships J. Task cohesion is more important than social cohesion/ team can be successful with poor social cohesion K. Socialcohesioncanundermineperformance/formationof cliques/not challenging poor performance for fear of upsetting others L. Social cohesion can aid performance by challenging the norm Strategies M. Practice/training to ensure all understand the tactics N. Giveindividualsspecificresponsibility/setgoals O. Explain specific roles within the team P. Givefeedback/videoanalysisofperformance/ reinforcement Q. Develop peer support/encourage each other/encourage open discussion/an effective leader R. Varypracticetomaintainmotivation/traininsmallgroups S. Improvefitnesslevels T. Team bonding exercises/social outings U. Avoidsocialcliques V. Createagroupidentityegteamkit W. Develop self-confidence/self-efficacy/self-esteem/ credit use of attributions X. Maintainteamstabilityifpossible/limitchange

Question 31

Explain how faulty processes can have a negative impact on group productivity. [5 marks]

Answer 31

A. Actual/group productivity = Potential productivity - losses due to faulty processes B. (Faulty process) Co-ordination losses C. (Any one of) poor tactics/lack of communication/poor teamwork or equiv D. Ringlemann Effect E. (explanation) as the group size increases the individual contribution decreases/more opportunity for communication breakdown F. (Faulty process) Motivational losses G. (any one of) incorrect arousal levels/feeling under-valued/low self- efficacy/poor concentration/avoidance behaviour/fear of failure H. Social loafing I. (explanation) reduction in motivation and individual effort/individual hides in the group/coasts J. Cohesion/Task cohesion decreases/actual productivity decreases K. Social cohesion is poor - social cliques formed

Question 32

Explain how the negative attitude of players can impact on the cohesion of a team and using named psychological theories, describe how a negative attitude may be changed. [14 marks]

Answer 32

Explanation of negative attitude and impact of cohesion A. (Definitionofattitude)–uniquefeelingsandthoughts/Triadic Model/cognitive, affective, behavioural/attitude object B. Cognitivecomponent–thoughtsandopinions C. Exampleofnegativeimpacte.g.feeltrainingisnotworthwhile or equiv. D. Affectivecomponent–emotionalfeelings E. Exampleofnegativeimpacte.g.notenjoyingthetraining,feels under –valued, discriminated/stereotyping/prejudice or equiv. F. Behavioural component – actions and behaviour G. Example of negative impact e.g. does not participate fully in training, fails to follow agreed tactics or equiv. H. Decreaseinactualproductivityoftheteam/playersbecome part of a faulty process/ actual productivity = potential productivity – losses due to faulty processes I. Poor coordination/poor motivation J. Social loafing – performer ‘hides’ within the team/reduced effort K. Ringlemanneffect–performance/cohesionmaydecreaseas group size increases L. (Poor task cohesion) – fail to work within the group to achieve a common goal/ fail to follow tactics or equiv. M. (Poor social cohesion) – poor social interaction within the group, causes cliques or equiv. Changing negative attitudes N. Cognitivedissonance O. Attempts to create conflict in thoughts/beliefs/alter one part of the Triadic Model/psychological discomfort P. Cognitive–givenewinformation/ideas Q. Affective – create new emotions/enjoyment/challenge/motivation or equiv. R. Behavioural–givesuccess/reinforcement S. Appliedexampleofanycomponentorallthreecombined–e.g. set new goals or give position of responsibility or equiv. T. Persuasive communication U. Statusofthemessenger/persondeliveringthe information/significant other V. Qualityofthemessage/newinformation W. Situation/time when message is delivered X. Individual’sresistancetochange/strengthofcurrentattitude Y. Appliedexample–theheadcoachtalkstotheplayer individually and explain the need to change the tactics normally used to help team mates succeed or equiv.

Question 33

What do you understand by the term cohesion and explain the different types of cohesion. Also, Social loafing can occur within sports teams. What do you understand by the term social loafing and what factors may cause it?

Answer 33

COHESION A. (Forces) keeping a group together/resistance to breaking up/team works together; B. Task cohesion . working to common goals/targets/tasks; C. Social cohesion . interpersonal attraction/liking each other/socialising together. SOCIAL LOAFING A. Individuals put in less than 100% effort/lack of motivation/can.t be bothered; sub max 1 mark B. Individual.s output not measured effectively/able to hide/shirk responsibility; C. Task/goal lacks meaning for the individual/; D. Individuals. personal involvement is low/role conflict/not understanding the role/lack of assigned role/disagree with role; E. Individual.s efforts cannot be compared to group standards/lack of fitness; F. Some of the group are not known to other individuals/sub groups/cliques/ limited cohesion; G. Individual expects other co-workers to do well/relying on others; H. Individual believes his efforts will go unnoticed/undervalued/unappreciated; I. Easier to loaf with more people