Sports topic 1

Question 1

What is the definition of stress?

Answer 1

Mismatch between the demands of the situation and the ability to cope.

Question 2

What is the definition of arousal?

Answer 2

General level of physical and psychological activation. It will be low when tired, bored or sleeping. It prepares us for fight or flight.

Question 3

Definition of anxiety?

Answer 3

High arousal and worrying.

Question 4

What is trait anxiety?

Answer 4

A persons general personality.

Question 5

What is state anxiety?

Answer 5

Situation dependent- temporary emotional state, prior or due to competing.

Question 6

What is somatic anxiety?

Answer 6

Physiological state which occurs when anxiety, eg heavy breathing, butterflies, increased blood pressure.
Consequence of adrenaline and physiological changes.

Question 7

What is cognitive anxiety?

Answer 7

Thoughts and cognitive processes that cause a decline in performance, eg self doubt, thoughts of failure, inability to concentrate.

Question 8

What is Hulls drive theory (1943)?

Answer 8

A linear positive relationship between performance and arousal. The more a sports person was aroused the better the performance.

Predicts- complexity of the motor task, physiological arousal, learned tendencies to respond to a task in a certain way- dominant response.

If a sports uses fine complex motor skills eg hitting a bullseye, high arousal will worsen performance.
A very high arousal level would result in a high performance level, provided skill is well learnt, if the skill is not well learnt, performance will deteriorate as arousal increases.

Performance= arousal x habit

Question 9

What are some strengths/ problems with Hulls drive model?

Answer 9

Strengths-
Useful- this theory helps explain why beginners find it difficult to perform well under pressure. It helps explain how experienced athletes perform better under pressure using well learnt skills.

Weaknesses- Fails to account for when people become too aroused and make errors (reductionist)
Also fails to account for the type of arousal experienced or psychological factors which may accompany arousal such as cognitive anxiety.

Question 10

What is the Yerkes and Dodson (1908) Inverted U theory?

Answer 10

Performance improves to an optimal point then steadily decreases, with increased anxiety, panic, anger, fear and stress.
At low levels of arousal the athlete is not psyched up.
Each athlete has their own optimal level of arousal, unique to each individual.
An increase in arousal increases performance up until a certain point, where increased arousal leads to a deteriorated..

Question 11

What are some strengths and problems of the Inverted U Hypothesis?

Answer 11

Strengths- It can explain why expert performers make errors under pressure.
Problems- Doesn’t take into account effects of psychological factors eg cognitive anxiety.
Critics question if anxiety always happens at the mid-point of the curve.

Question 12

What was the Oxendine’s updated Inverted U theory suggest?

Answer 12

Amount of arousal necessary for optimal performance depends on the nature of the skill.
Eg tackling in football high, throwing a dart- low.
Gross motor activities need a high level of arousal, involving strength and speed.
Fine motor movements such as coordination and control help lower arousal.
It can also depend on the nature of the environment, the level of expertise and personality.

Question 13

What are the problems with the theory?

Answer 13

Performance does not always gradually deteriorate as arousal increases, sometimes there can be a dramatic drop.

Question 14

What does Hanin’s (1986) Individual zones of optimal functioning suggest?

Answer 14

The IZOF theory suggest each performer possesses an optimal range for sports performance rather than one optimal level. It may be low, moderate or high depending on the individual which is not dependent on situational factors such as complexity of activity.
There is no common range of arousal but individuals performers can identify their own optimum level. The coaches should help find the performers optimal zone and identify techniques that put the performer in the zone before competing.

Question 15

Who conducted the key research?

Answer 15

Fazey and Hardy (1988) The inverted U hypothesis, a catastrophe for sport psychology.

Question 16

What do FH suggest?

Answer 16

Performance does not always gradually deteriorate as arousal increases, sometimes there is a dramatic decline, followed by a loss in confidence. Hysteresis.

Question 17

What does the Cognitive A state suggest?

Answer 17

It determines whether the decline is gradual or dramatic, it is referred to as the ‘spitting factor’ in determining whether the decline is gradual or dramatic.
It interacts with the Somatic A state.
There is a negative relationship between cognitive anxiety and performance when somatic anxiety is high.

Question 18

What was the aim of FH?

Answer 18

It was a theoretical paper, rather than an empirical study, to identify limitations with the inverted-U model of arousal and performance making use of the distinction between cognitive and somatic anxiety, and propose an alternative model, explaining the relationship between anxiety and performance.

Question 19

What was the method?

Answer 19

Review of problems with the inverted U hypothesis, to identify 3 main problems-
- difficulties with basic ideas
- difficulties with evidence
- difficulty in applying the model

Question 20

What was the problem with basic ideas?

Answer 20

Many psychologists use the terms stress, arousal and anxiety interchangeably.
It does not explain the more important relationship between anxiety and performance.

Question 21

What was the difficulties with evidence?

Answer 21

There is a lack of consistent evidence.

Question 22

What is the difficulty in applying the model?

Answer 22

the inverted U model predicts when stress exceeds the optimum, performance will decline slightly, which in the authors say this is not the case

Question 23

What is the catastrophe model?

Answer 23

Many top sports players go to pieces in big events.
Dramatic decline in performance.
If cognitive anxiety is high, the increases in arousal pass a point of optimal arousal, which leads to a rapid decline in performance occurs.
It is hard to recover after this point.
Increases in levels of cognitive anxiety will help performance if somatic anxiety is low.
If there is an increase in cognitive and somatic anxiety (high) performance will decline.
Cognitive anxiety determines whether the decline is gradual or dramatic not somatic anxiety.
There is a negative relationship between cognitive anxiety and performance when cognitive anxiety is high.

Question 24

What are the conclusions?

Answer 24

The inverted U hypothesis is flawed

Question 25

What are the conclusions?

Answer 25

Low cognitive anxiety- physiological arousal is related to performance in an inverted U High cognitive anxiety- increases in arousal pass a point of optimal arousal and a rapid decline in performance occurs, where it is hard to revover.

Question 26

What is the SCAT test?

Answer 26

Sport competition anxiety test, 15 items which are responded to, you indicate whether you rarely, sometimes or often feel/ think that, top score 30.

Question 27

What is the CSAI-2?

Answer 27

Competitive state anxiety inventory. contains 27 items, 9 measure somatic state anxiety, 9 measures cognitive state anxiety, 9 measures self confidence. 9 lowest, 36 highest A baseline score is taken a few days before competition and the test is done again, 24hrs before, 2hrs before, 5 mins before Cognitive anxiety decreases in the run up to the event but suddenly increases immediately prior to the event.

Question 28

What are issues with measuring anxiety on a self report?

Answer 28

SCAT- +not subjective -responses may not be honest CSAI-2 +Multi-dimensional mode, holistic - validity may be at risk

Question 29

What did Hardy et al (1994) suggest?

Answer 29

8 experienced bowlers were asked to bowl 3 balls at a jack on 2 consecutive days. day 1- before bowling given instructions to create low cognitive anxiety day 2- given 'threatening' instructions to raise cognitive anxiety. Cognitive anxiety was higher on day 2, physiological arousal was increased through being given runs to perform and measured through heart rate monitoring. Day 1- low cognitive anxiety- weak inverted U Day 2- high cognitive anxiety- performance peaked considerably higher, then dropped quickly. Best and worst conditions occur under conditions of high cognitive anxiety.

Question 30

What did Parfitt and Hardy (1977)?

Answer 30

8 experienced basketball players asked to perform a set of shooting tasks, under conditions of high and low cognitive anxiety. Physiological arousal was manipulated by means of physical work, subjects were tested with physiological arousal increasing and decreasing.

Question 31

Section C applications?

Answer 31

Application 1 CBT- cognitive behaviour therapy, arousal and psychological arousal can be tackled. Identifying problematic thoughts that increase anxiety. Stages- 1) assessment of precipitating factors, triggers for anxiety, predisposing factors eg parental pressure 2) identification of dysfunctional, automatic thoughts, eg 'i mustn't lose' 3) hypothesis formulation by psychologist- how precipitating, predisposing and maintaining factors lead to automatic thoughts which produce anxiety. 4) Athlete and coach work together to challenge dysfunctional, automatic, thoughts, eg psychologists asking athlete to look closely at actual evidence to support thought which leads to them being modified and less threatened to athlete reduced anxiety. + useful to regulate cognitive aspects of sporting anxiety, Turner and Barker (2013) used a form of CBT with 4 athlete youth cricketers and in all cases competitive anxiety was reduced. - High level of commitment is necessary, can depend on personality factors of athlete Application 2 Diaphragmatic breathing technique Integrative body mind technique, enables a person to cope with stress, 5-10mins, 3-4 times a day increased gradually, effort can be increased by placing a book on the abdomen, can be done stood up. Reduce number of athletes taking drugs (Painabas 2014), requires effect and practice. 1) Sit/lie close eyes, scan body for tension 2)Pay attention to breathing, place hands on chest/abdomen notice where it rises and falls the most with each breath 3)Place both hands on abdomen 4) breath through nose as slowly as possible 5) Notice if chest moves with abdomen 6) place one hand on abdomen and one on chest 7) inhale deeply and slowly through nose into abdomen 8) exhale through mouth keeping mouth tongue and jaw relaxed 9) relax and focus for deeper and controlled breath.

Question 32

Part A questions?

Answer 32

1. Aim, RM, Procedure 2. When anxiety increases, performance does not follow the inverted U hypothesis. If cognitive anxiety is high the increases in arousal pass a point of optimal arousal and a rapid decline in performance occurs- the catastrophe. Arousal can be detrimental if anxiety is moderate or high. 3. When physiological demand is high and cognitive demands are low arousal results in good performance. However when physiological arousal is low and cognitive demands are high this results in poor performance. Arousal is good for some performers eg runners, however detrimental for those who require a lot of concentration. Cognitive anxiety and demands of the task will lead to cognitive overload and a catastrophe.