Stress and Anxiety

Question 1

Define arousal?

Answer 1

“Arousal”= ‘a general physiological and psychological activation varying on a continuum from deep sleep to intense excitement’ (Gould, Greenleaf & Krane, 2002).

Question 2

Describe the DRIVE THEORY?

Answer 2

The DRIVE THEORY- Hull
- Proportional linear relationship
- More psyched up- better the performance
- Increased drive (arousal) will increase likelihood of DOMINANT RESPONSE
-DR= most likely behaviour
-Artent and Landers, 2003- did a research and cyclists had to perform flat out as fast as they could and when a light came on they had to press a button- an increase in HR increases the movement time.

Question 3

What are the negatives of the Drive Theory?

Answer 3

Negatives=
Very little support in the literature
Increasing drive (arousal) – performers resort to previously learned skills because they are dominant – but may incorrect (novices, intermediates)
Even the most skilled players “choke” in high pressure situations

Question 4

Describe the INVERTED U-HYPOTHESIS?

Answer 4

Yerkes and Dodson, 1908
-Predicts performance effectiveness will increase as arousal increases
-Up to some optimal point
-Further increases in arousal will produce an increase in performance
-Theory suggests behaviour is aroused and directed toward balanced or optimal state.
-Performance gets better to a certain point
-General notion accepted as it’s seen a lot within Literature

Question 5

What are the negatives of the Inverted U Hypothesis?

Answer 5

Negatives= Criticism (Gould & Udry, 1994; Hardy, 1990)
* Optimal arousal at midpoint?
* Nature of arousal itself?
Suggests that it’s formed around a mid-point, but is it actually?
Need to consider the individual and the specific task
= dated.

Question 6

What did Hardy and Fazey state in critique of the Inverted U Hypothesis in 1987?

Answer 6

“a catastrophe for sport psychology” (Hardy and Fazey, 1987)

Question 7

Define anxiety?

Answer 7

A negative emotional state with feelings of nervousness, worry and apprehension associated with activation or arousal of the body.

Question 8

Define Trait Anxiety?

Answer 8

Aspect of personality – an individual with trait anxiety will experience anxiety regardless of the situation (how you usually feel)

Question 9

Define State Anxiety?

Answer 9

State Anxiety: How you feel right now/ in a specific environment (multidimensional) -cognitive and somatic

Question 10

Define cognitive anxiety ( a part of state anxiety)

Answer 10

Concerned with the extent to which one worries or has negative thoughts=
* Lack of self confidence
* Disrupted attentions
* Sense of worry, fear and doubt
* Worrisome expectation of failure
* Negative concerns about performance
* Impaired ability to concentrate
* = PSYCHOLOGICAL RESPONSES

Question 11

Define somatic anxiety ( a part of state anxiety)

Answer 11

Concerned with the moment-to-moment changes in one’s perception of physiological activation
* Unusual feelings of nausea
* Increased respiration rates
* Increased blood pressure
* Increased muscle tension
* Increased perspiration

Question 12

Define behavioural anxiety ( the third type within state anxiety)?

Answer 12

BEHAVIORAL ANXIETY- how a person behaves- very little research into this type of anxiety- a way a person acts.

Question 13

Define stress?

Answer 13

A substantial imbalance between demand (physical and or psychological and response capability, under conditions where failure to meet their demand has important consequences” (McGrath, 1970)

Question 14

What usually takes place when we experience stress?

Answer 14

A flight or fight response
- Increased HR
- Inhibits peristalsis
- Shivering/ goosebumps
- Increased perspiration
- Glycogen to glycose/ (nor)adrenaline

Question 15

What are SITUATIONAL SOURCES of stress?

Answer 15

Event importance: the more important the event, the more stressful it is likely to be: importance of the event to the individual.

Event Expectations: too much pressure (from parents, coaches) can add to competitive anxiety: low expectations regarding performance and can also evoke anxiety.
Winning a lot can become a large cause of anxiety.

Question 16

What are INDIVIDUAL FACTORS of stress?

Answer 16

-Trait anxiety: individuals high in trait anxiety are more likely to see competition as stressful (genetics and experience).
-Performance concerns: perfectionism and over concern with image is associated with high anxiety.
-Locus of control: the extent to which we believe we are in control of our lives- low locus of control= higher anxiety
-Self-esteem: those with lower self-esteem experience lower self-confidence and more state anxiety
-Social Physique Anxiety= the degree to which one becomes anxious when others observe their physiques.

Question 17

Explain the concept of cognitive and somatic anxiety- Time to Event?

Answer 17

Our anxiety (somatic) only increases close to competition- whereas our anxiety (cognitive) increases sooner and remains stable.

Question 18

What are some cognitive reduction strategies?

Answer 18

• Reducing the importance of the competition
• Implementation of effective goal-setting programme
• Pre-performance routines

Question 19

What are some cognitive reduction strategies?

Answer 19

• Reducing the importance of the competition
• Implementation of effective goal-setting programme
• Pre-performance routines

Question 20

What are some somatic reduction strategies?

Answer 20

Breathing, Relaxation Techniques, Progressive Relaxation, Biofeedback

Question 21

What’s the IZOF Model?

Answer 21

-The individual zone of optimum functioning- within the inverted U theory
-(Hanin, 1997,2000)
-Depends on the type of sport as to which zone you need within sport- individual specific and sport specific- activation levels to not need to be so high for some sports.

Question 22

Describe the CATASTROPHE THEORY?

Answer 22

In critique of the multidimensional anxiety theory =- only makes predictions about separate relationships between cognitive anxiety and performance.
(Hardy & Parfitt, 1991, p.165)
a 3D model, very hard to test

Focuses on the interactive effects of arousal, cognitive anxiety and performance.
Performance vs Arousal (high/ low)
But, under conditions of high COGNITIVE ANXIETY we have a LARGE DROP
A massive decline- if we can teach the athlete to control cognitively and physiologically we can reactivate the athlete to an optimum level- CAN GAIN RE-CONTROL.

Question 23

What’s the hysteresis hypothesis?

Answer 23

The Hysteresis hypothesis postulates that under high cognitive anxiety, the path that performance follows will be different depending on weather physiological arousal is increasing or decreasing- as physiological arousal increases so does performance to a certain point.

Question 24

What’s “directional anxiety”?

Answer 24

(Jones, Swain and Hardy, 1993)
-Limitation of measuring just anxiety and intensity
-Interpretation of symptoms important?
-(Neil et al, 2006 )- completed a study on rugby players on both elite and non-elite players- need to know of anxiety works for them or not.