Introduction to Sports Psychology Lecture Summary PDF

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Introduction to Sports Psychology SummaryUnit 1: Introduction to the moduleSpecialities:Clinical Sport psychologists Extensive training in applied areas of psychology (e., abnormal, clinical, counselling, and personality psychology) and tend to be less well trained in sport sciences. Usually license...

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Introduction to Sports Psychology Summary Unit 1: Introduction to the module Specialities: Clinical Sport psychologists • Extensive training in applied areas of psychology (e.g., abnormal, clinical, counselling, and personality psychology) and tend to be less well trained in sport sciences. • Usually licensed psychologists.

Educational sport psychologists • Extensive training in sport and exercise sciences and often have additional training in counselling. • See themselves either as researchers or as ‘mental coaches’ and are usually not licensed psychologists

Sports and exercise orientations Psychophysiological • Study behaviour through its underlying psychophysiological processes occurring in the brain (e.g., heart rate, brain wave activity, muscle action potentials). • Social-psychological • Focus on how behaviour is determined by a complex interaction between the environment and one’s personal makeup. • Cognitive behavioural • Assumes that behaviour is determined by both the environment and cognition, with thoughts and interpretation playing an especially important role

Unit 2: Imagery Define and describe imagery: To visualise and “see” something mentally happen before you actually perform that action in hope for a better outcome. It can be watching a ball, feeling a weight of a bat, hearing the

sound of the ball hitting the net, the feel of the bat in your hand or the smell of freshly cut grass. “An experience that mimics a real experience.” Understand the factors of imagery use and effectiveness: Provide an overview of the imagery-performance relationship and imagery outcomes.

Definition Imagery is the process of athletes imagining a situation mentally before it actually happens in hope of a better result or outcome. It is an experience that mimics reality or real experiences. Example: Ronaldinho always used to imagine playing a game of football the night and day before, thinking of plays etc. It is multi-sensory, meaning that you can use all of your different senses to “see” or experience images.

    

Visual – watch the ball Kinaesthetic – position of the bat, weight transfer Auditory‐ sound of the bat hitting the ball Touch‐ the feel of the bat in your hand Olfactory – smell of freshly cut grass

Types of imagery There are 2 dimesions of imagery  Motivational/Cognitive  Specific/General Motivational ‐ Specific → Goal‐Oriented responses (MS)  e.g. Imagining oneself winning a specific event Cognitive ‐ Specific → Skills (CS)  e.g. Imagining performing a turn on the balance beam (Gymnastics) Motivational ‐ General → Arousal (MG‐A)  e.g. imaged to feel excited/psyched or relaxed OR Mastery (MG‐M)  e.g. Imagery to stay focused and positive Cognitive ‐ General → Strategy (CG)  e.g. Imaging carrying out a strategy or routine  e.g. Imagining executing a race plan or making the right run in a set piece

How do athletes use Imagery The 4 W’s WHERE They use it in both Competition and in Practise, but more commonly in Competition WHEN  Before, during or after the Competition?  During or Outside practise Often used as a preperation-technique before a competition, or during the competition to regulate emotion or seeing them being succesful WHY/WHAT  Skill-development (CS)  Performance-enhancement (CS)  Strategy development (CG)  Outcomes (MS)  Control (MG‐M)  Focus (MG‐M)  Confidence ?  Relaxation (MG‐A)

Using Imagery Nature of the imagery  

Valence: Are the experiences you imagine positive or negative? Generelly believed that positive imagery is more effective

Example:  Positive Imagery: Imagining the golfball to go in to the cup  Negative Imagery: Imagining the golfball to be short Positive imagery holed more balls

Perspective Internal  See the image as from your own eyes (First-person) External  See the image as from an observer (Third-Person) Internal imagery tends to be more effective as it represents what you actually see in your experience, what your experience is in the competition. Sports requiring form, as gymnastics, could be more effective with external imagery.

Task/Skill level / Athlete’s Imagery Ability Nature of the task (cognitive components)  More effective in cognitive components, such as decision making for a courter back, compared to olympic powerlifting Skill level of the performer  Both novice and experienced athletes use imagery, but experienced use it more often and are more effective Imagery ability  How good are you at creating images? How vivid are the images, how much detail can you have? Can you control the images?  The better imagery ability, the better performance improvment through imagery intervention.  Imagery ability is a skill that you can get better at

Ability and effective imagery Vividness  How much detail can you give the image?  How many senses can you bring in to the image to make it as realistic and vivid of the actual experience as possible?  The more you can replicate the actual competition the more effective the imagery is Example: Ability to include the visual aspects, the audiatory, the feeling sensations and the emotion Controllability  Can you control the image?  Can you make it grow in size?  Can you move the image the way we want it to happen?  Very important because we want the Positive Imagery o Can you control the imagery to turn it from negative to positive? o e.g. turning an imagery of a mistake into something successful

Imagery outcomes / uses Improve concentration  e.g. Centreback: Use imagery for the aspects in your game that is important Enhance motivation  Greater effort and persistence Build confidence  Achievement (MS)  Imagine being calm can help  Imagery to stay focused means that you’re more likely to be confident to handle a situation Control emotional responses  So we don’t get upset during matches  e.g. use imagery to handle a situation when you’re upset with the referee correctly  Reduced anxiety and more confidence Acquire, practise and correct sports skills Acquire and practise sports strategy Prepare for competition Cope with pain and injury  Helps to speed up the recovery of the injured area and keeps skills from deteriorating  Relaxing imagery associated with better pain tolerance and enhance recovery

Imagery and Performance  

One of the most common mental skill for improving performance Not as effective as physical practise

Why imagery works Psychoneuromuscular Theory

‐ Due to neuromuscular activity patterns activated during imaging ‐ Vivid imagery innervates the muscle in the same way that physical movement does ‐ Strengthens neural pathways used for movement (Carpenter, 1894) Evidence:

‐ Areas of the cerebral cortex light up under functional magnetic imaging when ‐

imaging competing in a 400m race (Murphy, 2005) EMG activity was greatest when imaging lifting heavy weight compared to light weight and followed the same pattern of activation as physical movement (Guillot et al., 2007)

Biofinformational Theory

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An image has 2 types of statements:

o

Stimulus propositions: described a specific stimulus about the situation to be imaged

o

Response propositions: describe an imagers response to that stimulus

Images that contain response stimulus instructions elicit greater physiological responses than does imagery instructions that contain only stimulus propositions (Hale, 1982)

Symbolic learning theory (Sackett, 1934) • Imagery may function as a coding system to help people understand and acquire movement patterns. • Create a motor pattern in the central nervous system, a mental blueprint is formed for successfully completing a movement • Helps with decision making and movement patterns Psychological explanations Imagery helps build psychological skills that are necessary for successful performance (selfconfidence, concentration and reduced anxiety) Which theory?

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Taken together, these approaches suggest that imagery might be best understood as a centrally mediated cognitive activity that mimics perceptual, motor, and emotional experiences of the brain (Moran, 2004).

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Cognitive, physiological, and psychological components of an activity can be captured through different modalities (Weinberg & Gould, 2006)

Unit 3: Motivation Define Motivation: Understand different motivation types: Discuss relevant theories of motivation: Understand how motivational theories relate to health and performance:

Defining motivation: “To be moved by something” “Can be defined simply as the direction and intensity of one’s effort” Direction of behaviour ‐

Whether an individual seeks out, approaches, or is attracted to a situation

Intensity of behaviour ‐

How much an individual exerts (make an effort) in a situation

Differing approaches to motivation ‐

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Trait‐centred view o Personal factors:  Personality  Needs  Interests  Goals Situation‐centred view o Situational factors  Coaches style  Win-Loss Record  Facility Attractiveness

Participation‐by‐situation interaction  Participant motivation o A combination of the 2 o E.g. You love football, but your coach doesn’t match with your personality style so you lose motivation

Self determination theory ‐ ‐ ‐

People have an innate tendency to want for psychological growth (orgasmic theory – we as people are active organisms) Interested how different types of motivation facilitates or thwarts people’s sense of control, well-being, and quality of performance Is specifically interested in how social and cultural contexts impact an individual’s ability to live in self-determined ways

Building Self‐determination theory ‐

It is a ‘meta‐theory’ which is made up of various sub‐theories: o Basic Needs Theory o Cognitive Evaluation Theory (CET) o Organismic Integration Theory (OIT) o Causality Orientations Theory (COT) o Goal Contents Theory

Summary ‐ ‐ ‐

Motivation is the direction and intensity of one’s behaviour and can influence our choice, intensity of effort and perseverance of an activity • There are various theories attempting to explain motivation. We have only covered a few in this lecture! Facilitating intrinsic or internalised motivation will increase likelihood of well being and improved performance

Unit 4: Motivation and Extreme Sport Extreme sports: Sports with high risk with a possibility of severe injuries or death Often involves a high level of physical risk and physical exertion, speed, height, and highly specialized gear.

Risk aversion

Risk seeking Normative attitudes towards risk

Avoids risks

Takes risks

Seeks safety

Accepts greater risk and uncertainty

Prefers certainty

Has a high degree of risk tolerance

Chooses smallest risk

Often seeks varied, complex,

Has a preference for a sure outcome

novel, and intense experiences

Why are athletes motivated to participate in “risky” sports? Participation as pathological and unhealthy. Personalities and traits include: ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐

Impulsivity Narcissism Extraversion Sensation and thrill seeking

Participation as deeply meaningful and life-enhancing. ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐

Connecting with nature Contribution to deep relationships Pushing personal boundaries and overcoming fears Increased psychological outcomes as resilience, and positive affects Control, mastery skill

Study: Differences and similarities between novice and experienced climbers Novice: Externally motivation (e.g., reach objectives, develop skills, be recognized) Elite: Internally motivated (e.g., challenge themselves, make decisions, self-expression). When faced with an obstacle (e.g., altitude sickness, fatigue, fear of failure) that prevented climbers from physically and mentally feeling the way they wanted, all four participants used strategies (e.g., positive self‐talk, body awareness) to help them reconnect with how they wanted to feel.

“I am very experience when it comes to altitude and so I know exactly what it going on inside my body when I feel a particular sensation. This means that I can react to the potentially fata effects of high altitude immediately. Being aware of this gives me the confidence to climb high and that in turn makes me feel strong.” (Climber 4)

Reversal theory A general theoretical model of motivation, emotion and personality Within its approach are four pairs of metamotivational states. ‐ ‐

These states are describes as frames of mind that govern how a person interprets his or her motives at a certain time. Four pairs of opposing states, each with it’s own characteristics.

Telic state ‐ ‐ ‐

Serious Goal oriented Arousal avoiding

 Paratelic state ‐ ‐ ‐

Spontaneus Playful Arousal seeking

____________________________________________________________________ Conformist state ‐ ‐

Compliant Agreeable

 Negativist state ‐ ‐ ‐

Rebellious Unconventional Defiant

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Mastery state ‐ ‐

Competitive Dominating

 Sympathy State ‐ ‐

Desire for harmony and unity Co-operative

Autic state ‐

Egoistic

 Alloic State ‐ ‐

Concerned with others Altruistic

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Individuals switch or ‘reverse’, between paired mental or metamotivational states producing significant changes in their motivational and emotional experience. Reversals are caused by environmental stimuli, frustration, or satiation. The amount of time a person spends in one or other of each pair of states over time is known as metamotivational dominance (e.g., paratelic dominance, mastery dominance)

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Paratelic protective frames: ‐ ‐

Cognitively based, subjectively determined, metamotivational states that influence how an individual interprets current experience. Affect an individuals’ risk perception. o Give high-risk sport participants the confidence and feelings of safety necessary to allow them to experience pleasure from these activities.

Unit 5: Attention and Concentration Attention: The process of focusing one’s awareness on a narrow aspect of experience Concentration: Concentration is the ability to maintain focus on relevant environmental cues, while ignoring distraction

4 components of concentration: 1. Focusing on relevant environmental cues

2. Maintaining Attention over time 3. Situational awareness 4. Shifting attention

1. Focusing on relevant environmental cues ‐ Focusing on task-relevant cues and disregarding irrelevant cues ‐ Examples: Focusing on the ball, keeper position and goal posts during a penalty ‐ An inward focus on breathing during yoga or pilates 2. Maintaining Attention over time ‐ How long can we attend to task-relevant, and disregard task-irrelevant cues? ‐ Research ahs shown that the median length of time we can concentrate on one thought is only 5 seconds ‐ Example: Snooker World Championship; competing most days for a period of 2 and a half weeks ‐ Final match taking place over 2 days 3. Situational awareness ‐ How well an athlete can understand what is going on around them ‐ Often referred to “reading the game” ‐ Being able to maintain focus but also having awareness of your surroundings is the difference between a good and a great athlete ‐ Examples: Reading an opponent to intercept a pass in netball (any ball sport) ‐ Anticipating a cut to make a pass to a player under the net in netball 4. Switching attention ‐ Being able to alter the scope and focus of attention as demanded by the situation – “attentional flexibility” ‐ One’s ability to self-regulate attentional focus (attentional flexibility) is associated to the ability to sustain exertive effort in endurance tasks ‐ Example: Golfer must think about wind direction and length of fairway, then appraise their previous experience, then consider her technique, perhaps go through a pre-shot routine, then they think about the ball. Hurdler constantly reviewing location of the hurdle, stride length, wind direction, track conditions- but at a much faster speed!

We cannot attend to everything… therefore we select and maintain attention on relevant cues We actively discard irrelevant information/stimuli However, we need to remain aware of our environment in case we need to switch attention to new relevant stimuli as we don’t have the capacity to attend to everything at once

Theories of attentional focus 1. Attentional selectivity 2. Attentional capacity 3. Attentional alertness

1. Attentional selectivity ‐ Letting some information into the information-processing system whilst screening and ignoring irrelevant information ‐ It is not how long athletes maintain focus but what they focus on that’s important ‐ “Searchlight metaphor” in which the athlete uses a searchlight to focus on what is important ‐ Three common errors when the “searchlight” is focused inappropriately: o 1. Failure to focus all the attention on the essential elements (too broad) o 2. Distraction by irrelevant information (wrong direction) o 3. Inability to divide attention among all relevant cues (too narrow)

2. Attentional capacity ‐ Attention is limited in the amount of info that can be processed at one time ‐ Attentional capacity refers to how much attentional stimuli we can take in within a given time and space ‐ As you become more experienced and proficient, processing become more automatic and frees attention for other things

3. Attentional Alertness ‐ Explores how attentional focus may be affected by emotional arousal ‐ The inverted U‐hypothesis ‐ Under/over-arousal can cause a reduction in the number of task-relevant cues that performers can process ‐ Optimal emotional arousal can facilitate a performers attentional capacity

Types of Attentional Focus 1. Width (number of cues) 2. Direction (internal/external)

Why athletes lose concentration Internal: ‐ ‐

Future Regret

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Worry about others Tired, bored or emotionally upset

External: ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐

Crowd Ambient noise Gamesmanship Surfaces Weather

The relationship to performance High anxiety situation ‐ ‐

Fixated on goalkeeper sooner Fixated on the goalkeeper longer Change in attentional control More shots were taken near the goalkeeper than in low threat situations Reduction in performance

Flow ‐ ‐ ‐

Flow is “characterised by complete absorption in what one does … [an] intense and focused concentration of what one is doing in the present moment” States of flow often enhance experience and performance within sporting contexts Attention is important in entering and maintaining states of flow so that we are able to keep our thoughts, feelings, wishes, and actions in harmony

Choking ‐ ‐

Defined as “performance decrements under pressure situations” Attentional theories associated with choking: o Distraction theories (e.g., stresses and anxieties caused by pressure overwhelm information processing systems that are required to complete skills)

o Self-focus theories (e.g., self-consciousness causes an inward, narrow focus on the execution of skills)

Improve concentration To improve optimally, athletes must be able to employ different attentional strategies to control external and internal distracters, while focusing on body and task-relevant cues Strategies Examples: ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐...