Sport Psychology: A Quick Tour

1
Sport Psychology A Quick Tour

• Definition(s)
• What is a Sport Psychologist?
• What do they study ?
• Internal factors
• Personality
• Stress Performance
• Intervention
• Motivation
• External factors
• Society

2
Sport Psychology

• Examines the influence of participating in sport
  on an individuals psychological make-up
• does participation in organized sport at an early
  age result in positive character development?

3
Sport Psychology

• Examines the effect of particular psychological
  factors have on behavior before, during and/or
  after physical activity
• is there a particular personality characteristic
  that is necessary to handle high anxiety
  situations?

4
What is a Sport Psychologist?

• Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport
  Psychology (AAASP)
• Health Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Performance/Intervention
• American Psychological Association
• Division 38 (Health Psychology)
• Division 47 (Exercise and Sport Psychology)

5
AAASP Certification

• A growing number of sport psychology
  professionals are certified by the AAASP. These
  professionals -- who earn the designation
  Certified Consultant, AAASP (or CC, AAASP) --
  have met a minimum standard of education and
  training in the sport sciences and in psychology.
  They have also undergone an extensive review
  process. The AAASP certification process
  encourages sport psychology professionals who
  complete it to maintain high standards of
  professional conduct while giving service to
  others.
• Certification, however, does not guarantee
  competency

6
Health Psychology

• Focus on the role of psychological factors in
  sport and exercise as they relate to
• disease development and remediation,
• coping with stress
• health promotion
• A primary concern is with the close relationship
  between mental health and physical health.

7
Social Psychology

• Focuses on
• individual and group processes in sport and
  exercise settings including
• Sport participant
• Coach
• Team
• Spectator

8
Maybe, better examples
9
Performance/Intervention

• focuses on
• research, theory, and practice for improvement
  in exercise and sport.
• interventions on the well-being of participants
  in exercise and sport.
• addresses professional issues such as training
  and credentialing of sport psychologists
  providing services to enhance exercise and sport
  performance.

10
APA Certification

• At this time, neither APA or Division 47 has
  plans to offer or recommend a specialty
  certificate or the equivalent in "sport
  psychology." In making the decision to call
  yourself a sport psychologist, psychologists
  should carefully consider the APA "Ethical
  Principles of Psychologists".

Taken from http//www.psyc.unt.edu/apadiv47/about
_becomingsportpsych.html
11
Sport Psychology A Quick Tour

• Definition(s)
• What is a Sport Psychologist?
• What do they study ?
• Internal factors
• Personality
• Stress Performance
• Intervention
• Motivation
• External factors
• Society

12
Personality

• An individuals characteristic patterns of
  behavior that contribute to their uniqueness

(Baron, Byrne, Kantowitz, 1980)
13
Personality

• Trait perspective
• examine relatively enduring intrapersonal
  characteristics that account for the unique yet
  stable behaviors to events in the environment

(Vealey, 1992)
14
Personality Assessing Traits

• Cattells 16PF
• anxiety, introversion/extroversion,
  tough-minded/tender-minded, independence/subduedne
  ss
• Athletic Motivation Inventory (AMI)
• aggressiveness, coachability, drive, trust,
  conscientiousness, determination, leadership,
  emotional control, guilt proneness, mental
  toughness, and self-confidence

15
(No Transcript)
16
Personality Females athletes?

• Achievement-oriented
• independent
• aggressive
• emotionally stable
• assertive

Williams, 1980
17
Personality

• State perspective
• individuals regulate their behavior according to
  their behavior according to the situation or
  environmental constraints

18
Personality Assessing States

• Profile of Mood States (POMS)
• tension, depression, anger, vigor, fatigue and
  confusion
• Competitive State Anxiety Inventory (CSAI)

19
POMS

• Scoring
• 0 Not at all
• 1 A little
• 2 Moderately
• 3 Quite a bit
• 4 Extremely

• I feel
• Energetic
• Tense
• Fatigued
• Confused
• Full of pep
• Annoyed

20
Morgan, 1979 Iceberg Profile
21
(No Transcript)
22
Other POMS profiles in Sport

• Over-training
• high depression, fatigue, and low vigor
• Hyperactive/Misdirected
• high tension and anger
• Stale
• non distinguishable factors

23
Arousal, Anxiety, Stress and Performance

• The first three terms are often used
  inter-changeably but sport psychologists find it
  important to distinguish each of them and their
  relationship to performance

24
Arousal

• general physiological and psychological
  activation of the organism that varies on a
  continuum from deep sleep to intense excitement

(Gould Krane, 1992)
25
Anxiety

• Trait
• a motive or acquired behavioral disposition that
  predisposes an individual to perceive a wide
  range of objectively non-dangerous circumstances
  as threatening

26
Anxiety

• State
• emotional state characterized by subjective,
  consciously perceived feelings of apprehension
  and tension, accompanied by additional arousal
• nb varies according to perceived threat

27
Stress

• A substantial imbalance between and response
  capability, under conditions where failure to
  meet demands has important consequences (this is
  typically what we think of as Distress but we can
  have Ustress)

28
Anxiety - Arousal - Stress
USTRESS
ANXIETY (TRAIT)(STATE)
AROUSAL
DISTRESS
PERFORMANCE
29
Arousal Performance
Drive Theory Knute Rockne Theory
Performance
AROUSAL
30
(No Transcript)
31
Catastrophe Theory Model

• Performance

High Mod. Low
Low Mod. High Arousal
32
Intervention

• Passive Techniques
• Conditioning
• flooding (overload)
• implosive therapy (hierarchy)
• Counter-conditioning
• systematic desensitization

33
Intervention

• Active Techniques
• Cognitive Restructuring
• thought reorganization
• coping strategies (relaxation, positive
  self-talk, imagery)
• adaptive self-statements as re-focusing tool

34
Imagery

• Mental practice
• Covert rehearsal
• Mental rehearsal
• Visualization (VMBR)

35
Making Imagery Work

• Here are some general principles to enhance
  imagery
• Make the imagery seem as realistic as possible by
  including all senses, in full color and detail,
  within a similar emotional context
• Practice imagery regularly as it may take months
  before seeing improvement
• Believe that imagery works, as your attitudes and
  expectations enhance the effect (Placebo effect)
• Keep a focused yet relaxed attention while using
  imagery
• Internal imagery (as opposed to external) is most
  effective. Picture yourself actually
  accomplishing the feat (from your minds eye),
  rather than viewing yourself from the outside
  looking in (first vs. third person)

36
Imagery Its use in Sport

• Mental practice of specific performance skills
• Improving confidence and positive thinking
• Tactical rehearsal and problem solving
• Controlling arousal and anxiety
• Performance review and analysis
• Preparation for performance
• Within pre-performance routines
• Maintaining mental freshness during injury

37
Imagery Theoretical Accounts

• Psycho-neuromuscular account (cf. muscle memory)
• Symbolic learning/information processing account
• Arousal account

38
Motivation

• the direction and intensity of effort (Gill,
  1986) and is characterized by
• the type of choice, effort, and persistence of
  behaviors (Weiss Chaumeton, 1992)

39
Two important parts to Motivation

• Direction of effort Approach or avoid a
  situation
• Intensity of effort How much effort put forth
  in a situation

40
Exercise Adherence The numbers

• 45 of adults are sedentary
• 65 of children participate in regular physical
  activity
• 35 of adults participate in exercise on a weekly
  basis
• 10 of adults participate in vigorous and
  frequent activity
• 50 of people starting an exercise program will
  drop out within 6 months

41
In general, why would an individual participate,
or persist?

• Improvement in skills and fitness
• establishing affiliation, socialization
• competition
• having fun
• Weight control
• Building self-esteem

(Weiss Chaumeton, 1992)
42
Factors impacting persistence

• Self-Efficacy
• Use of extrinsic and/or intrinsic motivation
• Goal setting

43
Sources of Self-Efficacy

• Performance Accomplishments
• what the athlete recognizes has been achieved by
  his/her participation.
• Vicarious Experiences
• observation of someone of equivalent ability can
  accomplish the task successfully.
• Verbal Persuasion
• telling yourself you can do it.
• Physiological States
• learning energizing strategies enhance
  perceptions of pre-competitive self-efficacy
• Emotional Arousal
• researchers argue that increased self-efficacy
  follows performances where the individual
  effectively manages the physiological states of
  arousal.
• Imaginal Experiences
• athletes go through the demands of their sport
  prior to performing (in a positive manner) should
  help increase their ability to meet those
  demands.

44
Increasing Intrinsic Motivation

• using positive verbal and non-verbal feedback
• ensuring some success
• increased individual responsibility
• providing a variety of practice experiences (cf.
  Chapter 8)
• appropriate use of goal setting (Locke Bryan,
  1966)

45
Goal Setting Needs

• Challenging - Will it require effort?
• Realistic - Is it reasonable?
• Specific - What is the objective?
• Measurable - How will meeting this goal be
  determined?
• Controllable - Own performance not someone else

46
Goal Setting for Physical Activity

• Goal setting may be improved by
• specifying goals in absolute (i.e., outcome)
  terms
• setting short-term and long-term goals
• allowing individuals to participate in setting
  goals
• making goals public and be accountable
• moderate goals, those in which attainment was
  between 10 and 50, were best

(Kyllo Landers, 1995)
47
The flip-side of attrition Addiction

• Estimates suggest that as many as 2.5 million
  Americans are addicted to exercise (exercise
  addition syndrome)
• These individuals continue to exercise even
  though contraindicated due to other problem
  (e.g., orthopedic, etc)

48
Exercise and Mental Health

• 15 million Americans suffer from depression
• 10-12 million Americans suffer from anxiety or
  stress reactions
• Hectic pace of westernized, technological society

49
Physical Activity Intervention for Psychological
well-being

• Psychological well-being
• via sense of mastery or achievement
• distraction
• indirect via biochemical change
• reduced depression
• reduced state and trait anxiety (endurance
  exercise)
• improved cognitive performance

50
Message of 213 remains the same

• Eating alone will not keep a man well he must
  also exercise (be physically active) ..." --
  Hippocrates (460-370 BC)

Italics are mine!!!
51
AND still remains the same

• "...we can team up to create a new physical
  activity movement in this country. In doing so,
  we will save precious resources, precious
  futures, and precious lives. The time for action
  - and activity - is now."

Donna E. Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human
Services, 1996