A2 Physical Education Sport Psychology

Revision week 1

PERSONALITY AND AROUSAL

Overview

Week 1 Aspects of personalityArousal

Week 2 Controlling anxietyAttitudes

Week 3 AggressionConfidence

Week 4 Attribution theoryGroup success

Week 5 Leadership and any questions

Aspects of personality – traffic light sheet

What do I know? What do I need to know?

Anything new that I’ve learnt

Personality TIPS! Make sure you learn the specific

definition of personality! Have awareness of the links between

personality and sports performance. It is important to understand the NATURE

(trait) V NURTURE (social learning) and interactionist perspectives of behaviour.

Learn the strengths and weaknesses of each perspective.

Be aware of the problems associated with the use of personality profiling in sport.

Personality

“The sum total of an individuals characteristics which make him

unique” (Hollander).

“Personality is the more or less stable and enduring organisation of a persons

character, temperament, intellect and physique which determines the unique

adjustment to the environment” (Eysenck).

Personality Types

INTROVERTShy, timid,

reserved, aloof, self sufficient

EXTROVERTAdventurous,

confident,Sociable,

Group dependent, enthusiastic

TYPE ‘A ’Highly competitive,

Strong desire to succeed,Works fast, likes to control,

Prone to suffer stress

TYPE ‘B’Non-competitive,

Unambitious,Works more slowly,

Does not enjoy controlLess prone to stress

TRAITS NARROW BAND APPROACH, GIRDANO, 1990

Personality Theories - PMI

Trait Theory (nature)“People are born with

established personality characteristics”

Inherited at birth. Stable Enduring consistent in all situations.

BEHAVIOUR = FUNCTION OF PERSONALITY

+ve = Can be easily measured through questionnaires

-ve = Does not take into account environmental influences. It is not a true indicator of behaviour.

CATTELL (1965) identified 16 personality traitsINTROVERT & EXTROVERT

Social Learning Theory (Bandura)

“All behaviour is learned through interaction with the environment”

BEHAVIOUR = FUNCTION OF ENVIRONMENT

-ve = Does not consider inherited behaviour (traits)

NATURE

vs

NURTURE

Interactionist Theory“Behaviour occurs from the

interaction between inherited traits and learned experiences”

BEHAVIOUR = FUNCTION OF PERSONALITY × ENVIRNOMENT

Personality TheoriesConcentric Ring Theory (Hollander 1967)

The boundary line of each layer gets wider as you get closer to the centre of the model which shows that each layer is harder to enter. As you move closer to the centre, your ‘real’ personality begins to surface

Role Related Behaviour – Surface of personality

Typical Response – Your usual response in most situations

The Psychological Core – The ‘real you’

Personality TheoriesEysenck’s Personality Types

INTROVERT

NEUROTIC

(UNSTABLE)

EXTROVERT

STABLE

Personality traits run across 2 continuums:

INTROVERT: unsociable, shy & nervous

EXTROVERT: sociable, outgoing & lively

STABLE: calm, even-tempered, controlled 7 logical

UNSTABLE: anxious, moody, unpredictable & illogical

What is the role of RAS?

Personality Testing Pg114

Methods of Testing1) Observation2) Psychometric methods: self report questionnaires (16

personality factor questionnaire designed by CATTELL) EPI, SCAT, CSAI-2

Problems1) Questionnaires, observations and self-reports are not

reliable as people can fix answers.2) Evidence is too general – personality alone can not

predict behaviour.3) Although there is a link between personality research

and performance in sport, there is lack of evidence to support this.

POMS – Can you think of an acronym?

Iceberg profile

Exam questions on motivation

Achievement Motivation TIPS!

You need to understand the meaning of the term ‘achievement motivation’.

Make sure you know the characteristics of the different personality types

You need to be aware of the links between personality and the motive to achieve.

Achievement Motivation

Achievement Motivation is a concept developed by sports psychologists to link

PERSONALITY and COMPETITIVENESS.

The major issue centres on the extent to which an INDIVIDUAL IS MOTIVATED TO

ATTAIN SUCCESS.

Success in sport is measured against some type of COMPETITIVE GOAL.

Atkinson & McClelland (1976) – Interactionist View

Competitive orientation is generated through personality and situational

factors

In any challenging situation, everyone will have both a ‘need to achieve’ and a ‘need

to avoid failure’. Whichever feeling is stronger will determine whether the task

is accepted or declined.

Personality Factors

A = TASsomeone with a high need to achieve will probably have a low need to avoid failure and will choose difficult or demanding tasks which are more risky, e.g.the hard route up a rock face

B = TAFsomeone with a high need to avoid

failure will probably have a low need to achieve and will choose tasks which are less risky and more easily achieved, e.g. the easy route up the rock face

TAS = Tendency to APPROACH success

TAF = Tendency to AVOID failure

Situational Factors

A =If the probability of success low (competing against the world champion) you will strive very

hard to win (incentive high). You will be highly chuffed if you win.

B =If the probability of success high (competing in local club match) you don’t need to try as hard to win (incentive low and expect to win easily). It is not so pleasing if

you win.

What can the coach do?

IMPROVE NEED AND MOTIVE TO ACHIEVE (Nach)

• Increase positive reinforcement hence increasing pride and satisfaction• Ensure that goals are achievable• Ensure that at least some situations guarantee successand subsequently gradually increase task difficulty in line with progress• Ensure that tasks are challenging• Ensure that the probability of success is good• Ensure that the incentive value of the success is high (is the race worth winning?)

REDUCE TENDENCY AND MOTIVE TO AVOID FAILURE (NaF)

• Reduce punishment hence lowering the chance of performer worrying about failure• Focus negative feedback on effort rather than ability. This avoids the performer tending to believe that causes of failure are internal (due to lack of ability for example) and reduces the risk of learned helplessness.• Avoid situations where defeat / failure is inevitable (such as performing against a much superior opponent)if this is not possible alter the criteria for success (you will have succeeded if you only lose by 2 goals).

What can the coach do?

Types of GoalsAccording to BIDDLE, there are several types of goal

against which success can be judged:

• MASTERY or TASK GOALS: Associated with self-improvement, e.g. trying to achieve a PB in athletics (the same as PROCESS GOALS).

• EGO or ABILITY GOALS: Involve a comparison against ones rivals, e.g. beating everyone else to win the club tennis tournament (the same as OUTCOME GOALS)

• SOCIALLY APPROVED GOALS: Involves seeking social reinforcement as a measure of success, e.g. winning to earn approval from parents or coaches.

THINK BACK TO GOALS FROM AS SKILL!

Review the syllabus

Devise two personality questions (3 and 4 marks)

Devise a personality essay question (14 marks)

Aspects of personality – traffic light sheet

Anything new that I’ve learnt

A2 Physical Education Sport Psychology

Revision

Arousal

Name and describe the three theories of……..?

Key terms

Arousal

Somatic

Reticular activating system (RAS)

P = f (H X D)

Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning (Hanin)

Athlete A(low ZOF)

Athlete B(moderate ZOF)

Athlete C(high ZOF)

In zone(best performance)

Out of zone

Out of zone In zone(best performance)

Out of zone

Out of zone In zone(best performance)

Increasing Arousal

An athlete will enter the zone when arousal is at an optimum level and the situation matches the athlete’s strongest attentional style.

Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning (Hanin)

Personality

Task Type Stage of Learning

Experience

Low Zone of

Functioning

(low arousal)

INTROVERTSIMPLE/ GROSS SKILLS, E.G. SHOT PUT

COGNITIVE/ ASSOCIATIVE PHASE

NOVICE PERFORMERS

High Zone of

Functioning

(high arousal)

EXTROVERTCOMPLEX/ FINE SKILLS, E.G. SPIN BOWLING

AUTONOMOUS EXPERIENCED PERFORMER

Different people perform better under different (arousal) conditions:

Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning (Hanin)………

Teachers and coaches should guide the performer towards their personal ‘optimal threshold’ or ‘individual zone of optimal functioning’.

IN THEZONE!

EFFORTLESS PERFORMANCETHE

ATHLETE FEELS IN

FULL CONTROL

ATTENTION AND CONCENTRATION

OF THE PERFORMER IS

FOCUSED

EXECUTION OF THE SKILL BRINGS

ENJOYMENT AND SATISFACTION

Attentional narrowing

Cue utilisation theory

Attentional narrowing

Attentional wastage

Stress management techniques

PEAK FLOW – Pg 137 PEAK FLOW: Optimal experience that facilitates best performance and

is intrinsically valuable. (Csikzentmimalyi)

Excitement,happiness

Relaxation, Drowsiness

Anxiety,anger

Boredomfatigue

High somatic arousal

Low somatic arousal

High cognitive

Arousal

anxiety

Low cognitiv

e

Arousal

anxiety

Peak flow occurs when somatic anxiety has reached an appropriate threshold and cognitive anxiety is

low.

flow state is attained when the performer has a balanced

perception of the demands of the situation and his/her ability to cope.

a high incentive value is to be gained from a challenge that is both realistic and attainable.

The focus of attention and concentration is maximised.

there is a self-confident belief that nothing could go wrong.

the situation suits the athlete’s strongest attentional style.

During these rare moments in sport, the athlete assumes control over all internal and

environmental variables and a time of greatest happiness and self-fulfilment is experienced.

Review the syllabus – traffic light sheet

Devise two arousal questions (3 and 4 marks)

Devise an arousal essay question (14 marks)

Examination questions

Next week and homework pg 127 and 139

Week 1 Aspects of personalityArousal

Week 2 Controlling anxietyAttitudes

Week 3 AggressionConfidence

Week 4 Attribution theoryGroup success

Week 5 Leadership