A Level PE - Sport psychology | exam Questions
with Verified 100% Correct Answers
3. Role related behaviour (adapt to specific situation)
Attitude - ✔✔- A value aimed at an attitude object.
- Formed by picking up opinions/values from significant others.
- Can become conditioned if behaviour is successful and reinforced.
Triadic Model - ✔✔- The three parts of an attitude:
1. Cognitive (your beliefs)
2. Affective (feelings/interpretations)
3. Behavioural (actions)
Cognitive Dissonance - ✔✔New information given to the performer to cause unease
and motivate change (e.g. rewards/role models).
Persuasion - ✔✔- An effective communication to promote change.
- Relevant, understandable and clear.
- High status person.
- Timing (after an incident when change is needed).
Arousal - ✔✔A level of activation, a degree of readiness to perform.
Causes of increased arousal - ✔✔- Level of competition
- Increased spectators
,- Loss of confidence
- Self-doubt
- Pressure
- Poor performance
- Anxiety
Drive Theory - ✔✔P = f(DxH)
- Performance is a function of drive and habit.
- As arousal increases, so does performance.
- Unrealistic as it cannot continue in a linear fashion; variables out of your control could
increase arousal. Also, the relationship between performance and arousal is different
for everybody.
Dominant Response - ✔✔- The stand-out response that the performer thinks is
correct.
- Usually correct for elite athletes.
- Usually wrong for novices.
- At high arousal, less information is processed so the performer will concentrate on
their dominant response.
Inverted U theory - ✔✔- Increased arousal improves performance to an optimal point
at moderate levels of arousal. Further increases in arousal can cause performance to
deteriorate.
- Optimum arousal depends on:
1. Experience (novice/experienced)
2. Personality (introvert/extrovert)
3. Size (gross/fine)
, 4. Skill (complex/fine)
Catastrophe Theory - ✔✔- Suggests that increased arousal improves performance to
an optimal point but there is a dramatic reduction in performance when arousal
increases beyond the optimal.
- The cause of this slump is high levels of both somatic and cognitive anxiety.
- Player tries to regain control, but only returns to optimal if anxiety is mild and they
have time.
- More often than not, performer fails to regain control and panics, causing further
increase in arousal and decline in performance.
Zone of Optimal Functioning - ✔✔- Rather than a point of optimal arousal, there is a
zone.
- Varies for different performers/sports.
- Psychologist Hanin.
Peak Flow Experience - ✔✔- The ultimate intrinsic experience felt by athletes from a
positive mental attitude, with supreme confidence, focus and efficiency.
- Factors that disrupt peak flow:
1. Poor mental preparation
2. Environmental influences
3. Injury/fatigue
Somatic Anxiety - ✔✔Physiological anxiety (e.g. increased heart rate).
Cognitive Anxiety - ✔✔Psychological anxiety (e.g. worrying about losing).
with Verified 100% Correct Answers
3. Role related behaviour (adapt to specific situation)
Attitude - ✔✔- A value aimed at an attitude object.
- Formed by picking up opinions/values from significant others.
- Can become conditioned if behaviour is successful and reinforced.
Triadic Model - ✔✔- The three parts of an attitude:
1. Cognitive (your beliefs)
2. Affective (feelings/interpretations)
3. Behavioural (actions)
Cognitive Dissonance - ✔✔New information given to the performer to cause unease
and motivate change (e.g. rewards/role models).
Persuasion - ✔✔- An effective communication to promote change.
- Relevant, understandable and clear.
- High status person.
- Timing (after an incident when change is needed).
Arousal - ✔✔A level of activation, a degree of readiness to perform.
Causes of increased arousal - ✔✔- Level of competition
- Increased spectators
,- Loss of confidence
- Self-doubt
- Pressure
- Poor performance
- Anxiety
Drive Theory - ✔✔P = f(DxH)
- Performance is a function of drive and habit.
- As arousal increases, so does performance.
- Unrealistic as it cannot continue in a linear fashion; variables out of your control could
increase arousal. Also, the relationship between performance and arousal is different
for everybody.
Dominant Response - ✔✔- The stand-out response that the performer thinks is
correct.
- Usually correct for elite athletes.
- Usually wrong for novices.
- At high arousal, less information is processed so the performer will concentrate on
their dominant response.
Inverted U theory - ✔✔- Increased arousal improves performance to an optimal point
at moderate levels of arousal. Further increases in arousal can cause performance to
deteriorate.
- Optimum arousal depends on:
1. Experience (novice/experienced)
2. Personality (introvert/extrovert)
3. Size (gross/fine)
, 4. Skill (complex/fine)
Catastrophe Theory - ✔✔- Suggests that increased arousal improves performance to
an optimal point but there is a dramatic reduction in performance when arousal
increases beyond the optimal.
- The cause of this slump is high levels of both somatic and cognitive anxiety.
- Player tries to regain control, but only returns to optimal if anxiety is mild and they
have time.
- More often than not, performer fails to regain control and panics, causing further
increase in arousal and decline in performance.
Zone of Optimal Functioning - ✔✔- Rather than a point of optimal arousal, there is a
zone.
- Varies for different performers/sports.
- Psychologist Hanin.
Peak Flow Experience - ✔✔- The ultimate intrinsic experience felt by athletes from a
positive mental attitude, with supreme confidence, focus and efficiency.
- Factors that disrupt peak flow:
1. Poor mental preparation
2. Environmental influences
3. Injury/fatigue
Somatic Anxiety - ✔✔Physiological anxiety (e.g. increased heart rate).
Cognitive Anxiety - ✔✔Psychological anxiety (e.g. worrying about losing).
