sports 6

• Proximity of the audience to the play rather than the size of the audience is a crucial factor in home advantage
• Weinberg and Gould (2011) suggest that home games in the regular season may be an advantage, but in important matches, playing at home can lead to 'championship choke'
• Social facilitation

  Positive influence of the presence of others on performance
• Teams under high pressure may perform worse at home, leading to a home disadvantage
• Audience effects occur in response to being watched. In most cases, teams perform better playing at their home ground
• Zajonc’s Drive Theory

  • As arousal (stress) increases, so does the likelihood of the dominant response. Audience presence can enhance or impair performance based on the complexity of the task
• Home advantage is often attributed to the effects of the home crowd, familiarity with the playing surface/stadium, and travel factors
• Social inhibition

  Impairment of performance in the presence of others
• Schwartz and Barsky (1997) found that in various American sports, the home team won over 50% of matches
• Ways to define audiences

  • Audience - people watching either as spectators at an event or through different forms of media at home e.g. watching TV
  • Co-actors - Another player performing the same task but not in direct competition e.g. rowers in the same boat
  • Competitive co-actors - Performers of the same task in direct competition with each other e.g. rowers in a different boat
  • Social reinforcers - Others with direct influence e.g. a coach
• Audience effects

  • Example of social facilitation, covering the effects of being in the presence of other people
• Level of noise and supportiveness generated by the crowd can contribute to home advantage and influence referees' decisions
• Experiment 1

  • 72 adult female cockroaches were used
  • They were kept on their own in a jar in the dark at a constant temp of 75 degrees F
• In the maze condition, cockroaches running in the co-action (with other cockroach) condition took longer to reach the goal box than cockroaches running alone. In the runway condition, cockroaches in the co-action condition were faster to reach the goal box than the cockroaches that run in isolation. Zajonc found that running times and starting latency were much shorter in the co-action cockroaches than in the audience group
• Apparatus

  • 20x20x20 inch clear plexiglass cube which formed either a runway or a maze
  • 150 watt floodlight that served as the stimulus for the light-phobic cockroach to run
  • The runway consisted of a straight track running between two opposite vertical walls and was 20 inches long
  • The maze was made of two runways that formed a cross with the walls of the intersection removed
  • Two of the ends were cul-de-sacs
• Experiment 1

  1. Half (36) of the cockroaches were in the alone condition and half (36) were in the co-action condition (with a partner cockroach)

  2. In all conditions the cockroaches were given 10 consecutive trials, all separated by one min intervals
• Experiment 2

  1. Independent variables were whether the cockroaches had to cross a maze (complex task) or a straight runway (simple task), Fitted with mirrors along the walls (this would make it appear as if there is an audience), Stimulated by the odour of other cockroaches, With no distraction (alone control condition)

  2. The dependent variable was the time it took the cockroach to reach the goal box
• Drive theory of social facilitation

  Psychologists refer to the positive influence of the presence of others as social facilitation
• Experiment 2

  • 180 female cockroaches were used
  • 60 were assigned to the mirror condition, 60 to the odour condition, 60 to the alone condition
• Apparatus

  • 20x20x20 inch clear plexiglass cube which formed either a runway or a maze
  • 150 watt floodlight that served as the stimulus for the light-phobic cockroach to run
  • The runway consisted of a straight track running between two opposite vertical walls and was 20 inches long
  • The maze was made of
• Playing at home can lead to 'championship choke'
• Experiment 1

  1. Cockroaches fear of light means that when the light is turned on their dominant response is to run and this provided a measurable performance

  2. Each trial began by turning on the floodlight and times were recorded from when the cockroach left the starting box to when it entered the goal box from the runway or the maze. If the cockroach hadn't entered the goal box within 5 min, the trial would then be stopped
• Experiment 1

  1. Independent variables were: Performed alone or in pairs with no audience, Performed alone or in pairs with an audience, Had to cross a maze (complex task) or a straight runway

  2. The dependent variable was the time it took the cockroach to reach the goal box
• Items in the ratus

  • 20x20x20 inch clear plexiglass cube which formed either a runway or a maze
  • 150 watt floodlight that served as the stimulus for the light-phobic cockroach to run
  • The runway consisted of a straight track running between two opposite vertical walls and was 20 inch long
  • The maze was made of two runways that formed a cross with the walls of the intersection removed
  • Two of the ends were cul-de-sacs
• Experiment 2 Procedure

  1. 60 of the cockroaches ran into mazes and runways fitted with mirrors along the walls

  2. In the 2nd treatment, regular runways and mazes were used and 60 insects were simulated by the presence of the smell of other cockroaches

  3. These conditions were compared with the 60 cockroaches in the alone condition that had neither mirrors nor odour as a distraction

  4. In both experimental conditions, there were no other cockroaches beside the participant cockroach. Timings were taken just like experiment 1
• Categories of mental imagery

  • Motivational specific- involves visualization of winning an event
  • Motivational general mastery- based on seeing yourself coping in difficult circumstances and situations such as playing in front of a large audience
  • Motivational general arousal- imagery that reflects feelings of relaxation come up stress or arousal in relation to sports competitions in front of spectators
  • Cognitive specific-involves visualization of specific skills such as a tennis serve. If learning and performance the desired outcomes it is likely that cognitive specific imagery will be the most effective choice
  • Cognitive general involves images of strategy and tactics for example using a fast break player in basketball
• Selective attention training


  • Training selective attention involves learning to ignore irrelevant stimuli, identifying cues that help performance, and intensifying visual stimulus to improve focus
• Mental imagery & rehearsal


  Imagery can be used during practice and performance, especially useful for injured players as neurons in the brain continue to fire during mental rehearsal even if no physical movement is carried out
• Selective attention training


  • The quality of coaching is important, especially for beginners, to ensure proper development of technique and improvement of selective attention
• Selective attention training


  • The level of arousal is important in training selective attention, as overarousal can slow the process and lead to inefficient decision-making
• Mental imagery & rehearsal


  • The effectiveness depends largely on the performer's level of imagery
  • Experts who regularly practice imagery and rehearsal may find it most effective as they can imagine successful performance due to personal experience
  • Effectiveness is also dependent on the performer's level of motivation and how well the strategy is carried out during performance
• Selective attention training


  This process sifts stimuli presented to the performer so that only relevant information for the task is processed, important for spectator sports where distractions from a large crowd can affect concentration
• Mental imagery & rehearsal


  • Coaches should be aware of different forms of imagery, tailoring mental rehearsal to suit each individual player's preferred style
• Selective attention training


  • Selective attention allows performers to improve focus by learning which cues are most important to performance, likely most useful for experienced performers