Sport Psychology 2660 all units

• Behaviour


  Generally: anything a person says or does

  Technically: muscular, glandular, or electrical activity of an organism
• Synonyms for behaviour


  Performance, reaction, activity
• Covert behaviour


  Internal, cannot be monitored by observers
• Overt behaviour


  Can be monitored by observers
• Examples of covert and overt behaviour (not in this chapter)


  • Covert: Volleyball player thinking about where to hit the ball

  Overt: Quarterback yelling the play
• Intelligence, attitude, personality


  General terms used to describe traditional psychology
• Behavioural perspective of traditional psychological terms

  Viewed as summary labels for behaviour, not something within us that causes behaviour
• Disadvantages of summary labels for human behaviour
• Reasons this book emphasizes identifying specific behaviours rather than using general labels
• Behavioural deficit


  Too little of a particular behaviour
• Sport examples of behavioural deficits (not in this chapter)


  • Basketball player doesn't practice free throws

  2. Player doesn't have any goals they want to achieve
• Behavioural excess


  Too much of a particular behaviour
• Sport examples of behavioural excesses (not in this chapter)


  • Volleyball player frequently misses serves in close games

  2. Swimmer always struggles to take breaths when doing front stroke
• Behavioural analysis


  The study of scientific laws that govern the behaviour of humans and other animals
• Behaviour modification


  Applications of behavioural techniques to help individuals in everyday living, also called applied behaviour analysis
• Behavioural sport psychology


  Use of behaviour analysis principles and techniques to enhance the performance and satisfaction of athletes and others associated with sports
• Target behaviours


  Behaviours to be improved in a behavioural sport psychology program
• Sport examples of target behaviours (not in this chapter)

  • Volleyball player wants to improve their serve

  2. Horse back rider wants to work on counting strides before a jump
• Stimuli


  Antecedents and consequences that are typically manipulated
• Sport examples of stimuli (not in this chapter)


  • Feel of swinging a baseball bat

  2. Hearing a crowd cheer

  3. Environment of an arena
• Synonyms for stimulus


  Rewards or punishers
• Things not included in behaviour analysis procedures
• Cognitive behaviour therapy


  Useful techniques for helping individuals overcome problem behaviour and troublesome emotions by getting rid of unproductive, debilitating thoughts or beliefs, and adopting more constructive ones
• Assumptions the author makes concerning cognitions
• Reasons behavioural sport psychology researchers use single-subject research designs

  • Require assessments of individual athletic performance across several practices and/or competitions

  2. Athletes and coaches accept such designs as few participants are needed and all eventually experience the intervention

  3. Require assessments of athletic behaviours or outcomes rather than personality questionnaires
• Characteristics of behavioural sport psychology

  • Strong emphasis on defining goals/problems in terms of measurable behaviour

  2. Treatment procedures rearrange antecedents and consequences of behaviour

  3. Based on principles of respondent and operant conditioning

  4. Interprets cognitive techniques in terms of conditioning of covert and overt behaviours

  5. Commonly use single-subject research designs

  6. Places high value on accountability for all involved
• Social validation


  Procedures to ensure techniques are selected and applied in the best interests of clients
• Questions social validity addresses

  • What do athletes/coaches/parents think about the goals of the intervention?

  2. What do they think about the procedures suggested by the consultant?

  3. What do they think about the results of those procedures?
• Target behaviours


  Failing to execute a racing turn and stopping momentarily during a set
• Behavioural assessment


  Identifying and describing a target behaviour, identify possible causes of the behaviour, selecting a treatment strategy, and evaluating the treatment outcomes
• Traditional, standardized psychological tests are of little practical value for working with high performance athletes
• Standard psychological tests don't aid behaviour modifier in helping identify specific target behaviours that occur under specific circumstances
• Topics discussed by a sport psychologist in the first "session" with an athlete

  • Explain confidentiality
  • Briefly describe their background
  • Talk about sport psychology
  • Clarify misconceptions about sport psychology
• Misconceptions about sport psychology

  • To do well in competition you have to get yourself really psyched up. This is a misconception because depending on what sport you are doing one that needs more energy and stamina such as something that is long distance should be relaxed. As if they are aroused they are using more of their energy.
  • Sports psychology alone can make you a super athlete. This is a misconception because athlete feel that they can miss practice because they are in these sessions.
  • Sports psychologist only consult with athletes at competitions. This is a misconception because most of the preparation at competitions gets most of the popular press.
  • To get really good at mental preparation, all you have to do is talk to a sports psychologist. This is a misconception because athletes need to practice their mental preparation to be good at it.
• Main areas of athletic preparation

  • Physical
  • Technical
  • Tactical
  • Psychological
• Across-sport behavioural checklist


  A list of performance aspects of practices and/or competitions that apply to a number of different sports. Athletes answer with Never, Occasionally, and Always on the questions that are on that checklist.
• Developing a "performance profile" for an athlete

  1. An athlete is asked to identify the qualities and characteristics of a top athlete in their sport.

  2. Athlete is asked to evaluate his/her current level of mastery with respect to each of those qualities and characteristics.

  3. Areas in which the athlete is deficient in terms of those qualities and characteristics are used to identify specific target behaviours for improvement.
• Broadly-based behavioural assessment


  An athlete might have a decrease in their performance for an unknown reason
• Assessment of a specific target behaviour

  A basketball player has stopped following through when shooting baskets
• Slump in sports


  An unexpected decline in athletic performance that occurs for a sufficient length of time to then become a serious concern to the athlete and coach