Sport Psychology chapter 2 2660

• 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
• Relevant items from the Sport Psychology Questionnaire for Basketball Players

  • Physical: Having a better health management plan before games
  • Technical: Making better use of full practice time
  • Tactical: Identifying and reacting to your opponents' weakness and making adjustments as the game progresses
  • Psychological: Think positive thoughts
• 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.
• Within-sport behavioural checklist


  Provides a quick, and reasonably thorough, identification of areas in which the athlete already performs well, as well as areas that need improvements. It is different from traditional assessments as it doesn't have norms and they are not designed to measure character or personality.
• 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
• Example of a slump in sports (not in the chapter)


  • A volleyball player who just got new shoes is going to do a jump serve and seems to barely make it across the net or sometimes even misses, and it lasts a while now the athlete and coach are trying to figure out why.
• Possible causes of slumps


  • A physical cause
  • A slight change in the athlete's technique
  • A slight change in equipment
  • Inadequate mental preparation
• Specific sport examples of slump causes (not in the chapter)

  • Physical cause: In horse back riding, the rider's ankle hurting

  2. Change in technique: The way the rider is sitting in the saddle

  3. Change in equipment: The rider using a new bit

  4. Inadequate mental preparation: The rider being nervous and tense, which then can make the horse nervous and tense as well
• Objective dimensions for describing behaviour

  • Topography (form)

  2. Frequency (rate)

  3. Duration

  4. Force (intensity)

  5. Stimulus control

  6. Latency (reaction time)
• The quality of a behaviour is a refinement of one or more of the behavioural dimensions
• Reasons for being specific in the identification of target behaviours
• Strategies for monitoring target behaviours

  • A checklist with picture prompts to help evaluate the topography

  2. A checklist of components of correct form

  3. Checklist for recording coaches interactions with players during a timeout

  4. A task analysis
• Minimal phases of a behavioural treatment program

  • A baseline phase

  2. A treatment phase

  3. Follow-up phase
• Baseline phase


  The target behaviour is being assessed in order to determine its level prior to the introduction of the intervention
• Reasons why behaviour modifiers emphasize the importance of accurately monitoring target behaviours

  • Accurate records of the behaviour before introduction with a BSP may help the BSP identify the best treatment

  2. Accurate records provide a means for clearly determine whether the treatment program is producing the desired improvement

  3. Recording and charting behaviour may lead to improvements

  4. Visual demonstration of improvement through the use of checklists can provide a powerful incentive for athletes to continue treatment

  5. Frequent discussions between the athlete and BSP concerning the data is an important to ensure that the BSP provides ethical treatment of the athlete