CHapter 6 Sports Psych 2660

• Rule


  A statement that, in a particular situation, a specific behaviour will pay off
• Sport example of a rule (not in chapter)

  • Make 5 serves in a row, if you miss one start over, when it comes to a game now the player will mostly likely be able to at least get 5 serves in a row because of the practice
• Advice in the form of a rule

  You have to try it this way you get so much more force
• Partial rule


  Rules that don't identify all three aspects (antecedent, behaviour, and consequences) of a reinforcement situation
• Sport example of a partial rule (not in chapter)

  • Hitting the ball out in volleyball results into no point and it it is now the other teams ball
• Contingency-learned behaviour


  Behaviour that has been strengthen (or weakened) in settings by the direct effects of consequences in those settings
• Sport example of contingency-learned behaviour (not in chapter)


  • Learning to throw a frisbee and how much force you need behind it
• Rule-governed behaviour


  Behaviour controlled by a statement of a rule
• Sport example of rule-governed behaviour (not in chapter)


  • In volleyball the coach says if they all can get three blocks they have extra time at the end of practice to play a little game
• Tiger Woods' drill for improving putting involved both contingency-learned behaviour and rules-governed behaviour
• Differences between contingency-learned and rule-governed behaviour

  • Contingency-learned behaviour is typically strengthen gradually through trail and error, while the presentation of a rule frequently leads to immediate behaviour change
  • Contingency learned behaviour involves immediate consequence, while rule-governed behaviour often involves delayed consequences
• Plausible explanations of why we learn to follow rules with delayed consequences

  • Although the reinforcer identified in a rule might be delayed for an individual, other people might provide immediate consequences if the individual follows (or does not follow) the rule
  • An individual might follow a rule and then immediately make reinforcing statements to him or herself
  • Our learning history with respect to emotions is such that following rules is automatically strengthened and failure to follow rules is automatically punished by what we feel
• Situations where rules are helpful

  • When rapid behaviour change is desirable
  • When consequences that might be provided for a behaviour are too delayed to directly reinforce that behaviour
  • When you would like to maintain a behaviour for which natural reinforcers are immediate, but highly intermittent
  • When a specific behaviour will lead to immediate and severe punishment
• Sport examples of situations where rules are helpful


  • A football player laying out what he needs to do during a game such as if the quarterback says find who is open, throw the ball and finish the play
  • A rider saying if I ride without stirrups today I can skip leg day tomorrow at the gym
  • When a volleyball player is trying to jump serve and only gets once every 5-7 times
  • When soccer players coaches and the players themselves learn not to yell or get upset with the ref
• The rule "I'm going to exercise more so that I will feel better" is often not effective because the behaviour is extremely vague
• Many people do not wear a helmet when riding a bicycle because it is not very likely to happen and therefore they don't wear a helmet
• The rule "I'm going to eat healthier and lose some weight" is so difficult to follow for many people because the opposite behaviour, eating dessert, is immediately reinforced by the good taste of the food, and following the rule leads to fairly immediate punishers
• Characteristics of effective rules

  • The rules should be understood by the individual to whom they are given
  • Rules should describe probable and sizable outcomes, rather than improbable and small outcomes
  • Complex rules should be broken into easy-to-follow steps
  • Rules should be gradually faded out if you want other stimuli that are present to take control of the behaviour
• There are 5 characteristics of rules that are often ineffective in controlling behaviour
• Outcome goal


  Goals for results against competitors
• Sport example of an outcome goal (not in chapter)

  • Winning a competitive horse jumping competition by 7 seconds
• Performance-standard goal

  Goals for which an athlete tries to meet a performance standard that is not an outcome goal
• Sport example of a performance-standard goal (not in chapter)


  • Volleyball players trying to make sure they get three touches on the ball
• Execution or process goal

  Goals for performing skills in certain ways
• Sport example of an execution or process goal (not in chapter)


  • Keeping your hands stiff when blocking is volleyball
• Mastery criterion


  A specific guideline for performing a skill such that if the guideline is met, the skill is likely to be mastered
• Sport example of a mastery criterion (not in chapter)

  • Doing a gymnastics row without knocking a pole down 5 times
• A mastery criterion is typically formulated so that once the athlete has achieved the criterion, it is likely the skill will be executed correctly later, and if the criterion is met in practice, the skill will be executed correctly in competition
• With young athletes, "do your best" goals may not be effective at competitions or practice because the advice may not be interpreted correctly and individuals might set relatively easy goals
• Public goal setting


  Setting a goal that is known to others, which provides a public standard against which performance can be evaluated and implies social consequences for achieving or not achieving the goal
• Commitment in goal setting

  Statements or actions by a person setting a goal that imply the goal is important, they will work toward it, and they recognize the benefits of doing so
• Sport example illustrating commitment in goal setting

  • A soccer player running more everyday so they have more stamina on the field, they work towards it by putting reminders everywhere to go for runs twice a day, they recognize the benefits as they realize they don't get as tired on the field as quick
• Strategies for maintaining commitment to goals

  • Making one's commitment public to work toward specific goals increases the number of people who can remind one to stick to the program
  • An athlete can be encouraged to rearrange their environment to provide frequent reminders of their commitment to their goal
  • One can frequently review benefits of achieving the goal
  • Individuals should plan ahead for various ways to deal with temptations to give up on their goal