Psychology of Sport Sep 2-Sep 9, 2009 Classes #5-7 Chapters 6-8 (both LeUnes and Orlick books): Anxiety and Anxiety Reduction Psychology of Sport Sep 2-Sep 9, 2009 Classes #5-7

Divisions of the Nervous System Consists of two systems Central Nervous System Brain and spinal cord Peripheral Nervous System Which connects the CNS to the rest of the body

Organization of the Nervous System

Peripheral Nervous System Two components: Somatic Nervous System Transmits sensory input to the CNS from the outside world and directs motor output Autonomic Nervous System Controls glands and muscles of our internal organs – “automatic pilot”

Autonomic Nervous System Dual system: Sympathetic Nervous System Arouses the body Parasympathetic Nervous System Calms us down

Central Nervous System Structures Controlling Arousal Cerebral Cortex Hypothalamus Ascending Reticular Activating System

State and Trait Anxiety Spielberger (1971) State Anxiety: A transitory form of apprehension that varies in intensity depending on the fear-eliciting cue Trait Anxiety: An enduring type of anxiety

Spielberger (1971) TWO SOURCES OF ANXIETY: Trait Anxiety State Anxiety Inherited Linked with arousal Always anxious Anxious at certain times Predisposition Learned from experiences

Is participating in sports stressful Is participating in sports stressful??? Does someone enjoy sports because of the stress involved?

Precompetitive State Anxiety Anxiety that occurs prior to a competitive situation Five antecedents leading to an increase in anxiety in anticipation of an achievement situation (Endler, 1978) Fear of performance failure Fear of the upset Fear of negative social evaluation Being booed by the home team’s (your) fans (ex: Philadelphia, NY) Being booed by the opposition team’s fans Fear of physical harm Fear of injury especially after an injury Situation Ambiguity What’s my role” Disruption of a well-learned routine Asked to do something new without ample time to practice

Understanding Pressure Stress Arousal Anxiety

What is stressful? Importance Uncertainty (50-50 probability of winning) Low control

Event New task New place High expectations High fan involvement Prior success

Can sports be too stressful?

Arousal Signs of arousal Physiological effects Cognitive effects Theories

Do you remember a time when you were very excited? What were the signs?

Types of Anxiety Somatic Cognitive Somatic anxiety is a conditioned response to competition Cognitive Cognitive anxiety is marked by worry and negative expectations, a distraction

Somatic (Physical) Effects Martens & Russell (2003) Body is jittery, tense, etc. Stomach aches Heart pounding Hands get clammy Body feels tight

Somatic (Physical) Effects Neurons fire Muscles contract Hormones (epinephrine, etc.) Heart rate & breathing Blood to muscles Digestive shutdown

Cognitive Effects Martens & Russell (2003) They think they will lose, choke, or play poorly Disappoint others

Cognitive Narrowing of perceptual field Less aware of environment Shift to dominant attentional style

Arousal Theories Drive theory Inverted-U Hypothesis IZOF Theory Reversal Theory Catastrophe Theory

Drive Theory Theory of learning that predicts a linear relationship between drive (arousal) and learning See next slide 

Drive Theory Performance Arousal

Inverted-U Hypothesis Yerkes-Dodson Law (1908) Their hypothesis applied to sport, which states that performance improves as arousal levels increase up to an optimum point, beyond which it deteriorates See next slide 

INVERTED-U HYPOTHESIS OPTIMUM LEVEL PERFORMANCE LEVEL LEVEL OF AROUSAL

IZOF Hanin (1976) Individual zones of optimal functioning (IZOF) theory contends that for each individual there exist a specific range, or zone, of state anxiety that is most conductive to superior performance

IZOF IN ZONE OUT OF ZONE Out of zone IN ZONE Out of zone Athlete A Low IZOF IN ZONE OUT OF ZONE Athlete B Mid IZOF Out of zone IN ZONE Out of zone Athlete C High IZOF OUT OF ZONE IN ZONE

Reversal Theory Kerr (1985, 1990) Sport psychologists mention this similar theory referred to IZOF How an individual interprets anxiety is the key here What may be unpleasant for one person is positive for someone else Individual interpretations also are subject to change and thus a shift or reversal in how one views an anxiety-provoking situation is possible

Catastrophe Theory Thom, 1965; Hardy, 1990 A mathematical model developed by the French mathematician, René Thom, to show how the interaction of varying factors produce sudden, dramatic changes Sports psychologists (for example, Hardy 1990) use catastrophe theory to explain why athletes subjected to a critical level of stress experience a huge and sudden loss of performance See next slide 

Catastrophe Performance Arousal

Case Study Greg Norman Master golf tournament (1996) Norman blows six stroke lead on final round In one four-hole stretch Norman went from three strokes ahead to two behind, enabling Nick Faldo to play the kind of golf he does best - methodical, precise, controlled

Do different sporting events or different positions in the same event require different levels of arousal?

High Arousal? Football: Wrestling? Basketball: Baseball/Softball: Blocker? QB Wide Receiver Wrestling? Basketball: Offense Defense Baseball/Softball: Pitcher? Hitter? Bowling? Gymnastics? Soccer?

Motivational Speeches Would they work with any of these athletes?

Baumeister (1984) Defined choking under pressure as “a metaphorical expression used to describe the occurrence of inferior performance despite individual striving and situational demands for superior performance”

The Choking Process

Lewis and Linder (1997) Reported that when pressure to perform a motor skill is increased, individuals commonly perform more poorly at a golf-putting task than when there was less pressure They found that participants exposed to high pressure performed worse than those in the low-pressure condition and distracted participants performed better than their nondistracted counterparts

Distractions External distractions: Noise Gamesmanship Weather Playing conditions Visual distractions Internal distractions: Thoughts Fears

Distractions Anxiety can lead athletes to perceive cues as threatening and to focus on irrelevant cues Optimal level of arousal will help prevent distraction

“The ironic opposite” Wegner, Ansfield, and Pilloff (1998): Individuals find themselves producing movement errors that represent the “ironic opposite” of what they intended to accomplish Found further evidence for this effect by showing that subjects who were asked to try to keep a pendulum from swinging in a particular direction were, in fact, more likely to commit movement errors that were the opposite of their intended actions

Attentional Allocation High-level performers are exceptionally efficient at allocating attention As anxiety increases, response times to relevant cues increase

Attentional Allocation It may be possible to train athletes to enhance visual control to create more appropriate responses to attentional cues (e.g., “quiet eye”) (Vickers, 2007)

Attentional Flexibility The ability of athletes to quickly and effectively shift attention from one location to another When “in the zone” this appears to be easy

Three Uses of the Term Attention Alertness Capacity Selectivity (Posner & Boies, 1971; Abernethy, 2001.)

Attention As Alertness Alertness depends on the athlete’s emotional state. Anxiety, arousal, and visual attention are related (Janelle, 2002). As anxiety increases, it can lead to Attentional narrowing Controlled processing Inefficiencies in attentional allocation Distraction by irrelevant or threatening cues

Attentional Narrowing Width or breadth of attention is narrowed Example: Weapons-focus effect Important cues are missed Mistakes are made; attention may be directed to errors. A vicious cycle occurs

Controlled Processing Once a task becomes automated, it no longer requires conscious attention But as pressure increases, attention can shift from relevant cues to focus on control of performance Media often says “choking” occurs

Attention Control Training The process of narrowing or widening attention through arousal management and reduction strategies Imagery skills Hypnosis VMBR Maintaining Optimal Intensity Understanding and Practicing Relaxation Distraction Control

Focus of Attention Internal or External Focus Which is better?

Enhancing Attention for Competition Research by Gabrielle Wulf and Richard Masters Performance was increased on tasks by focusing attention on the effects of the action Should athlete think about own movements or the movement of the racket head, club, or other equipment? Focusing on immediate effects is more advantageous than focusing on resultant effects (flight of ball or where ball lands)

The “reinvestment” of conscious processing… Could it be that there is a type of personality that is highly susceptible to this Could there be a predisposition that could lead to reinvestment? Skill breakdowns under pressure? Can we be over-motivated? See inverted U theory

Flow and Attention Csikszentmihalyi argues that we don’t help people get into flow by trying to create it Flow happens as a result of creating an environment that matches the skills of the athlete with the challenges of the task For focused concentration, athletes need skills, perceptual awareness, self-confidence, and emotional control

Measurement Of Anxiety Sport Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT) Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) Because of its multidimensionality – need to measure it cognitively, physiologically, and behaviourally. Anxiety is seen as primarily a cognitive manifestation Difference between cognitive antecedents of anxiety and somatic. What precedes each type differs. For example – threat of unpleasant stimulus somatic manifestation, performance evaluation cognitive manifestation Performance manifestations different

Credits: Several slides prepared by: http://www.psynt.iupui.edu/users/jkremer/sports/sptsarousal.ppt http://www.humankinetics.com/theSportPsychHandbook/PP/chap07.ppt