Psychology Fair Project

What is Visualization?

Visualization is a technique used by athletes to control their anxiety. In this technique one visualizes himself in a situation similar to the actual event.

What causes a person to stay in a state of tension?

When a person's wants and desires are unsatisfied he will continue to be kept in a state of tension.

What causes a tennis player to choke during competition?

A tennis player chokes because of a high level of basic tension which arises during a critical part in a competitive situation.

What are 5 techniques you can practice to prevent stress, anxiety, tension, and anger in your sports performance?

1) Diaphragmatic Breathing 2) Relaxation Technique 3) Visualization 4) Muscle Relaxation 5) Focusing on what can be controlled

What are the four main Psychological Factors affecting sports performance?

1) Stress 2) Anxiety 3) Tension 4) Anger

What are three examples of when athletes use visualization techniques to help their performance?

1) Visualizing Yourself: - This is one of the exercises of visualization in which athletes visualizes themselves. The athlete is asked to visualize every physical aspect of their body with their eyes closed. 2) Visualizing Your Game: - Another exercise requires the athlete to visualize the actual sport they are playing. The athlete visualizes the events starting from the preparations before going onto the field and the first move, and finally the victory. 3) Visualizing Your Opponents: - In this exercise the athlete is required to imagine how he sees his opponent playing. While visualizing his opponent's moves, he is supposed to tell himself that his moves are better than his opponent, and visualize how he should combat his opponents' moves.

What is the most decisive factor to a tennis player's performance in competition?

A player's state of mind is one of the most decisive factors to a tennis player's performance in competition.

What is a relaxation technique?

A relaxation technique is used when an athlete feels symptoms of anxiety such as increased heart rate, increased blood pressure or difficult breathing in order to control anxiety.

According to the Inverted U Graph when is peak performance achieved and when does an athlete's peak performance decline?

According to the model, peak performance is achieved when an athlete experiences moderate levels of pressure and when an athlete experiences too much or too little pressure, their performance declines, sometimes severely.

What positive influences will tennis players more likely be able to do if they achieve the objectives of psychological training, awareness, and control during a competitive situation?

Achieving the objectives of psychological training, awareness, and control, a tennis player will more likely be able to contain their emotions in order to clear their mind of negative thoughts and better concentrate their mind on the match itself.

What is the fourth main Psychological Factor that affects sports performance?

Aggression/Anger

What is the most important anxiety depressor technique an athlete can master?

An athlete who only focuses on what he can control will be more prepared than any other athlete because he is not focusing on the crowd or his opponent.

An athlete's tension level in a particular competition generally consists of what two parts?

An athlete's tension level in a particular competition generally consists of two parts: 1) A person's basic tension level. - Which is the average tension level when awake (the activation level). 2) The situation rise in tension due to competition. - competition fever equivalent of examination fever.

What is the second main Psychological Factor that affects sports performance?

Anxiety

What two anxiety implications affects sports performance?

Anxiety has both psychological and physiological implications in sport performance.

Why is anxiety essential for any competitive situation?

Anxiety is essential for any competitive situation because without a certain level of anxiety there will never be a competitive performance.

What is anxiety and how does perceived stress influence an athletes performance on gameday?

Anxiety means a disturbed state of mind while experiencing arousal and nervousness. Anxiety causes a decrease in athletic performance due to too much perceived stress. Too much perceived stress influences an athletes performance on game day because... - They have an audience - They have extremely high expectations of their success.

What is arousal and how does it affect your performance during a competitive situation?

Arousal refers to how excited you feel before a sporting event. For each sport/individual there is an optimum, or 'best', arousal level at which your performance will be its highest. Arousal affects your performance during a competitive situation because if you are too much aroused, then your performance will fall apart and if you are too little aroused, then you will perform below your best.

As shown in the stress response curve, what causes a person's performance levels to increase or decrease?

As shown in the stress response curve, when stress management is effective, a person's performance levels rise causing a person's sports performance to become better. But on the other hand, when stress management becomes ineffective, a person's performance levels decline, causing a person's sports performance to become worse.

Explain the stress response curve?

As shown in the stress response curve, when the curve starts to rise, a person's level of stress increases, causing the performance level to also increase and moves into the comfort zone. But as soon as stress begins to be perceived as overwhelming or excessive, a person reaches a fatigue point where the performance levels start to decline. Once a person's stress levels become overwhelming, he starts to decline and enters a state of distress. Lastly, if a person's stress levels start to become reach an all-time low that person experiences a breakdown.

What are the only three things a person can control on the court?

Attitude, Effort, and Mental Toughness

What is cognitive anxiety and what does it have a great effect on?

Cognitive anxiety is the mental component of anxiety, and it has a great effect on performance.

What have studies consistently shown about elite players, and why is this so important for the performance of an elite player in competition?

Evidence from studies consistently shows that elite players are often the most psychologically strong players. This is significant because, rather than feeling anxiety, elite players embrace each match with excitement or determination, and tend to have elevated self-confidence, attention control and motivation during competition.

What is tension also known as?

Excessive tonus is another name for tension. Excessive tonus results from excessive strains and stresses on an organism.

For a tennis player what is anger and how does this affect them during sports performance?

For a tennis player and any athlete, Anger is an intense emotional response to a situation that pisses oneself off. Anger affects a tennis player during competition because it causes a tennis player to think negatively and eventually causes a breakdown in performance if not controlled adequately.

In contrast to contact sports, what level of arousal is needed for a tennis player to perform at his/her best in a sport like tennis?

For contact sports, where there is an element of pain, a high level of arousal is needed. For sports like tennis, where high levels of concentration and a delicate touch are needed, the best level of arousal is lower.

What are 5 examples of techniques/strategies tennis players can use for controlling their stress, anxiety, tension, and anger during competitive situations that will help them improve their mental toughness and performance level?

For managing or controlling stress, anxiety, tension and anger some techniques are used: - Visualization - Relaxation - Positive Self-Talk - Diaphragmatic Breathing - Positive Reinforcement - Muscular and mental relaxation - Mental imagery - Cognitive strategies - Behavioral modification - Goal-setting - Zen meditation - Imagery skill training

What must a tennis player do to perform at their full potential during a competitive situation?

In order for a tennis player to perform at their full potential, they must rid their mind of negative thoughts and only envision themselves succeeding. Through the process of clearing their mind, a tennis player can, then, process information from the tennis match with greater spontaneity.

In sports, What are some examples of what causes athletes to become frustrated during a competitive situation and affects an athletes optimal performance level?

In sports, frustration can be caused by: 1) Questionable calls by officials 2) Failure to win a particular point 3) Injuries that interfere with optimum performance 4) Heckling from spectators or taunts by coaches and players.

In sports, when is anxiety believed to grow and become more detrimental?

In sports, where interactions with the opponent before competition are greater, anxiety is believed to grow and become more detrimental.

In the heat of competition what do angry tennis player's have a higher probability of doing in contrast to other angry sports athletes?

In the heat of competition, tennis players have a higher probability of getting carried away with their anger.

What is muscle relaxation?

Muscle relaxation is a technique used to decrease one's anxiety in a competitive situation because the results of the anxiety is stiffness in the muscles. In this technique, the athlete stretches a particular muscle of the leg, abdomen, hands or face for 10 seconds with his eyes closed. After 10 seconds of stretching there is 20 seconds of relaxation before moving to the next muscle.

On the stress response curve what is the green shaded region?

Near the point of fatigue, the green shaded area on the graph is called the Comfort Zone. The Comfort Zone indicates the range of stress levels that a person can absolutely manage and facilitate his good performance levels.

Why did Nixon P create the stress response curve?

Nixon P. created the stress response curve to explain how stress affects performance.

What is one of the most noticeable effects of stress on an athlete during competition ?

One of the most noticeable effects of stress on an athlete is the changes in his/her performance during competition.

How does stress affect performance?

Performance is affected by stress because of the pressure an athlete feels during competition. Pressure an important stressor influences an individual's response to stress.

Why did Robert Yerkes and John Dodson create the "Inverted U Graph" in 1908?

Robert Yerkes and John Dodson created the "Inverted-U" graph to show how pressure affects performance.

What is the first main Psychological Factor that affects sports performance?

Stress

What is stress and how does stress relate to pressure during competition?

Stress is defined as a physical, mental, or emotional demand that tends to disturb the homeostasis of the body and stress is related to any kind of pressure felt during competition.

What is the third main Psychological Factor that affects sports performance?

Tension

What is tension and what are two examples of emotional reactions caused by tension?

Tension is that state of body and mind which results from the internal forces acting in opposition to each other and two emotional reactions are anger and fear.

What is the Biological theory?

The Biological Theory, proposed by Konrad Lorenz, sees aggression as a basic human characteristic. The theory states that a sport is seen as a socially acceptable way to discharge built-up aggression. - Example= a safety valve.

How is the Inverted-U model used to describe tension in association with a person's performance during competition?

The Inverted-U model is often used to describe the influence of activation, arousal and tension on performance. The model says that an athletes performance will drop if the tension level is either very low or very high.

What is the Psychological Theory?

The Psychological Theory states that anger is caused by frustration. The frustration in a sport results when one's efforts to reach a particular goal(s) are blocked.

What is the Social Learning Theory and how is it explained in real life?

The Social Learning Theory states that anger is learned through reinforced rewards and punishments. The Social Learning Theory can be seen in real life because young athletes take sports heroes as their role models and imitate their behavior in practice. - Parents, coaches and teammates are also models who may demonstrate support for an aggressive style of play.

Every athlete has a certain stress level that is needed to optimize his or her game, but what factors does this bar depend upon?

The bar depends on factors such as: - Past experiences - Coping responses - Genetics.

What is the diaphragm and what is diaphragmatic breathing?

The diaphragm is a muscle between the chest and the stomach and Diaphragmatic breathing is done by contracting the diaphragm muscle.

According to the Inverted U Graph, explain what is happening on the left, right, and middle sides of the graph and how it affects their performance felt during competition?

The left hand side of the graph displays the situations where athletes are under-challenged and see no reason to work hard in competition. This affects an athlete during competition because they will become unmotivated and their performance will decline. The right hand side of the graph displays the situations where athletes tend to become overwhelmed by the pressure or competing demands on their attention during competition. This affects an athlete during competition because they may start to panic and fall apart under pressure. The middle of the graph shows where athletes are sufficiently motivated to work hard and are not completely overwhelmed by the pressure felt during competition in order for them to start to struggle. This affects an athlete during competition because enter a state of "Flow," and they're able to perform at their peak.

When does an athlete compete at his/her best?

The optimal level of activation arousal, tension, and motivation is the one at which an athlete performs at his/her best or close to his/her maximum potential.

How is the relationship between anxiety and the performance of an athlete explained through the inverted U theory developed by Robert Yerkes and John Dodson?

The relationship between anxiety and athletic performance can be explained through the Inverted U theory. The theory was formed on the notion that there is an optimal amount of arousal that an athlete will perform his best at. However, if that level of arousal is passed then the level of performance will decrease. The same thing happens when the level of arousal is lower than the optimal level.

In 1979, what is portrayed in Nixon P's stress response curve?

The relationship between stress and performance has been portrayed by the stress response curve.

What are the three major theories that seek to explain violent aggression in sports?

The three major theories that seek to explain violent aggression in sports are: 1) The Biological Theory 2) The Psychological Theory 3) The Social Learning Theory

What have psychologists concluded that the two major objectives of psychological training are? Why is it important for a tennis player to develop these two abilities?

The two major objectives of psychological training are awareness and control. Awareness is being able to recognize an appropriate response to situations and Control is the ability to change in accordance to the awareness process. Through the development of these two abilities, a tennis player will be able to respond quicker to the fast-paced competition in a more positive and effective manner.

What happens when a tennis player fills his head with negative thoughts during competition according to the picture?

When a tennis player fills his head with negative thoughts during competition it causes his performance to decline. As seen in the picture you see a tennis player looking angrily at his smashed racquet. This picture shows the consequence of what happens when an athlete lets his mind fill with negative thoughts during competition.

What is the best way to learn about the scientific relationship between stress and performance?

it's best to learn about the scientific relationship between stress and performance by looking at the stress response curve.