CIC Sports Psychology & Motivation 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A coach observes a star player dominating practice but teammates contribute less during drills. This is BEST described as:
- Cohesion loss
- Social loafing (Correct answer)
- Competitive state anxiety
- Learned helplessness
Correct answer: Social loafing
Social loafing occurs when individuals reduce their effort in group settings, often because individual contributions are less identifiable.
Question 2: Which of the following BEST represents a mastery motivational climate created by a coach?
- Posting game stats publicly to rank players
- Rewarding effort, improvement, and learning from mistakes (Correct answer)
- Starting only the highest-scoring players from last game
- Using punishment for any error during competition
Correct answer: Rewarding effort, improvement, and learning from mistakes
A mastery climate emphasizes personal improvement, effort, and cooperation, fostering intrinsic motivation and reducing fear of failure.
Question 3: An athlete experiences high cognitive anxiety but low somatic anxiety before competition. The BEST intervention is:
- Progressive muscle relaxation targeting physical tension
- Cognitive restructuring to challenge negative thoughts (Correct answer)
- Increased physical warm-up to channel energy
- Deep breathing to lower heart rate
Correct answer: Cognitive restructuring to challenge negative thoughts
Cognitive anxiety involves worry and negative thoughts, so cognitive-based interventions like restructuring or thought stopping are most appropriate.
Question 4: The Inverted-U hypothesis predicts that athletic performance is BEST when arousal is:
- At its lowest possible level
- At a moderate, optimal level (Correct answer)
- At its highest possible level
- Fluctuating throughout competition
Correct answer: At a moderate, optimal level
The Inverted-U (Yerkes-Dodson) hypothesis states that performance peaks at moderate arousal, declining at both too-low and too-high extremes.
Question 5: Which coaching behavior is MOST likely to foster autonomous motivation in high school athletes according to Self-Determination Theory?
- Providing controlling feedback focused on mistakes
- Offering rationale for drills and acknowledging athletes' perspectives (Correct answer)
- Using rewards contingent strictly on winning
- Setting all goals for athletes without their input
Correct answer: Offering rationale for drills and acknowledging athletes' perspectives
Autonomy-supportive coaching involves providing rationale, acknowledging feelings, and offering choice, which satisfies the basic need for autonomy and fosters self-determination.
Question 6: A coach uses the 'sandwich' feedback technique. In what order is feedback delivered?
- Correction, positive, correction
- Positive, correction, positive (Correct answer)
- Correction, correction, encouragement
- Encouragement, goal-setting, correction
Correct answer: Positive, correction, positive
The sandwich method delivers positive feedback first, then corrective feedback, followed by another positive statement to maintain athlete confidence.
Question 7: Which psychological skill helps athletes maintain concentration by directing attention to relevant task cues during competition?
- Dissociation
- Attentional focusing/cue words (Correct answer)
- Systematic desensitization
- Autogenic training
Correct answer: Attentional focusing/cue words
Attentional focusing using cue words directs an athlete's attention to performance-relevant cues, blocking distractions during competition.
CIC Sports Psychology & Motivation 4
A coach observes a star player dominating practice but teammates contribute less during drills.
This is BEST described as: