Sports Psychology Flashcards

What is attentional focus in sports psychology?

Answer: The skill of directing awareness to relevant cues while ignoring distractions

Attentional focus is the ability to concentrate on task-relevant cues and block out distractions, a critical skill for peak athletic performance.

According to attribution theory, how do athletes who attribute success to their own effort typically respond to failure?

Answer: They show greater persistence and increased motivation to improve

Athletes who make internal, controllable attributions (like effort) tend to show greater resilience and are more motivated to work harder after failure.

Which relaxation technique involves systematically tensing and relaxing muscle groups to reduce physical stress and anxiety?

Answer: Progressive muscle relaxation

Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), developed by Jacobson, involves tensing and then releasing muscle groups sequentially to reduce somatic anxiety.

What does the term 'burnout' specifically refer to in athletic populations?

Answer: A state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion leading to sport withdrawal

Athletic burnout is a chronic stress syndrome characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of accomplishment, often leading to dropout.

A personal trainer wants to help a client build self-efficacy. Which strategy is MOST effective according to Bandura?

Answer: Creating progressive mastery experiences with manageable successes

Bandura identified mastery experiences as the most powerful source of self-efficacy, as successfully completing progressively challenging tasks builds genuine belief in one's capabilities.

Which concept describes the tendency for performance to improve in the presence of others?

Answer: Social facilitation

Social facilitation is the phenomenon where the presence of others enhances performance on well-learned or simple tasks but may impair performance on novel or complex ones.

When designing a mental skills training program, which sequence is recommended by sports psychologists?

Answer: Education → Acquisition → Practice

The recommended sequence is Education (learning what and why), Acquisition (learning the skill), then Practice (applying it in training and competition contexts).