PYC4812 – Sport Psychology Exam Preparations
Exam Questions and Answers to past papers from January and October
2018 and January and October 2019
Answers taken from the chapters in the prescribed book: Williams, J.M., & Krane, V. K.
(Eds.). (2015). Applied Sport Psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (7th
ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
Compiled by: PsychHonours Student
,CHAPTERS IN THE PRESCRIBED BOOK
Chapter 3 - A positive approach to coaching effectiveness and performance
enhancement
Chapter 4 - The motivational climate, athlete motivation and implications for the quality
of sport engagement
Chapter 7 - The sport team as an effective group
Chapter 8 - Communicating effectively
Chapter 9 - Psychological characteristics of peak performance
Chapter 11 - Goal setting for peak performance
Chapter 13 - Understanding and using imagery in sport
Chapter 14 - Cognitive techniques for building confidence and enhancing performance
Chapter 15 - Concentration and strategies for controlling it
Chapter 16 - Integrating and implementing a psychological skills training program
Chapter 20 - Drug abuse in sport: Causes and cures
Chapter 21 - Athlete burnout: An individual and organisational phenomenon
Chapter 22 - Injury risk and rehabilitation: Psychological considerations
Chapter 24 - Exercise Psychology
,JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
SECTION A
QUESTION A1
Self - efficacy forms a major part of any athlete's training regime. Discuss this
statement with reference to a description of self - efficacy and its determinants. (20
marks) (Chapter 14)
“Self - efficacy” according to Bandura is defined as “beliefs in ones capabilities to
organise and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments.“
Obvious effects of positive self – talking on your behaviour to do your best and do what
you can, thoughts that can increase your self – esteem and happiness support your
goals and desires. Negative thinking damages our chances of achievement. Use of
negative self – talk affects one’s self – esteem, can lead to depression. Without
consciously positive thought, our results probably would not have changed over the
years. Once can increase self – esteem by controlling the internal stressful self –
talking. Self – esteem and self – efficacy begin and end in the mind of the individual,
self - talk plays the primary and most powerful role in feeding the mind.
Important Uses Of Self – Talk
Self – talk may improve performance though better skill acquisition, increased self –
confidence, self – efficacy, adjustment of ineffective habits and controlled effort.
Athletes can also use self talk – strategies in different ways such skills acquisition,
elimination of a bad habit, generating motivation, attention control, changed
temperament and increased self – confidence.
Self – talk may be used in different conditions and for different purposes. There are
different classifications of the types of self – talk. In one classification, it is divided into
two types: instructional and motivational.
Instructional self – talk improves performance through concentration on
movement, adequate technique and proper strategy use. It is more effective with
the tasks that require higher skills, better timing, and precision.
Motivational self – talk facilitates task performance through increasing energy,
efforts and positive motivation. It also used to control anxiety and provocation. It
is more effective with the tasks that require strength, endurance and gross motor
skills.
,Self – Talk for Building Self – Efficacy and Confidence
Studies have shown that athletes with high self – efficacy and/or confidence outperform
those with lower levels. Self – efficacy affects performance by influencing how much
effort is expended on a task and how long one persists when confronted with setbacks
and obstacles.
Self – Talk for Adoption and Maintenance of Exercise Behaviour
Many studies in there are of exercise behaviour have implicates self – efficacy
cognitions as a significant factor in predicting adoption and adherence to an exercise
program. Self – efficacy cognitions are a mediator of behaviour change, that is, the
mechanism by which interventions affect exercise behaviour. These findings suggest
that appropriately modifying self – efficacy cognitions toward exercise contributes to
exercise adoption or adherence.
QUESTION A2
Assume that you have been asked to present a talk on the use of imagery to improve
performance in sport. Write out your talk in which you explain the use of imagery in
sport psychology; describe different theoretical explanations of how it works; mention
exercises that can be used to strengthen athlete’s imagery abilities; and explain under
what conditions training in imagery is most likely to have a beneficial effect on an
athlete’s sport performance. (20 marks) (Chapter 13)
USE OF IMAGERY
Imagery as Re - Creating or Creating
Through imagery we are able to re-create as well as to create experiences in our mind.
Athels often get stuck in this type of imagery by focusing on their mistakes and failures,
and they replay these miscues without any type of planned strategy for dealing with
them. The key for athletes is to learn to use imagery in a productive and controlled
manner to lean from performance mistakes and to program their minds and bodies to
respond optimally.
Imagery as a Polysensory Experience
The second key to understanding imagery is realising that imagery is a “polysensory”
experience that should involve all relevant sense, from visual to auditory, olfactory,
gustatory, tactile, and kinesthetic. Auditory refers to sound, such as hearing the crack
of the bat in baseball or the sweet sound of a perfect golf drive. Olfactory refers to
smell, such as a swimmer smelling chlorine in the pool. Tactile is the sensation of
touch, such as feeling the grip of a golf club or the textured leather of a basketball.
, Imagery as a Mental Training Tool
Athletes must use imagery in a systematic manner for it to quality as mental training.
Dreaming or random imagery is not systematic, and there is no evidence that these
forms of imagery enhance athletes’ performance. This doesn’t mean that athletes have
to spend numerous hours a day engaged in imagery for it to help their performance.
However, they must use it in some sort of continuing, organised manner even if in small
doses, to have the desired effect on performance.
Internal and External Imagery Perspectives
Athletes who use an “external imagery perspective” see the image from outside their
bodies as if they are viewing themselves with a video camera from either behind, in
front, or either side. When athletes use an “internal imagery perspective,” they see the
image from inside their bodies the way their eyes normally see.
DIFFERENT THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS
Bioinformational Explanation
“Bioinformational theory” assumes that a mental image is an organised set of
propositions, or characteristics, stored in the brain’s long – term memory. When
individuals engage in imagery, they activate “stimulus characteristics” that describe the
content of the image for them and “response characteristics” that describe what their
responses are to the stimuli in that situation.
Functional Equivalence Explanation
In this second theoretical explanation, imagery causes the brain to activate the same
areas and processes as when the movement is being imaged is actually executed.
Using one’s imagination to simulate a movement recruits the same parts and
sequences in the brain as the actual physical execution of the movement. the term
“functional equivalence” means that imagery has a similar functional outcome as the
actual movement.
Mental Readiness Explanation
The mental readiness explanation of how imagery works is not a theory but an intuitive
description of the role of imagery in helping athletes to optimise arousal, attention, and
confidence. Athletes commonly use imagery to psych up or calm down to meet energy
demands of a particular sport, as well as to visualise aspects of the upcoming
competition to sharpen the focus they need to be successful.
