Arousal and ActivationESS2710 SPORT PSYCHOLOGY SEMINAR PRESENTATION

13-03-2013Jie, Li-Juan

Mason, CharlotteReynolds, Karl

Case

A footballer, who plays in goal, has not beenplaying well recently. He often feels he is not very “psyched-up” before matches, and feels that during matches he is slow to make decisions and react to situations.

ArousalLow High

Body at rest Mentally and physically activated

Parasympathetic nervous system Activation sympathetic nervous system Heart rates, respiration, sweating

Rest-and-digest Alert: fight-flight-freeze response

‘Arousal is a general physiological and psychological activation, varying on a continuum from deep sleep to intense excitement’(Weinberg and Gould, 3rd edition)

Arousal

• ‘..consists of neutral excitation on continuum ranging from a comatose state to a state of extreme excitement as might be manifested in a panic attack’ (Malmo, 1959).

Multi-dimensional construct

Lacey (1967)addressed a multi-dimensional construct for arousal and included 3 types of arousal to consider:1)Electrocortical (brain) 2) Autonomic (nervous system) 3) Behavioural

What is optimal arousal?

Oxedine (1970,1984) defined optimal levels of arousal were dependent upon the type of task and its complexity -Gross motor activities-Fine motor control-Above average arousal level

Activation

• “… refers to a cognitive and physiological activity geared towards preparing a planned response to an anticipated situation” (Pribram & McGuinness, 1975)

Arousal and activation

• Arousal and Activation have been differently defined in terms of their origin and their function. The former has been defined as the energetic state at a particular time; the latter, as the change in arousal from a resting state to the task situation.

Theories/Models

• Drive Theory (Spence & Spence, 1966)• The Inverted-U Hypothesis (Landers and

Arent, 2001)• Humphrey and Revelle, 1984• Model of stress and human performance

(Sanders, 1983)

(Spence & Spence, 1966) (Landers and Arent, 2001)

Social facilitation theory , Zajonc, 1966

Cue utilization theory, Easterbrook, 1959

Oxadine, 1970, 1984

Case

A footballer, who plays in goal, has not beenplaying well recently. He often feels he is not very “psyched-up” before matches, and feels that during matches he is slow to make decisions and react to situations.

Interventions• Breathing

By employing breathing techniques you can increase activation by stimulating more adrenaline.

• Energizing imageryVisualising past successes.Going through the steps of how to successfully perform a motor task.

• Self-talkReinforcing positive cognitions, such as ‘You can do this’, and eliminating negative thoughts, such as ‘You’re rubbish’.(Latinjak, Torregrosa & Renom, 2010).

• MusicListening to high tempo music before competition to increase activation levels.

Humphrey and Revelle, 1984

• Which aspects does he need to change?• Which intervention(s) would you use to help

him? A footballer, who plays in goal, has not beenplaying well recently. He often feels he is not very “psyched-up” before matches, and feels that during matches he is slow to make decisions and react to situations.