Sports Psychology practice questions

Answer: D) Autogenic training

Autogenic training brings on relaxation through self-suggestion of sensations such as heaviness and warmth in the limbs. Progressive muscle relaxation, by contrast, uses tense-and-release cycles of muscle groups.

• AIncorrect. Progressive muscle relaxation (Jacobson) has the athlete tense and then release muscle groups in sequence, building awareness of the contrast between tension and relaxation. It does not rely on verbal self-suggestions of heaviness and warmth.
• BIncorrect. Diaphragmatic breathing lowers arousal by deliberately controlling slow, deep breaths with the diaphragm. It does not use repeated suggestions about limb sensations.
• CIncorrect. Imagery means mentally creating or recreating sport experiences, such as rehearsing a skill. It does not mean repeating formulas about bodily heaviness and warmth.
• DCorrect. Autogenic training is a self-induced relaxation method based on autosuggestion. The athlete silently repeats formulas that focus passive attention on sensations such as heaviness and warmth in the limbs, which promotes physical and mental relaxation.

Answer: B) The overjustification effect, in which expected external rewards undermine intrinsic motivation

The overjustification effect happens when expected external rewards for an already enjoyable activity shift the athlete's motivation from internal to external. When the reward is removed, voluntary participation can fall below its original level.

• AIncorrect. Social loafing is reduced individual effort when work is pooled in a group. Here the drop followed the removal of an external reward, not a change in group size or identifiability.
• BCorrect. The athletes first did the activity for enjoyment. An expected, contingent reward shifted their sense of why they did it from internal to external control (Cognitive Evaluation Theory). When the reward was removed, voluntary participation fell below its original level.
• CIncorrect. Learned helplessness comes from repeated failure the person cannot control. The athletes here did not fail; they lost interest after a reward was introduced and then taken away.
• DIncorrect. Attribution bias is about how athletes explain outcomes. It does not explain why reward contingencies changed how often athletes chose to do the activity.

Answer: A) Thought stopping

Thought stopping means noticing a negative thought, interrupting it with a cue such as "stop," and replacing it with a constructive, task-focused statement.

• ACorrect. In thought stopping, the athlete notices an unwanted thought, interrupts it with a trigger such as the word "stop," and then replaces it with a productive, task-focused statement.
• BIncorrect. Imagery means mentally rehearsing the lift or situation using the senses. It doesn't involve deliberately interrupting a specific negative thought with a cue word.
• CIncorrect. Progressive muscle relaxation reduces somatic tension by tensing and then relaxing muscle groups in sequence. It targets the body, not the content of the athlete's thoughts.
• DIncorrect. Systematic desensitization pairs a relaxation response with gradually increasing exposure to anxiety-provoking situations. It has no cue to interrupt a specific thought and no thought replacement.

Answer: D) Raise the back squat 1RM from 140 kg to 150 kg by the end of the 12-week block

A SMART goal names a specific, measurable target that is realistic for the athlete and has a set deadline. Vague, 'do-your-best' and unrealistic goals each fail at least one of these criteria.

• AIncorrect. This is a 'do-your-best' goal. It has no target number, so progress can't be measured objectively.
• BIncorrect. The goal is specific, measurable and time-bound, but it isn't realistic. A 50% gain in one week is far beyond what the athlete can achieve, which tends to undermine motivation.
• CIncorrect. This describes a behavior, but it's vague. 'More often' and 'more effort' aren't defined, and there's no deadline or measurable endpoint.
• DCorrect. The goal is specific (back squat 1RM), measurable (140 to 150 kg) and realistic for a trained athlete over 12 weeks. It's also time-bound (end of the block) and relevant to getting stronger in the squat.

Answer: A) Excess arousal narrowed her attentional field, so a relevant peripheral cue was filtered out

As arousal rises, attention narrows. Past the optimal level, the athlete starts to miss task-relevant peripheral cues (cue-utilization theory).

• ACorrect. Under cue-utilization theory, attention narrows as arousal rises. Past the optimal level it narrows so far that task-relevant peripheral cues, such as an open teammate, are missed.
• BIncorrect. A broad focus that takes in irrelevant cues goes with low arousal. High arousal narrows attention.
• CIncorrect. The autonomous stage is a level of skill learning reached through practice. Arousal does not cause it, and it does not shut off visual input.
• DIncorrect. Nothing in the scenario points to a vision problem. Missing a peripheral cue under very high arousal is the textbook sign of attentional narrowing.

Answer: B) Negative reinforcement

• AIncorrect. That decreases behavior.
• BCorrect. Behavior increases when something aversive is removed.
• CIncorrect. That removes something pleasant.
• DIncorrect. That's withholding reinforcement.

Answer: B) Recognizing effort and personal improvement, and treating mistakes as part of learning

A mastery climate defines success through effort, learning and self-improvement, whereas an ego climate emphasizes comparison, winning and punishing mistakes.

• AIncorrect. Normative comparison with others is a hallmark of a performance (ego-involving) climate.
• BCorrect. A mastery climate emphasizes effort, individual improvement, skill development and viewing mistakes as learning opportunities.
• CIncorrect. Rewarding mainly those who outperform others reflects an ego-involving climate focused on demonstrating superior ability.
• DIncorrect. Criticizing or punishing mistakes publicly is characteristic of an ego-oriented climate and discourages risk-taking in learning.

Answer: B) Successfully performing progressions of the lift herself in practice

Bandura identifies four sources of self-efficacy: performance accomplishments, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological/emotional states. Performance accomplishments (mastery experiences) are the strongest.

• AIncorrect. This is vicarious experience (modeling). It can raise self-efficacy, especially when the model is similar to the athlete, but it is weaker than the athlete's own successful performances.
• BCorrect. Performance accomplishments (mastery experiences) are the most powerful source of self-efficacy. Personal success at the task produces the strongest and longest-lasting gains in confidence.
• CIncorrect. This is verbal persuasion. It helps most when it comes from a credible source, but it is weaker than personal success.
• DIncorrect. This reflects physiological and emotional states. Bandura generally ranks this as the least influential of the four sources.

Answer: D) Recognition that conveys information about competence, such as measured progress

Cognitive evaluation theory states that rewards perceived as informational about competence support intrinsic motivation, while rewards perceived as controlling undermine it.

• AIncorrect. Performance-contingent tangible rewards framed as a contract tend to be perceived as controlling, reducing self-determination and intrinsic motivation.
• BIncorrect. Expected tangible rewards offered for task completion shift the perceived locus of causality outward and are experienced as controlling.
• CIncorrect. When a reward is perceived as an attempt to control behavior, it lowers perceived autonomy and undermines intrinsic motivation.
• DCorrect. Cognitive evaluation theory holds that rewards perceived as informational about competence (e.g., praise for real improvement) can support intrinsic motivation.

Answer: A) From a first-person view, rehearse a successful lift and include the feel of the bar, the platform sounds and the effort of the drive.

Imagery works best when the athlete regularly rehearses successful performance with vivid, controllable, multisensory images. Including kinesthetic and environmental detail makes the imagery more like the actual lift.

• ACorrect. Imagery works best when it is vivid, controllable and uses several senses. Imagining a successful lift from a first-person view, with realistic sensations, makes the imagined action more like the real one (the PETTLEP functional-equivalence idea).
• BIncorrect. Using only sight and deliberately leaving out kinesthetic (body) sensations makes the image less vivid and less like the real lift, which weakens the effect.
• CIncorrect. Repeatedly picturing failures can lower confidence and strengthen the faulty pattern. Imagery for performance should rehearse successful execution.
• DIncorrect. Imagery is a skill that gets better with regular, systematic practice. Using it only once leaves the athlete little chance to develop vivid, controllable images.