Methods of Sport Psychology
Ashutosh Acharya, Phd
What is Observation ?
Observation is a method of Psychological research, which includes the perception of an individual's behaviour under natural conditions and analysis of this perceived behaviour.
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What does it do?
What is it?
- Through observation of external behaviour we can get an idea about the mental processes of others.
- Observation includes and not limited to facial expression, gestures and behavioural patterns
- This is an excellent instrument of behavioural investigation with regard to young children and introvert persons.
- Sustained observations pave the way for generalisation about behaviour
What are the merits?
Merits
- It is natural, flexible and economical
- Efficient method in learning growth and development characteristics
- Result is reliable and can be verified
- Most efficient in learning the abnormal behaviour of the athletes
- Effective in finding out the problem athletes
What are the demerits?
Demerits
The observations are not sufficiently objective, reliable and valid for the reasons given bellow
- This does not explain the thought process only the external behaviour is observed.
- It can be subjective in nature and hence the same behaviour may be perceived differently
- Observers' interest and value also may affect the result
- Partiality may be evident at times.
Introspection
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Derived from two different Latin words
"INTRO" means within or inward, "spiere" means to look into.
Introspection is self observation wherein one perceives, analyzes and reports his own feeling and everything occurs in his mind during the course of a mental act.
Introspection Method
Introspection
- Introspection is the examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings.
- Introspection relies on the observation of one's mental state.
- Introspection is closely related to human self-reflection and self-discovery and is contrasted with external observation.
- Introspection has been a subject of philosophical discussion for thousands of years. The philosopher Plato asked, "why should we not calmly and patiently review our own thoughts, and thoroughly examine and see what these appearances in us really are?"
Merits
- As it refers to report one's own observation, it is considered to be important.
- It is a simple and readily available method.
- One's mental process are always present and can be introspected at any time, hence does not require any extra expenditure of material and apparatus
- Introspection provides adequate knowledge of the inner experiences and thus inner behaviour of an individual in the form of thought can be revealed through introspection
Demerits
- The state of one's mental process is constantly changing
- When one is asked to introspect at a later stage, there are chances of information being lost.
- Introspection lacks validity, reliability and objectivity as-
- It is not reliable as, it is not possible to verify self observations as one's own mind cant b studied by others in introspection
- This method cant be applied on children and abnormal population.
Theoretical Framework in Social and Cognitive Psychology
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- Attitude/Behavior affects physical activity
- Social Cognitive Theory: portions of an individual's knowledge acquisition can be directly related to observing others within the context of social interactions, experiences, and outside media influences
- Self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments
Experimental Method
Evidence of Pseudoscience
- Exaggerated claims
- Over reliance on anecdotes
- Absence of connectivity to other research
- Ad hoc immunizing hypothesis
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Case Study/Clinical Method
Mental Coaching with Dr. Cohn
An athlete, coach, and sport psychologist who uses mental coaching to help every athlete "excel in their sport" and "reach peak performance."
The website is riddled with pop up ads and misspellings. It is also full of exaggerated claims, it relies far too heavily on anecdotes, and it lacks any sort of connectivity to other research.
Mental Coaching
The "Personality" of an Athlete
The Personality of an Athlete
- There have been attempted studies to determine what type of personality one must have to be an athlete.
- Use of Exaggerated Claims in stating that if a person acts in one certain way - they are destined to be a great athlete
- Use of Ad Hoc Immunizing Hypothesis because these articles of information claim that if someone is not good at sports, they simply don't have the personality for it.
Misconceptions, Myths, and Critiques
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Survey Method
Misconceptions and Myths
- It’s only for professional athletes
- It’s only for people who are mentally weak or ill
- It has a religious basis
- It is a quick fix
- It will change the patient’s personality
- Early concern from 1960’s was that the sports psychologist will impede on the role of the coach
Critiques
- Over analyzing clients
- Ad Hoc Hypothesis
- Dig to Deep
- Nothing is truly wrong with clients
Methods used in Sport Psychology
- Mental Rehearsal
- Imagery - picturing yourself succeeding, leads to more success
- Internal Motivation
- Self Talk
- Relaxation techniques
- Goal setting
- Time management
Where is Sport Psychology Going?
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Emotion & Affect
- Previous research focused on a cognitive model relating to more quantitative data
- It is expected that Sport Psychology will begin to analyze more qualitative data
Emotion & Affect
Academic Qualifications
Academic Qualifications
- As more academic research arises, more credit is placed on Sport Psychology as a field
- It's expected that those who have studied Sport Psychology will be acknowledged more in sport federations.
The Influence of the Internet
The Internet
- Though Sport Psychology is a growing field more and more people will stop turning to licensed Sport Psychologists and will go to the internet - much cheaper.
- Therapeutic methods used by Sport Psychologists can be found with simple Google search.