A-Level PE AQA Sport Psychology: Social Facilitation
This set focuses on A-Level PE AQA: Sport Psychology – Social Facilitation, explaining how the presence of others influences performance. It introduces Zajonc’s theory and the concept of behavioral effects due to observation and audience.
What is social facilitation?
The behavioural effects due to others (BEDTOP)
Key Terms
What is social facilitation?
The behavioural effects due to others (BEDTOP)
Who proposed Social Facilitation?
Zajonc
What is inhibition?
The negative effects due to the presence of others
What is facilitation?
Positive effects due to the presence of others
What are the four types of others present in sport according to Zajonc?
. Audience
. Competitors
. Social reinforcers
. Co-actors
What does the audience do?
They just watch
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| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
What is social facilitation? | The behavioural effects due to others (BEDTOP) |
Who proposed Social Facilitation? | Zajonc |
What is inhibition? | The negative effects due to the presence of others |
What is facilitation? | Positive effects due to the presence of others |
What are the four types of others present in sport according to Zajonc? | . Audience |
What does the audience do? | They just watch |
What do competitors do? | They are in conflict with the performer |
What do social reinforcers do? | They encourage or critics performance of the performer |
What do co-actors do? | They play the sport alongside the performer |
What can the audience and co-actors cause an increase in? | Cause an increase in arousal levels due to presence. But they are passive - are not involved |
Who has more of a direct impact on the performers performance? | Competitors and social reinforcers have more of a direct impact by either giving encouragement or causing distractions |
Who would experience social inhibition? | A beginner |
Who would experience social faciltation? | An expert |
How can co-actors help in a simple task? | They raise arousal levels |
Whats necessary for complex tasks? | The complex tasks need lower arousal levels in order to concentrate on the task |
What does performance and the dominant response look like in an EXPERT PERFORMER? | The dominant response is well learned and so is accurate, under pressure the dominant response becomes automatic, simple and correct. This will lead to positive performances as FACILTATION occurs. |
What does performance and the dominant response look like in an NOVICE PERFORMER? | The dominant response in poorly learned and so is inaccurate, under pressure this response becomes automatic, complex and incorrect. This may lead to pressurised performances as INHIBITION occurs |
What is evaluation apprehension? | It is the fear of being judged |
How does evaluation apprehension affect performance? | If the performer feels they are being judged by those watching it causes a negative influence on his performance |
What may you feel if you are unconfident? | High arousal |
How else may high arousal be caused? | If you are being watched by important/expert people |
How can you prevent social inhibition? | . Getting the players familiar with playing in front of a crowd |
How can you get the players familiar with playing in front of a crowd? | Train with a distraction so the team get used to it. Gradually build up number of audience and important people watching |
How can you gradually introduce elevation? | A team may have informal chats before progressing to statistical analysis. The level of assessment should build up gradually |
How can you improve focus and concentration? | Players could focus on key info and not the audience so they focus and pick up on the relevant information |
How can you lower the arousal levels? | Imagery, visualisation and other stress management techniques |