Psychology Personality And Sport

Note

These flashcards will probably be most useful to people studying the OLD OCR specification for A-level Psychology.

Questions

Question	Answer
What is the Definition of Personality?	'those stable and enduring aspects of individuals which distinguish them from other people, making them unique, but which at the same time allow them to be compared with one another'
Who wrote this definition?	Gross
In what year did he write this definition?	1996
Who was the founder of psychoanalytic theory?	Freud
What were the major features of the psychoanalytic theory?	unconscious and instinctive drives underlie human behaviour.
What were the three parts of personality that Freud proposed?	the id, the ego and the superego
What is the definition of the id?	the package of unconscious instincts (sexual or aggressive) that need immediate gratification
What is the definition of the ego?	this is the conscious part of personality in which a child or person attempts to find socially acceptable ways of satisfying the demands of the id.
What is the definition of the superego?	this is an unconscious part of personality which is linked to morality.
What are the three ways in which a person manages the demands of the id according to Freud?	identification, sublimation and displacement.
What is the definition of identification?	Freud suggested that a child identifies with an adult of the same sex, this is how they aquire morals, the sense of being male or female among other characteristics.
What is the definition of sublimation?	this is the channelling of unacceptable impulses into acceptable activities, such as aggression into sport.
What is the defintion of displacement?	this is the transfer of unacceptable feelings for someone to another who is fairly harmless and will not retaliate.
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Question	Answer
Two psychologists who saw personality as a core of fairly stable traits are?	Eysenck and Cattell
What technique did both of these psychologists use	factor analysis
In what year did Eysenck propose his two dimensions of personality?	1965
What are Eysenck's two dimensions of personality?	extrovert-introvert dimension (E) and Stable-Neurotic dimension (N)
What does ARAS stand for?	Ascending Reticular Activating System
What is the function of ARAS?	to maintain our optimum level of alertness
What does ANS stand for?	Autonomic Nervous System
What is the function of ANS?	to help us respond to stressful situations.
In what year did Eysenck propose a third dimension to his theory?	1975
What was the third dimension that Eysenck added?	psychotic dimension (P)
An individual can be tested on each of these dimensions by using?	Eysenck Personality Questionnaire
If people score low on the psychotic dimension they demonstrate what characteristics?	empathy and co-operation due to a strong superego - sense of morality
If people score high on the psychotic dimension they demonstrate what characteristics?	egocentrism, aggression, non-conformity, suspicion, coldness, impulsivity and hostility
Where are people with high psychotism scores most likely to be found?	in a sports setting, at least, more than the general population.
Eysenck claims that what percentage of these traits comes from genetic influence and what percent from environmental factors?	75% of these traits are based on genetic influence and 25% of these traits are based on environmental factors.
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Question	Answer
How many personality factors did Cattell believe that personality consisted of?	16 personality factors
In what year did Cattell introduce this theory?	1965
What did Cattell acknowledge was wrong with his questionnaire?	Although more detailed personality profiles could be created, the same person would have a different profile each time they completed it.
Name the social learning theorist that critised Cattell and Eysenck's work?	Walter Mischell (1968)
What did the social learning theorist argue?	that there was little evidence that people behave consistently in a variety of situations.
What does the social learning theory propose?	behaviour is determined more by an individual's situation than by their uncoscious predispositions.
What is the humanistic approach?	humanists focus on an individual's own experience and what is meaningful to them.
What is self-actualisation?	self-actualisation is the individual's achievement of their ultimate goals.
In relation to this what did Maslow propose?	that we possess a hierarchy of needs, starting with food and drink, moving up to acceptance, understanding etc. and finally, self actualisation.
What is positive self-regard?	when an individual feels good about themselves or an achievement such as attaining a personal best swimming time.
What is conditional positive regard?	this is when individual's feel that others must approve of what they are doing.
Which humanist developed the ideas of positive self regard and conditional postive regard?	Carl Rodgers (1961)
Name three techniques which are used to measure personality?	projective techniques, interviews and personality questionnaires.
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Question	Answer
Which psychologist perfomed a study into the differences between elite and non-elite hockey players?	Williams and Parkin
In what year was this performed?	1980
What three levels of hockey players were assessed?	international, national and club standard
How many participants were used?	85 male hockey players, 18 international, 34 national and 33 club standard
This test was performed using a questionnaire by?	Cattell 16PF Questionnaire
What were the results of the study?	the international group had significantly different profiles to the club group and the national group were similar to both but closer to the international group.
What psychologist found that this was also true of disabled athletes?	Asken (1991)
Which psychologist after reviewing a number of studies in this area concluded that eight personality traits were linked to athletic performance?	Ogilvie (1968)
What were these eight personality traits?	emotional stability, tough-mindedness, conscientiousness, self-discipline, self assurance, trust, extroversion and low tension.
What psychologist found that the higher up the athletic pyramid you were the more similar personality you had to others of your own group?	Silva (1984)
What psychologist reported that of the 63 international athletes he interviewed 89% claimed to be shy and introverted?	David Hemery (1986)
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Question	Answer
What psychologist performed a study into the differences between elite and non-elite distance runners?	Morgan et al
What distances did the participants run?	1500-marathon
How many participants were there?	there were 27 volunteer participants, 15 elite runners and 12 non-elite runners.
What four questionnaires did Morgan et al use?	Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire, Profile of Mood States, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and a Body Awareness Test.
What areas did the structured interview cover that Morgan et al also used?	motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic), cognitive strategies, race strategies, training volume, staleness and pre-competition arousal.
What were the results of the study?	Questionnaires - no significiant differnces between elite and non-elite groups. POMS - demonstrated 'iceberg effect' showing that elite athletes have a lower level of negative moods such as tension, depression or anger, than non-athletes. EPQ showed the that elite were more stable-extroverted. STAI showed that anxiety did not differ from public norms.
What is the interactional approach?	The interactional approach focuses on the sporting situation and examines how the athletes personality affects the situation.
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