TAKE-HOME QUESTIONS

 Chapter 2:  Motor Learning for Effective Sport Performance

1.  What are the characteristics of an effective coach?  Describe these.

2.  What are practice considerations when several variations of a single skill (task) are to be performed?

Chapter 3:  A Positive Approach to Enhancing Sport Performance:  Principles of Positive Reinformcement
                    and Performance Feedback

1.  What is negative reinforcement (Describe)?

2.  What is a partial and continuous schedule of reinforcement and when should each be used?

Chapter 5:  Enhancing Coach-Parent Relationships in Youth Sports

1.  What are the objectives that young athletes seek to achieve through their participation in youth sport?

2.  What should the communication process be like between coaches and parents?

Chapter 6:  The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Theory:  When Coaches' Expectations Become Reality

1.  What is meant by Pygmalion in the classroom? (Describe)

2.  What are some behavioral recommendations for coaches in evaluating athletes?

Chapter 8:  Styles of Decision Making

1.  What are the advantages and disadvantages of a participative decision-making style?

2.  What does research on decision styles in sport tell us? (Describe at least three conclusions derived from research).
 

Chapter 9:  The Sport Team as an Effective Group

1.  What is it that distinquishes a group from a collection of individuals? (Explain)

2.  What is the relationship between team cohesiveness and performance? (Explain)
 

Chapter 12:  Increasing Awareness for Sport Performance

1. What awareness training techniques does Ravizza recommend for athletes who are "rough around the edges" or have poor execution of the "basics," or just plain lack good concentration skills? (Describe)

2.  What are some techniques for teaching athletes how to develop awareness?  (Describe these)
 

Chapter 13:  Goal Setting

1.  What type of goals are there and which types are preferred? (Describe)

2.  What is Botterill's goal-setting system for coaches?  (Describe)\
 

Chapter 14:  Arousal-Performance

1.  What is the relationship between arousal and motor performance?  (Describe)

2.  How do individual differences influence the shape of the inverted-U curve?  (Describe)
 

Chapter 15:  Relaxation Techniques

1.  What is muscle co-contraction or bracing and how does it affect sport performance?

2.  What is "differential active progressive relaxation" and "passive progressive relaxation"? (Clearly describe each of these)
 

Chapter 19:  Techniques for Training Concentration

1.  What are some of the "external factors" that can be used as strategies to maintain a highly concentrated state?

2.  What are some internal factors that can be used as strategies to maintain a highly attentive state?
 

Chapter 20:  Integrating and Implementing a Psychological Skills Training Program

1.  What are some practical pointers for teaching mental skills?

2.  What are some ethical considerations?