Deck 6: Arousal and Anxiety

Question 1

What is the relationship between arousal and anxiety?

A) Anxiety is the term for being negatively aroused
B) Lower levels of anxiety are correlated with higher levels of arousal
C) Signs of physiological arousal are often independent of feeling anxious
D) High levels of anxiety lead to decreased psychological arousal

Answer 1

A

Question 2

What is a major reason certain situations cause athletes to feel stressed?

A) Stress occurs when the athlete believes that the situation is too demanding for their ability to cope with the situation.
B) Athletes feel stressed when their body ceases to release cortisol
C) When an athlete does not experience flow, this can lead to feelings of increased stress and anxiety
D) Athletes feel stressed when arousal is a moderate to high levels

Answer 2

A

Question 3

According to theories on the effect of stress and arousal on performance, at which of these levels would stress be most likely to actually increase levels of performance?

A) Moderate
B) High
C) Low
D) None

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What happens to the body when the fight-or-flight response is triggered by a stressor?

A) All of the above
B) Energy is shifted from the nonessential body systems to those necessary to respond to the challenge
C) The hypothalamus activates the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine systems
D) Heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate increase, and the pupils widen

Question 5

______ anxiety describes a behavioral disposition, whereas ______ anxiety is caused by a given situation and is temporary.

A) Trait/State
B) Cognitive/Somatic
C) State/Trait
D) Somatic/Cognitive

Question 6

Which of the following scenarios may cause an athlete to experience state anxiety?

A) All of the above
B) Fear of physical harm
C) Situation ambiguity
D) Fear of negative social evaluation

Question 7

A collegiate baseball player is at bat, and is being watched by his coach, a few of his family members, and a talent scout. Although the player has a good batting average of .350, he is a sophomore and this is the first game of the season. How is a moderate-to-high level of arousal likely to impact his performance?

A) It is likely to impact his performance in a negative way, as he is relatively young and knows he is being judged
B) It is likely to impact his performance in a positive way, as he is already a good hitter, and has the support of his coach and family
C) It is unlikely to impact his performance either negatively or positively
D) Arousal levels do not tend to effect performance unless situations are very high-pressure

Question 8

An ice skater is starting to feel very nervous about the competition she is participating in next week. She has practiced hard, but her routine is difficult. Which type of anxiety is she likely to be feeling, in increasing amounts, as the competition draws closer?

A) Cognitive
B) Somatic
C) Trait
D) None of the above

Question 9

What are symptoms of cognitive anxiety?

A) Inability to concentrate and repetitive negative thoughts
B) Racing heart rate and higher blood pressure
C) Widened pupils and quick breathing
D) Pacing back and forth and sweating

Question 10

Which type of anxiety is likely to spike or peak just before beginning a gymnastics routine in a major competition?

A) Somatic
B) Trait
C) Cognitive
D) Flow

Question 11

According to the transactional model, an athlete playing in a high-stakes game will still perform well if:

A) They interpret the situation in a positive way
B) They have a lot of support from the crowd
C) They experience high levels of arousal
D) They experience high levels of cognitive anxiety and low levels of somatic anxiety

Question 12

What does the transactional model say is the most important predictor of the experience of a stressful event?

A) How the athlete interprets the event
B) The actual event itself
C) The final outcome of the event
D) The skill level of the athlete

Question 13

How might the primary appraisals of high pressure situations differ between amateur athletes and professional athletes?

A) Professional athletes are more likely to interpret their anxiety as helpful
B) Professional athletes are more likely to interpret their anxiety as a barrier to desired performance
C) Amateur athletes are more likely to be unaware of just how anxious they feel in a high pressure situation
D) Amateur athletes are more likely to interpret their anxiety as helpful

Question 14

Why might a researcher choose to use a self-report measure when measuring levels of anxiety of a sports team?

A) Self-report is relatively inexpensive and easy
B) People always report honestly and accurately about their own feelings and behaviors
C) Self-report measures show general trends and require large samples of data
D) Self-report is helpful in determining heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate

Question 15

How are behavioral indicators of stress measured?

A) By observation
B) Through self-report (a questionnaire)
C) With the use of an electroencephalography (EEG)
D) With the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Question 16

Which of the following would a researcher or sport psychologist use if they were interested in measuring arousal by looking at blood flow in the brain?

A) Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
B) Self-report questionnaire
C) Electroencephalography (EEG)
D) Observation of outward manifestations of anxiety or stress

Question 17

Milton, Solodkin, Hlustik, & Small (2007) examined how experience affects brain activity during an athletic task by having amateur and professional golfers imagine hitting a golf ball to a hole very far away. What did they find?

A) Professional golfers showed brain activation in areas that involve planning and carrying out specific actions
B) Professional golfers showed higher levels of anxiety than amateur golfers
C) Surprisingly, there was almost no difference in brain activity between the amateur and professional golfers
D) Amateur golfers showed high levels of activation in the occipital lobe, and well as the hippocampus

Question 18

Which of the following states that as arousal increases, so does performance, and does not distinguish between somatic and cognitive anxiety?

A) Drive theory
B) Social facilitation theory
C) Inverted U Hypothesis
D) Reversal theory

Question 19

According to drive theory, why do athletes who are about to be traded show lower levels of performance than after they are traded?

A) They are experiencing high levels of arousal (anxiety) before the trade, and lower levels of arousal after the trade
B) They are experiencing low levels of arousal (boredom) before the trade, and higher levels of arousal after the trade
C) They are experiencing high levels of cognitive anxiety before the trade, and high levels of somatic anxiety after the trade
D) They are interpreting the situation negatively before the trade, and then positively after the trade

Question 20

According to social facilitation theory, what should happen if you are good at a task, you are currently performing that task, and there are people in your presence, observing you?

A) You should perform even better than normal
B) You should perform worse than normal
C) Your performance should be no different that it usually is
D) Your performance should be only slightly worse than normal

Question 21

Under what circumstances does choking usually occur?

A) There is support from a home crowd, but the situation is very high pressure
B) There is a hostile away crowd, and the situation is high pressure
C) The task at hand is very difficult, although the situation may or may not be high pressure
D) The situation is low pressure, and the task is easy, but the environment is hostile

Question 22

Which of the following situations demonstrates choking?

A) The home team is down by one goal in a soccer match, but the striker completely misses the net when he takes a shot
B) The home team is up by 3 points in a football game, and although they are within scoring range, they decide to go for a field goal instead
C) The visiting team is down by 10 points in a basketball game, and their best shooter only makes lay-ups, rather than going for 3-pointers
D) A gymnast falls when doing her uneven bar routine during practice

Question 23

According to the Inverted U Hypotheses, what should happen to an athlete as their arousal reaches very high levels?

A) Performance levels go down, because the athlete is anxious
B) Performance levels go up, because performance correlates with arousal
C) Performance levels remain relatively high, although the athlete may feel bored
D) Performance levels are not correlated with arousal, according to this theory

Question 24

Which arousal-performance-link theory says that cognitive and somatic arousal influence performance in different ways?

A) Multidimensional anxiety theory
B) Reversal theory
C) Inverted U Hypothesis
D) Social facilitation theory

Question 25

According to the catastrophe model, what will happen to an athlete who is in a very high pressure situation and is already experiencing high levels of cognitive anxiety, and somatic anxiety starts to occur?

A) The athlete will have a sudden and substantial drop in performance
B) The athlete will receive a boost of energy and perform at a higher-than-typical level
C) The athlete will have a sudden drop in cognitive anxiety as the somatic anxiety levels rise
D) The athlete will experience low levels of both cognitive and somatic anxiety as both of the forms of anxiety counteract each other

Question 26

Reversal theory states that performance is impacted by how the athlete:

A) Interprets arousal
B) Interacts with their teammates
C) Spends their time preparing before their performance or game
D) All of the above

Question 27

Evidence supporting the idea that different athletes reach their peak performance at different levels of arousal would be linked with which of the following?

A)Individualized Zones of Optimal
B)Functioning (IZOF) Model Drive theory
C)Multidimensional anxiety theory
D)Reversal theory

Question 28

A basketball player who feels as though they barely have to think, and know exactly what to do, and feel as though they are in a very positive state would be described as:

A) Experiencing flow
B) Having heightened levels of cognitive anxiety
C) In the optimal zone of difficulty
D) At the peak of the inverted U

Question 29

How can an athlete help themselves get into a state of flow?

A) All of the above
B) Self-confidence
C) Focus
D) Positive attitude

Question 30

Which of the following athletes is most likely to experience flow?

A) A highly skilled, confident athlete
B) A young, self-conscious, beginner athlete
C) A highly-motivated athlete who is working on perfecting a new skill
D) An athlete who has made errors earlier in their performance

Question 31

When the body is in fight-or-flight mode, energy is shifted from the parasympathetic nervous system to the sympathetic nervous system.

Question 32

Arousal can be both positive and negative.

Question 33

Somatic anxiety describes anxiety that results from thoughts or concerns.

Question 34

Cognitive anxiety and somatic anxiety are positively correlated, meaning that as one goes up, so does the other.

Question 35

Precompetitive cognitive anxiety tends to be high and stable leading up to a competition or event, and then may fluctuate during the event.

Question 36

The transactional model states that levels of anxiety depend upon the skill level of a player, with professional or advanced players experiencing little or no anxiety in most situations.

Question 37

One behavioral indicator of stress is nause

Question 38

Some disadvantages to using physiological measures such as fMRI and EEG are that they are expensive and may in themselves cause stress to those being evaluated

Question 39

An athlete's skill level does not influence the association between arousal and performance.

Question 40

Home team advantage is supported by social facilitation theory.

Question 41

An athlete who has the support of their home crowd, no matter their skill level or the difficulty of the situation, will always perform better than players on the visiting team.

Question 42

Choking is more likely to occur in the presence of strangers, rather than in the presence of supportive friends, family, or fans.

Question 43

The Inverted U Hypothesis says that moderate levels of arousal are correlated with a boost in performance.

Question 44

Multidimensional anxiety theory states that peak performance will occur when cognitive state anxiety is moderate and physiological arousal/somatic anxiety is very low.

Question 45

Athletes who score higher on confidence are more likely to experience flow.

Question 46

What does it mean that an athlete is experiencing "flow"? What makes this concept both appealing but difficult to study?

Question 47

Should scientists trouble over the discrepancy between self-report measures of anxiety and physiological markers of anxiety? Is there a way to reconcile the two?

Question 48

Compare and contrast the role of anxiety in Drive Theory vs. Inverted U Hypothesis. In your comparison, provide an appropriate example.

Question 49

How can being the home team be both an advantage and a disadvantage for athletes?

Question 50

Should the goal of athletes be to reduce all arousal prior to an event? Why or why not?