B-12 APPENDIX B
Applying Psychology to Everyday Life
Techniques Used by Sports Psychologists
B.9 Identify techniques used by sports psychologists.
Many athletes become frustrated when their performance seems to be less than it could
be or when they reach some “roadblock” on their way to achieving new goals. The tech-
niques that follow are designed to help athletes get around the roadblocks and get the
most out of their performance. The same techniques are also helpful in the careers of act-
ing, musical performance, professional speaking, teaching, or any career in which there is
an element of performance in front of others.- Visualization. In this technique, athletes try to “see” their performance in their minds
as if watching from the sidelines before actually doing it. - Imagery/mental rehearsal. Similar to visualization, imagery can be used to mentally
rehearse the desired performance. Instead of visualizing oneself as if from the side-
lines, however, imagery/mental rehearsal involves actually “seeing” and “feeling” the
performance in one’s mind from one’s own viewpoint. This helps prepare the muscles
that will be used for action. - Distraction desensitization. Athletes can be trained to ignore distractions, such as
the shouts of spectators. - Thought stopping. People often have negative thoughts about things that might hap-
pen: “I’m going to miss it, I just know it!” is a good example of a negative, self- defeating
thought. Sports psychologists train athletes to stop such thoughts in the making, replac-
ing them with more positive thoughts: “I can do this. I’ve done it before and it was easy.” - Confidence training. Another thing that sports psychologists do is try to build confi-
dence and self-esteem in the athletes who come to them for help. Lack of confidence
in one’s own abilities is a major roadblock. - Focus training. Athletes can also be trained to focus attention, often through the use
of hypnosis, concentrative meditation, or similar psychological techniques. - Relaxation training. Athletes can be trained to use special breathing methods, ten-
sion and relaxation of muscles, and other strategies for relaxation to reduce anxiety
and tension before a performance. - Autogenic training. Autogenic essentially means “from within the self.” In the sense used
here, autogenic training involves helping athletes learn about their physiological responses
Practice Quiz How much do you remember?
Pick the best answer.- Dr. Irish is an industrial/organizational psychologist who has just
been hired by a major electronics production company. His job
there will include many different responsibilities. Which of the
following is not likely to be high on his list of responsibilities?
a. Helping workers visualize their performance.
b. Helping select personnel
c. Administering job performance assessments
d. Designing new work areas to increase morale and productivity - Which of the following would a human factors psychologist have the
most input in designing?
a. A new ergonomic chair that reduces muscle fatigue in the legs
and back
b. A new smartphone application that allows you to track your
spending
c. A book of recipes for single parents who do not have a lot
of time to cook
d. A list of maps that will show college students the closest stores
that offer various products- One of the earliest industrial/organization psychologists,
____, was a student of famed researcher Wilhelm Wundt
and wrote a book entitled The Theory and Practice
of Advertising.
a. Keith Engelhorn
b. William James
c. Walter D. Scott
d. Robert Yerkes
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