Social facilitation What does it mean? All sporting events are a social activity. Rare for an athletic event to be held in isolation. Cratty (1981) “even a solitary workout mat be accompanied by an unseen audience , a group of people residing psychologically and socially in the mind of the performer”. Zajonc (1965) “the behavioural effects due to the presence of others”

Audience and co-actors Audience – passive observers Co-actors – involved others such as team mates and opponents In general do you think the presence of others helps or hinders sporting performance? Link to arousal Effects on simple/complex tasks Dominant response

Social Inhibition What is it Decrease in performance due to the presence of others Why does it occur? Distraction and level of dominance/complexity How can we prevent this happening? Well learned responses, arousal control techniques etc

Cottrell evaluation apprehension theory(1968) Argued that it wasn’t just the mere presence of others that created higher arousal; there were different kinds of presence each having differing effects (either increasing or decreasing arousal). All to do with a performer’s perception of whether they are being evaluated. The more expert the audience, the higher the level of evaluation, and the more performance is potentially impaired.

Baron’s distraction-conflict theory. Linked presence of an audience to information processing, suggesting that an audience takes up what little attention capacity we have. May have sufficient attention to cope with a simple task but not a complex one when distracted. Arousal therefore increases and we witness social facilitation effects.

Link to information processing Barron suggests an audience takes up much of what little attentional capacity we have. Simple tasks are therefore relatively unaffected but complex skills (such as most sports skills) can be affected. Competing demands on our attention will in turn increase our……? Arousal…..which then affects performance. Anything distracting affects performance (e.g. lights, audience, sounds, negative thoughts) Pg 183, Fig 13.3

Strategies to limit effects of an audience on performance Learn new skills without an audience Gradually introduce audience during training rather than fullcompetitive situation. Self talk, thought stopping, visualisation Improve self-efficacy through…… Performance accomplishments, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion and emotional arousal.

Home advantage Why is it better to play at home? Crowd support Familiar routines/surroundings. Social facilitation effects (increase arousal with well learnt skills so dominant response should be correct). Can also have a negative effect. Why? Increase anxiety from negative crowd reaction. Cognitive anxiety is lower and self-efficacy is higher at home. Choking Reputation of teams/ proximity of crowds/stadiums.