Sport and Exercise Psychology 3rd Edition By Peter R. E. Crocker – Test Bank

Complete Test Bank With Answers

 

 

Sample Questions Posted Below

 

Sport and Exercise Psychology: A Canadian Perspective, 3e (Crocker)

Chapter 5   Anxiety in Sport and Exercise

5.1   Multiple Choice Questions

1) What is a blend of physiological and psychological activation within a person that varies in intensity on a continuum ranging from deep sleep to peak activation known as?

A) arousal 

B) anxiety

C) state anxiety

D) cognitive anxiety

E) somatic anxiety

Answer:  A

Level:  1

Section:  Definitions and Basic Concepts

Category:  Recall

2) A baseball player who was nervous moments earlier when a strike was called, but is now elated because she hit a double, is displaying which of the following?

A) trait anxiety

B) state anxiety

C) cognitive anxiety

D) somatic anxiety

E) social physique anxiety

Answer:  B

Level:  3

Section:  Definitions and Basic Concepts

Category:  Applied

3) According to the idea that anxiety involves a transaction between the person and the environment, which two factors influence the level of anxiety experienced?

A) demands of the environment and personality characteristics

B) the individual’s resources and demands of the environment

C) state anxiety and trait anxiety

D) number of cognitive intrusions and personality characteristics

E) self-confidence and task difficulty

Answer:  B

Level:  2

Section:  Definitions and Basic Concepts

Category:  Recall

4) Hanna, a university freshman, is about to go to her first exercise class. Hanna is concerned that she isn’t wearing the right clothes and that everyone in the class will think that she is unfit and her body is unattractive. What would this phenomenon be described as?

A) social physique anxiety

B) state anxiety

C) somatic anxiety

D) trait anxiety

E) cognitive anxiety

Answer:  A

Level:  2

Section:  Definitions and Basic Concepts

Category:  Applied

5) Which dimension of anxiety is assessed by a questionnaire item that asks the exercise participant to rate “how much” the person is experiencing an anxiety symptom?

A) state anxiety

B) frequency of cognitive intrusions

C) intensity of symptoms

D) trait anxiety

E) directional interpretation of symptoms

Answer:  C

Level:  1

Section:  Definitions and Basic Concepts

Category:  Recall

6) Immediate prior to the final game in the Canada West CIS championship series, Coach Win asks his star volleyball player whether he is feeling ready to give a best performance. Assuming that the star player is feeling pre-competitive anxiety, what dimension of pre-competitive anxiety is Coach Win asking about?

A) social physique anxiety

B) intensity of symptoms

C) trait anxiety 

D) frequency of cognitive intrusions

E) directional interpretation of symptoms

Answer:  E

Level:  2

Section:  Definitions and Basic Concepts

Category:  Applied

7)  Which one of the following statements is true regarding experience and skill level differences in state anxiety responses?

A) More skilled athletes experience lower intensity pre-competitive anxiety symptoms than novice athletes.

B) More skilled athletes experience fewer cognitive intrusions compared to novice athletes.

C) More skilled athletes report anxiety symptoms to be more facilitative than less skilled athletes.

D) Skill level is unrelated to pre-competitive anxiety.

E) All of the above are true statements reported in the anxiety research. 

Answer:  C

Level:  1

Section:  Sources of Anxiety

Category:  Recall

8) In sport and exercise research, which of the following gender differences have been reported?

A) Women report higher social physique anxiety than men.

B) Men report higher social physique anxiety than women.

C) Men experience more intense competitive anxiety symptoms than women.

D) Men report state anxiety to be more facilitative than women.

E) All of the above are true statements.

Answer:  A

Level:  1

Section:  Sources of Anxiety

Category:  Recall

9) Taylor plays golf for her high school team. There is a big tournament coming up next week, and she is very nervous about how she will do. She tells her teammates that she has not been feeling well this week, so she hasn’t been able to practise as much as she would like to. She also reminded them that the course does not set up well for her game — so they shouldn’t expect much from her. Which of the following is Taylor engaging in?

A) excuse-making

B) choking

C) catastrophizing

D) self-handicapping

E) confidence building

Answer:  D

Level:  2

Section:  Sources of Anxiety

Category:  Applied

10) A football player who holds positive beliefs about the group’s ability to work together to achieve success would probably report having less precompetitive ________ anxiety compared to those whose beliefs are negative. 

A) social physique

B) cognitive

C) somatic

D) state

E) trait

Answer:  D

Level:  2

Section:  Sources of Anxiety

Category:  Applied

11) In general, a female collegiate exerciser who holds ________ beliefs in her ability to present oneself as an exerciser has ________ social physique anxiety. 

A) weak, low

B) moderate, no

C) weak, high

D) strong, high

E) Self-presentational self-efficacy is not related to social physique anxiety among college women. 

Answer:  C

Level:  2

Section:  Sources of Anxiety

Category:  Recall

12) Athletes use which of the following coping skills to manage anxiety symptoms?

A) relaxation

B) self-talk

C) cognitive restructuring

D) imagery

E) all of the above

Answer:  E

Level:  1

Section:  Sources of Anxiety

Category:  Recall

13) What could a coach expect about her players’ anxiety responses in the hours immediately prior to an important competitive event?

A) no change in the intensity of somatic anxiety symptoms

B) an increase in the frequency of cognitive intrusions

C) an increase in the perception that anxiety symptoms are facilitative for performance

D) a sharp increase in the intensity of cognitive anxiety symptoms

E) All of the above statements are true. 

Answer:  B

Level:  2

Section:  Sources of Anxiety

Category:  Applied

14) Which one of the following statements is true regarding recent studies investigating state anxiety responses?

A) Exercising in the presence of others can increase state anxiety responses in men and women.

B) Exercising with women can increase state anxiety responses in men exercisers. 

C) Exercising with others who are non-enthusiastic about exercise can increase state anxiety responses of women exercisers.

D) Exercising with others who interact with others can increase state anxiety responses of male and female exercisers. 

E) All of the above statements are true. 

Answer:  D

Level:  2

Section:  Sources of Anxiety

Category:  Recall

15) Mary is a participant in a noon-hour fitness class at her University. She is a 2nd year undergraduate student and is characterized as fit and attractive. In which of the following conditions is Mary likely to experience elevated state anxiety in her exercise class?

A) when her instructor uses a bland teaching style

B) when her class consists of only women

C) when the instructor wears revealing clothing

D) when her class has the mirrors covered up

E) Mary is likely to experience elevated state anxiety in none of these class situations. 

Answer:  A

Level:  2

Section:  Sources of Anxiety

Category:  Applied

16) Athletes who consistently experience high levels of worry and apprehension prior to sport competition also tend to have

A) lowered levels of enjoyment with sport.

B) increased susceptibility to athletic injury.

C) enhanced feelings of burnout.

D) increased dropout rates.

E) all of the above

Answer:  E

Level:  2

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Recall

17) What is the relationship between social physique anxiety and exercise behaviour?

A) There is no relationship between social physique anxiety and exercise behaviour. 

B) Individual’s high in social physique anxiety exercise more. 

C) Individual’s high in social physique anxiety exercise less.

D) Individual’s high in social physique anxiety exercise more or less depending on self-presentation beliefs.

E) None of the above is true regarding the relationship between social physique anxiety and exercise behaviour. 

Answer:  D

Level:  2

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Recall

18) According to which theory of arousal does an increase in anxiety lead to improvements in performance, but only up to a point, after which further increases in anxiety will lead to performance decrements?

A) Drive theory

B) Inverted-U hypothesis

C) Zone of Optimal Functioning theory

D) Catastrophe theory

E) none of the above 

Answer:  B

Level:  1

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Recall

19) Which theory suggests that the ideal range of competitive state anxiety required for optimal performance from members of any sport team is likely to differ among the players?

A) Self-presentation theory

B) Multidimensional Anxiety theory

C) Zone of Optimal Functioning theory

D) Catastrophe theory

E) Self-determination theory

Answer:  C

Level:  1

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Applied

20) Which theory suggests that a hockey player’s ideal competitive state anxiety is unique and is dependent upon the player, not the type of sport or sport skills that the athlete is to perform?

A) Self-presentation theory

B) Multidimensional Anxiety theory

C) Zone of Optimal Functioning theory

D) Catastrophe theory

E) Theory of planned behaviour

Answer:  C

Level:  2

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Applied

21) Catastrophe theory examines the interaction of which three constructs?

A) somatic anxiety, cognitive anxiety, and performance

B) somatic anxiety, physiological arousal, and skill level

C) physiological arousal, cognitive anxiety, and performance

D) somatic anxiety, physiological arousal, and cognitive anxiety

E) physiological arousal, cognitive anxiety, and sport type

Answer:  C

Level:  2

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Recall

22) The catastrophe theory makes which of the following predictions?

A) When cognitive state anxiety is low, the relationship between physiological arousal and performance is uniform or in an inverted-U shape. 

B) When physiological arousal is low, elevations in cognitive state anxiety are associated with enhanced performance relative to baseline. 

C) When physiological arousal is high, elevations in cognitive state anxiety are associated with declines in performance. 

D) When cognitive state anxiety is high, elevations in cognitive state anxiety can be positive or negative for performance. 

E) all of the above

Answer:  E

Level:  3

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Recall

23) When an athlete is experiencing an increase in state anxiety and is consequently unable to attend to and process information, he or she would be categorized as having a problem with ________.

A) hyperdistraction

B) motor performance

C) cognitive information processing

D) attention focus and selectivity

E) identifying task-relevant cues

Answer:  D

Level:  3

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Applied

24) Jordan is the quarterback on his football team. The fourth quarter of the game is just starting, and he is experiencing a great deal of anxiety — they are down by 7 points and they have to win this game to secure a place in the play-offs. He gets off to a bad start — he can’t seem to find his receivers down the field — instead he is focused on the defensive linemen — they seem extremely large and strong. Which of the following attentional problems seems to be occurring?

A) Jordan has an inability to process adequate information.

B) Jordan is attending to cues based on their threat.

C) Jordan is attending to cues based on their task-relevance.

D) Jordan cannot develop adequate plans for execution. 

E) All of the above are true statements.

Answer:  B

Level:  3

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Applied

25) What is the state to describe an athlete’s attentional focus that occurs during when she shifts to a conscious, controlled processing system?

A) over-aroused

B) paralysis-by-analysis

C) narrowing of attention

D) identifying task-relevant cues

E) cognitive information processing

Answer:  B

Level:  2

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Recall

26)  Physiological mechanisms of the anxiety-sport performance relationship suggest

A) increased muscle tension associated with high anxiety may lead to decrements in fine motor tasks like golf putting.

B) increased anxiety may lead to impaired coordination of movement.

C) increased anxiety may increase power, which can enhance more gross motor movements, such as jumping.

D) high levels of anxiety may increase the likelihood of injury. 

E) All of the above are true statements.

Answer:  E

Level:  2

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Recall

27) A common error among figure skaters during high-pressure competition is to mis-time the takeoff of a jump. This error, which is associated with increased arousal, is likely due to

A) the narrowing of attention.

B) difficulties in coordination of a movement.

C) attending to threatening task-irrelevant cues.

D) changes in cognitive information processing.

E) increases in muscular tension.

Answer:  B

Level:  3

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Applied

28) Joseph, who has the best free-throw percentage on the team, is fouled with 2 seconds to go in regulation time with the score tied in the conference final. Joseph is visibly nervous as he wipes his hands on his jersey walking to the foul line. Joseph misses both shots and the team must continue playing in the overtime period. What can explain Joseph’s poor performance?

A) Joseph shifted his attention to a conscious, controlled processing system.

B) Joseph attended to threatening task-irrelevant cues.

C) Joseph experienced increased muscular tension.

D) Joseph experienced difficulties in coordinating his movements.

E) All of the above can explain Joseph’s poor performance.

Answer:  E

Level:  3

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Applied

29) Choking occurs when

A) an athlete is unable to create plans of action.

B) an athlete is unable to engage in accurate decision making processes.

C) an athlete is in unable to execute the plan of action he or she has made.

D) an athlete does not care about the outcome of the event.

E) the athlete does not have an adequate skill level to perform.

Answer:  C

Level:  2

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Recall

30) Which of the following factors would increase the risk of an athlete choking?

A) high self-confidence

B) presence of an audience

C) dangerous environmental conditions

D) being female

E) being a novice athlete

Answer:  B

Level:  1

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Recall

5.2   True/False Questions

1) Most of the sport and exercise research investigating anxiety has exclusively examined the frequency of the cognitive intrusion dimension of anxiety. 

Answer:  FALSE

Level:  1

Section:  Definitions and Basic Concepts

Category:  Recall

2) Anxiety is a negative emotion and therefore, negatively impacts performance. 

Answer:  FALSE

Level:  1

Section:  Definitions and Basic Concepts/ Some Common Myths about Anxiety in Sport and Exercise Revisited

Category:  Recall

3) Competitive experience is a more sensitive indicator than age or skill level to determine differences in athletes experience of anxiety. 

Answer:  TRUE

Level:  1

Section:  Sources of Anxiety

Category:  Recall

4) Anxiety results when people believe that the task demands are greater than the resources that they have. 

Answer:  TRUE

Level:  2

Section:  Sources of Anxiety

Category:  Recall

5) Social physique anxiety is more likely to be higher among exercising women than exercising men. 

Answer:  TRUE

Level:  2

Section:  Sources of Anxiety

Category:  Recall

6) Physical activity can be a coping strategy to manage social physique anxiety symptoms.

Answer:  TRUE

Level:  1

Section:  Sources of Anxiety

Category:  Recall

7) Research evidence has shown that social physique anxiety can be associated with both greater exercise behaviour and less exercise behaviour. 

Answer:  TRUE

Level:  2

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Recall

8) Unidimensional theories of arousal and anxiety, such as the Drive Theory and Inverted-U Theory, do a good job of describing how cognitive anxiety affects performance. 

Answer:  FALSE

Level:  2

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Recall

9) Because sport performance is a complex behaviour, the relationship between anxiety and sport performance should be also be complex. 

Answer:  TRUE

Level:  1

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Recall

10) Anxiety disruptions to performance may be either cognitive or physiological in nature. 

Answer:  TRUE

Level:  2

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Recall

11) Increasing one’s conscious control of movement should lead to improvements in performance. 

Answer:  FALSE

Level:  2

Section:  Underlying Mechanisms of the Anxiety-Performance Relationship

Category:  Recall

12) Choking may occur due to changes in attention or increases in self-focus. 

Answer:  TRUE

Level:  1

Section:  Underlying Mechanisms of the Anxiety-Performance Relationship

Category:  Recall

5.3   Short Answer Questions

1) Identify three common myths about anxiety in sport and physical activity and provide a key fact that disputes each one. 

Answer:  

MYTH 1: Anxiety symptoms are generally the same for all sport and exercise participants. 

KEY FACT: Anxiety responses are specific to the individual. Sport and exercise participants differ in the kind of symptoms, the intensity of symptoms, and the duration of symptoms. 

MYTH 2: Anxiety is only relevant for athletes — since exercise is non-competitive, it doesn’t lead to feelings of anxiety.

KEY FACT: Anxiety is an important emotion that is also experienced by exercisers. One of the most studied types of anxiety in exercise settings is social physique anxiety — anxiety that results when people are concerned that others will evaluate their bodies.

MYTH 3: Pre-competitive anxiety always negatively affects sport performance. 

KEY FACT: There are many examples where athletes have excelled in elite competitions despite their feelings of precompetitive nervousness. 

Level:  2

Section:  Some Common Myths about Anxiety in Sport and Exercise Revisited

Category:  Recall

2) Differentiate between the terms anxiety and arousal, state and trait anxiety, and cognitive and somatic anxiety. 

Answer:  

Arousal includes both physiological and psychological activation and can vary in intensity from deep sleep to frenzy. It is often characterized by symptoms such as a racing heart, shallow breathing, sweaty palms, and so on. It can be interpreted as either pleasant or unpleasant.

Anxiety is a negative emotional state with the following characteristics: (a) it is elicited the following an appraisal about a specific event, (b) is it universally recognized across people of all cultures, (c) it has a distinct physiology, (d) it is observed through a distinct facial expression, and (e) is associated with a unique set of behaviours which are called action tendencies. 

State anxiety is a moment-to-moment change associated with worry and apprehension. As an athlete may feel a little anxious one moment and few moments later may be highly anxious.

Trait anxiety refers to how a person is predisposed to perceive situations as physically or psychologically threatening. 

Cognitive anxiety deals with an athlete’s worries or concerns about their ability to focus or concentrate in competitive situations. It is what an athlete is thinking or the mental component of anxiety.

Somatic anxiety refers to the physiological and affective elements of arousal. It specifically refers to an athlete becoming aware of the arousal symptoms, such as butterflies in the stomach, clammy hands, racing heartbeat, and so on. 

Level:  2

Section:  Definitions and Basic Concepts

Category:  Recall

3) List and briefly explain three dimensions of an anxiety response. 

Answer:  

Intensity of symptoms examines the amount of level of anxiety symptoms experienced during competition or in an exercise setting. Most of the research studying anxiety has exclusively examined anxiety according to the intensity of symptoms.

Frequency of cognitive intrusions refers to the amount of time that anxious thoughts and feelings related to competition or exercise occupy a person’s mind. 

Directional interpretations of symptoms refers to the extent to which feelings of anxiety are labeled as facilitative (positive) or debilitative (negative) for sport or exercise performance. 

Level:  2

Section:  Definitions and Basic Concepts

Category:  Recall

4) Identify five categories of personal sources of anxiety.

Answer:  

1. Experience, and skill level

2. Gender

3. Trait anxiety (and other personality traits such as competitiveness, extraversion, hardiness, neuroticism, pessimism, perfectionism, self-consciousness, and self-esteem)

4. Self-confidence and self-presentation beliefs

5. Self-regulation strategies

Level:  1

Section:  Sources of Anxiety

Category:  Recall

5) Describe the temporal patterning of the intensity of both cognitive and somatic anxiety in competitive settings. 

Answer:  The intensity of cognitive and somatic anxiety have distinct temporal patterning in relation to competitive events. 

The intensity of cognitive anxiety symptoms does not change in the time leading up to a competitive event, unless there is a change in the athlete’s evaluation about the potential for success prior to the competition. After the onset of competition, there is a steady decline in the intensity of cognitive anxiety symptoms.

The intensity of somatic anxiety remains low until several hours prior to the competitive event. There is a sharp increase in the intensity of somatic anxiety immediately prior to competition. During and after competition the intensity of somatic anxiety decreases. 

Level:  3

Section:  Sources of Anxiety

Category:  Recall

6) List and briefly explain two environmental and two person-based sources of anxiety in exercise settings. 

Answer:  

Mirrors in the exercise environment affects anxiety. When exercise tasks are perceived to be simple, when the exercisers are inexperienced, or when the exercisers are high in trait social physique anxiety, mirrors in the exercise environment increase state anxiety. 

Clothing worn in the exercise environment affects anxiety. More revealing clothing is associated with higher levels of social anxiety during exercise, particularly in less experienced exercisers. 

The presence of and characteristics of other exercisers affects anxiety. For women, the mere presence of others (especially men) in a person’s exercise environment can invoke anxiety during exercise settings. Additionally, anxiety is experienced when the other exercisers who are interactive, positive, and enthusiastic in the exercise environment.

The characteristics of an exercise leader affect anxiety. Exercisers report lower levels of anxiety when lead by an exercise leader who interacts with their exercise participants and who is encouraging and energetic compared to when led by an exercise leader who does not interact with her exercise participants and who gives vague and negative comments with instruction. 

Level:  2

Section:  Sources of Anxiety

Category:  Applied

7)  Explain how social physique anxiety is related to exercise behaviour.

Answer:  Theoretically it is proposed that for individuals with high levels of social anxiety would avoid those situations that provoke high levels of anxiety. However, in the exercise environment, research has shown equivocal results between social physique anxiety and exercise behaviour. It is possible that there are other important beliefs such as self-presentational beliefs that affect the impact that anxiety has on exercisers behaviour. 

Level:  2

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Applied

8) Explain how anxiety affects sport performance according to the zone of optimal functioning theory. 

Answer:  The zone of optimal functioning theory suggests that athletes differ in attaining their optimal competitive performance under varying anxiety conditions. Some athletes perform best with high levels of state anxiety, while others can achieve superior performances with low or moderate levels of state anxiety. The theory suggests that the zone of anxiety is specific to the individual athlete and is dependent on neither motor skill development of the sport nor on the athlete’s skill level. Athletes who are within their identified state anxiety zone will be more likely to have a good athletic performance than athletes who are outside of their zone. 

Level:  1

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Recall

9) Describe two major limitations to drive theory and the inverted-U hypothesis with respect to understanding the anxiety-sport performance relationship.

Answer:  

1. They are unidimensional, meaning they only address physiological arousal, not cognitive and somatic anxiety (Bonus: arousal differs than somatic anxiety as somatic anxiety refers to the interpretation of the symptoms, not just the symptoms themselves.)

2. They describe how arousal and performance are related, but they do not explain why the relationship exists. 

Level:  1

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Recall

10) List the five predictions the catastrophe theory makes about the combined influences of cognitive state anxiety and physiological arousal on athletic performance. 

Answer:  

1. When cognitive state anxiety is low, the relationship between physiological arousal and performance is uniform or in an inverted-U shape.

2. When physiological arousal is low, elevations in cognitive state anxiety are associated with enhanced performance relative to baseline. 

3. When physiological arousal is high, elevations in cognitive state anxiety are associated with declines in performance. 

4. When cognitive state anxiety is high, the effects of elevations in physiological arousal can be positive or negative for performance relative to baseline performance. 

5. When physiological arousal is moderately high, (that is, over-the-top physiological arousal) and cognitive anxiety is high, a dramatic performance drop, called a catastrophe, is predicted to occur. 

Level:  3

Section:  Anxiety Influences on Exercise Behaviour and Sport Performance

Category:  Recall