November 11, 20082MIDTERM ASSIGNMENTOption 1: Students will be asked to focus on one specific sports...

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November 11, 20082MIDTERM ASSIGNMENTOption 1: Students will be asked to focus on one specific sports psychological intervention (e.g., imagery, mindfulness, eathing techniques) and describe a controversy in the literature around that intervention. Papers should highlight the intervention, describe the history of research in the area, and discuss conflicting evidence suounding the intervention. Option 2: Students can decide to watch “The Last Dance,” (3 episodes) or “Icarus” and create an assignment around an important sports psychological element which was highlighted in the film. Students should: introduce the aspect of sports psychology which was presented in the film and how it fit with the greater naative, cite peer reviewed literature pertaining to the topic at hand, and discuss the ways in which the film either confirmed or disconfirmed our theoretical understanding of the construct. For example, in “The Last Dance” the root of Michael Jordan’s motivational drive is explored. What does the oader literature say about motivation in an athlete like Jordan? How does the film either confirm or disconfirm the theoretical knowledge that we have about motivation in sport?For both options be specific! Focus on one aspect of the intervention and the conflicting evidence related to that aspect, rather than trying to describe every controversy you notice in the literature OR on one aspect of sport psychology you identify in the film, rather than trying to talk about and link multiple aspects. The more specific and focused you are, the more space you will have to provide an in depth and convincing argument. The paper should be 8 pages in length (excluding references) and submitted in APA format. Anything past page 8 will not be graded. Midterm Ruic: (/50)    Introduction (15)- concise and appropriate review of related literature. - provides a compelling and clear purpose statement (what should the reader know by the end of the paper?)- sections flow logically and smoothly from one to another; strong writing and gramma        Discussion/Critical Reflection (25)- student clearly connects research findings with controversy OR component film- student articulates how research findings are related to/support their main argument - description of the implications of the findings (what does all of this mean? Why is it important?) - substantial, logical, & concrete development of ideas; assumptions are made explicit; information presented is original, and literature is convincingly interpreted        References and APA Formatting**  (10)- comprehensive list of references (Combines material from a variety of sources, incl. pers. observation, scientific data, authoritative testimony)- inclusion of recent, peer reviewed journal sources  (minimum 10 references)- uses sources to support, extend, and inform, but not substitute writer’s own development of ideas- doesn’t overuse quotes- appropriate use of headings and sub-headings, adherence to APA formatting throughout pape- strong writing and grammar (sequence of ideas & transitions are effective)        Total (out of 50)    ** Note: Students will be heavily penalized for typos, spelling and grammatical eors in all written material presented (up to 10% of total grade). Be very critical of your writing and careful in the delivery. Plagiarism will not be tolerated on any level whatsoever. If plagiarism is observed, student will receive a zero on this assignment.55 Haord Street, Toronto, ON M5S 2W6 Canadawww.physical.utoronto.ca55 Haord Street, Toronto, ON  M5S 2W6 CanadaPage 2 of 2www.physical.utoronto.ca PII: S XXXXXXXXXXBEHAVIOR THERAPY 35, XXXXXXXXXX, 2004 A Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment-Based Approach to Athletic Performance Enhancement: Theoretical Considerations F~aNI~ L. GARDNER ZELLA E. MOORE La Salle University While traditional cognitive-behavioral skills-training-based approaches to athletic performance enhancement posit that negative thoughts and emotions must be con- trolled, eliminated, or replaced for athlete-clients to perform optimally, recent evi- dence suggests that efforts to control, eliminate, or suppress these internal states may actually have the opposite effect. Interventions based on mindfulness and ac- ceptance suggest that internal cognitive and emotional states need not be eliminated, changed, or controlled in order to facilitate positive behavioral outcomes. Rather, it is suggested that an alternative or supplemental approach to the enhancement of ath- letic performance may be achieved through strategies and techniques that target the development of mindful (nonjudgmental) present-moment acceptance of internal experiences such as thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations, along with a clarifi- cation of valued goals and enhanced attention to external cues, responses, and con- tingencies that are required for optimal athletic performance. Applied sport psychology, in its efforts to enhance the competitive perfor- mance of athletes, has traditionally utilized cognitive behavioral methods and techniques with an emphasis on developing self-control of internal states, commonly refeed to as psychological skills training (Whelan, Mahoney, & Meyers, XXXXXXXXXXIn contrast, behavioral theorists in professional psychology have recently begun to advocate and demonstrate empirical support for inter- ventions that emphasize acceptance, rather than direct change, suppression, or control, of cognitive and affective experiences (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999; Roemer & Orsillo, 2002; Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2002). With modern meta-cognitive and acceptance-based theory, research, and practice as a foundation, and theoretical aspects of self-regulatory processes in athletic performance carefully considered, the purpose of this article is to present a new approach to performance enhancement that, adapted and developed Address coespondence to Frank L. Gardner, Department of Psychology, La Salle Univer- sity, 1900 W. Olney Avenue, Box 842, Philadelphia, PA 19141; e-maih  XXXXXXXXXX.  XXXXXXXXXX/04/0707~3723 $1.00/0 Copyright 2004 by Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy All rights for reproduction in any form reserved. 708 GARDNER & MOORE specifically for use with an athletic population, may elaborate on and increase the effectiveness of traditional performance enhancement approaches. This approach is refeed to as Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment (MAC) based performance enhancement, and is adapted from clinical models of Accep- tance and Commitment Therapy (Hayes et al., 1999) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (Segal et al., XXXXXXXXXXThis innovative approach to athletic performance enhancement efforts is markedly different in both theoretical assumptions and intervention strategies and techniques from the traditional psychological skills training approaches that have to date dominated applied sport psychology. Historical Development of Psychological Skills Training Historically, efforts to enhance athletic performance have been most clearly elated to the development of social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1977) and early skills training models of cognitive-behavioral interventions (Meichen- aum, XXXXXXXXXXFrom this perspective, athletes develop and utilize psychologi- cal (mental) skills such as goal setting, imagery/mental rehearsal, arousal control, self-talk, and precompetitive routines as vehicles to aid in the devel- opment of self-control of internal processes such as thoughts, emotions, and odily sensations, in an attempt to create the ideal performance state (Hardy, Jones, & Gould, 1996). Within the domain of interventions for athletic performance enhancement, a number of authors frequently describe and support the use of psychological skills training (PST) procedures, while concuently commenting on the inconsistent and inconclusive empirical support for such approaches (Burton, Naylor, & Holliday, 2001; Gould, Damarjian, & Greenleaf, 2002; Gould & Udry, 1994; Meyers, Whelan, & Murphy, 1996; Weinberg, 1994, 2002; Wil- liams & Leffingwell, 2002; Zaichkowsy & B altzell, 2001). In addition, questions may be raised regarding the theoretical assumptions that are at the foundation of these procedures. Fundamental to PST is the long- held assumption that reduction of negative emotions and bodily states, and associated increases in positive cognitions and confidence levels, are directly elated to an "ideal performance state," which in turn is directly related to optimal athletic performance (Hardy et al., XXXXXXXXXXBased primarily on coe- lational studies, practitioners of sport psychology have long accepted the notion that more successful performers are less anxious, more confident, and experience fewer negative thoughts (Gould, Eklund, & Jackson, 1992; Gould, Weiss, & Weinberg, 1981; Orlick & Partington, XXXXXXXXXXWhat follows from this theoretical position is the related assumption that interventions target- ing the enhancement of athletic performance focus on supplanting negative thoughts with positive ones and reducing or controlling negative affective states (Hardy et al., 1996). In those few studies that have carefully studied the mechanisms of change mediating traditional PST procedures and competitive performance, results MAC P E R F O R M A N C E  E N H A N C E M E N T  709 have generally not been supportive of the assumptions made in the use of tra- ditional psychological skills training procedures. These studies, utilizing a variety of different sports, suggest that reduction in "negative" affective states such as anxiety, and/or increases in self-confidence, do not consistently result in significant increases in athletic performance (Burton, 1989; Daw & Burton, 1994; Holm, Beckwith, Ehde, & Tinius, 1996; Maynard, Smith, & Warwick- Evans, 1995; Murphy & Woolfolk, 1987; Weinberg, Seabourne, & Jackson, 1981). This conclusion receives additional support from a recent study by Cohen and colleagues (Cohen, Pargman, & Tannenbaum, 2003) in which physiolog- ical arousal was experimentally manipulated during a dart-throwing competi- tion. The results of this study found no relationship between arousal levels and actual performance. In addition, a recent meta-analysis examined the effects of competitive anxiety and self-confidence on athletic performance (Craft, Magyar, Becker, & Feltz, XXXXXXXXXXIn this review, using multivariate meta-analytic techniques, characteristics such as design features, subjects, and type of sport were separately coded. From this analysis, the authors con- cluded that a weak relationship appears to exist between competitive anxiety, self-confidence, and athletic performance. It should be noted that these studies are limited by their assumption that all athletes are at nonclinical levels of anxiety or other affective states and thus would all benefit from a single intervention protocol based upon a common goal of enhancing athletic performance. It may very well be that those ath- letes for whom anxiety (or other affective states) is at subsyndromal or actual clinical levels might benefit from different interventions than those whose anxiety/affective levels are at nonclinical levels. That being said, these studies do suggest that for a number of athletes, reduction of anxiety (with coe- sponding reduction of "negative" thinking and increases in self-confidence) may have little significant impact on actual competitive performance enhance- ment. This in turn suggests the

P · Accepted Answer

Goal directed Advanced Psychological Approaches to enhance the athletic optimal performance
Introduction
From sport Psychology it was understood that the athletes have enhanced their performance by the use of cognitive behavioural methods.it is referred as psychological training where the athletes will learn how to self-control of internal states [1]. It was reported that the cognitive behavioural methods are showing negative effects on the  athletes to perform optimally [1]. The cognitive methods are effecting athletic emotional control and suppressing the internal states which finally results in opposite effect. Many advanced psychological methods were imported to overcome the opposite effect of the cognitive behavioural methods.
Hence many new alternatives approaches were developed by the researches in order to support and encourage  the athletes to perform optimally [2]. These alternative approaches are mostly associated with the mindful development of internal states and enhanced attention. contingencies and clarification if values goals. All these need to addressed clearly and carefully to the athletes to give best optimal performance [2].
The advanced approaches being used based on various clinical model studied of acceptance and commitment are
1. Mindfulness-Acceptance-commitment (MAC) [3]
2. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive therapy [4].
The above reported two approaches differs from each other and also differ from the traditional cognitive  approach  in both theoretical assumptions and intervention strategies.
HISTORY
1. Traditional Cognitive therapy:
The concept of psychological skill training was started after the development of traditional cognitive therapy and interventional cognitive behavioural trying models. 
The outcome of the cognitive approaches helps the athletes to learn mental skills which aid as vehicles for various internal states control to attain the goal [5].
Objective of Traditional Cognitive therapy:
The main objective of cognitive  Psychological Skill Training (PST) Is to minimize  the internal state negative thoughts and maximize the confidence levels and positive thoughts to attain ideal performance [6]. It was understood from the literature and from psychological practioners that the more successful athletes have more control on their internal states-high confident, less anxious and very low negative thoughts.
The author's concluded from the meta-analysis studies the weak relationship between anxiety, confidence and performance. The traditional approaches can be implied only to those athletes whose anxiety levers are above the limits resulting in limited effects on the performance. The traditional methods are only beneficial for the athletes who are more anxious , negative thoughts will affect the overall performance of the athlete and these can be overcome by PST to attain ideal performance [6].
2. Alternative Approach:
Hayes et.al in 1999 reported that the negative internal states of the athletes will results in negative behavioral outcomes. It results in the paradoxical effect. The paradoxical effect can be detected by meta- cognitive scanning process resulting in the irrelevant focus resulting the negative outcomes [3]. It was also understood that the continues suppression results in the increase of unwanted emotions and toughts.it was also reported that some of the previously suppressed thoughts of the athletes and their re-activation because of the competitive athletes also affects the final goal achievement because of increased autonomic activities. The consequences associated with the suppression of emotion thoughts is called "ironic process of mental condition"[7]. Hence, there is a need to study the alternative approach for self -regulatory process which improves the meta-cognitive task attention to achieve the goal. The minimal self -judgement, vigilance and worries will results in the optimal self-regulation to control or minimize the associated consequences [8].
Some athletes have involved in utilizing stress -management studies like meditation and focusing the goal.it was concluded that no change in anxiety was observed besides minimal changes in the negative thoughts which resulted in the increased performance of the athletes towards the achievement of goal up to 6 months [9].
It was also understood that many athletes don't require intervention goals like anxiety reduction, negative cognition and for some athlete’s internal cognitive approach May result in the decreased athletic performances it results in overly cognitive rather than meta-cognitive resulting in poor engagement with the previously developed skills. To overcome the above negative effects of traditional approach, new alternate approach which is based on the meta-cognitive theory contemporary theory will be helpful for optimal athletic performance [2].

November 11, 2008 2 MIDTERM ASSIGNMENT Option 1: Students will be asked to focus on one specific sports psychological intervention (e.g., imagery, mindfulness, breathing techniques) and describe a...

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