CHAPTER 1

An Introduction to Sport and Exercise

Psychology
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Students will be able to:

Describe what sport and exercise psychology is.

Understand major developments in the history of
sport and exercise psychology.
Describe career opportunities and future
directions in the field.

2 MAZLAN, 2019
 Defining sport and exercise psychology

Sport and exercise psychology is the scientific

study of people and their behaviors in sport and
exercise activities and the practical application of
that knowledge.

3 MAZLAN, 2019
 Cont’d
Most people study sport and exercise psychology with
two objectives in mind:
1. To understand how psychological factors affect an
individual’s physical performance
2. To understand how participation in sport and
exercise affects a person’s psychological
development, health, and well-being.

4 MAZLAN, 2019
 History of Sport And Exercise Psychology

Period 1: Early years 1893 – 1920

 1893: E.W. Scripture conducts data – based studies of athletes at Yale, examining reactions and movement time as well as
transfer of physical training.

 1897: Norman Triplett conducts the first social psychology and sport psychology experiment, studying the effects of others on
cyclists’ performance.

 1899: E.W. Scripture of Yale describes personality traits that he believes can be fostered vis sport participation.

 1903: G.T.W. Patrick discusses the psychology of play.

 1914: R. Cummins assesses motor reactions, attention, and abilities as they pertain to sport.

 1918: as a student, Coleman Griffith conducts informal studies of football and basketball players at the University of Illinois.

5 MAZLAN, 2019
 Cont’d
Period 2: Early years 1921- 1938)
Coleman Griffith “Father of American Sport Psychology”
1921 – 1931: Griffith publishes 25 research articles about sport
psychology

1925: University of Illinois research – in-athletics laboratory is

established; Griffith is appointed director.

1926: Griffith publishes Psychology of Coaching.

1928: Griffith publishes Psychology of Athletics.

6 MAZLAN, 2019
 Cont’d
Period 3: Preparation for the future 1939 – 1965

 1938: Franklin Henry assumes position in Department of Physical Education at the University of
California at Berkeley and establishes psychology of physical activity graduate program.

 1943: Dorothy Yates works with college boxers and studies the effects of her relaxation training
intervention.

 1949: Warren Johnson assesses precompetitive emotions of athletes.

 1951: John Lawther writes Psychology of Coaching.

 1965: First World Congress of Sport Psychology is held in Rome.

7 MAZLAN, 2019
 Cont’d
Period 4: establishment of academic sport psychology (1966 – 1977).

1966: Clinical Psychologists Bruce Ogilvie (Father of Applied Sport Psychology) and Thomas Tutko write
Problem Athletes and How to Handle Them and begin to consult with athletes and teams.

1967: B.Cratty of University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) writes Psychology of

Physical Activity.

1967: First annual North American Society for the Psychology of Sport & Physical
Activity (NASPSPA) conference is held.

1974: Proceedings of NASPSPA conference are published for the first time.

8 MAZLAN, 2019
 Cont’d
Period 5: Multidisciplinary Science and Practice in Sport and Exercise Psychology (1978 – 2000)
Doroty Harris the first woman member of the International Society of Sport Psychology and the woman
president of the North American Society of Sport Psychology.
1979: Journal of Sport Psychology (now called Sport and Exercise Psychology) is established.
1980: The U.S. Olympic Committee develops Sport Psychology Advisory Board.
1984: American television coverage of Olympic Games emphasizes sport psychology.
1985: The U.S. Olympic Committee hires first full-time sport psychologist
1986: the first applied scholarly journal. The Sport Psychologist, is established.
1986: Association Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) is established.
1987: American Psychology Association (APA) Division 47 (Sport Psychology) is developed.
1988: The U.S. Olympic team is accompanied by an officially recognized sport psychologist for the first
time.
1989: Journal of Applied Sport Psychology begins
1991: AASP establishes the “certified consultant” designation.

9 MAZLAN, 2019
 Cont’d
Period 6: Contemporary Sport and Exercise Psychology (2001 –
Present)
The Journal Psychology of Sport and Exercise is developed
and published in Europe.
The 2009 International Society of Sport Psychology
Conference in Morocco has more than 700 participants from
70 countries.
Concerns emerge about the best ways of preparing and
educating students.
10 MAZLAN, 2019
 THE MAIN ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY
SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGISTS

SPORT AND
EXERCISE
PSYCHOLOGI
ST

APPLIED ACADEMIC

CONSULTING CLINICAL TEACHING RESEARCH

EDUCATIONA
L

11 MAZLAN, 2019
 Applied activities
 Consulting: provide skills training for athletes and coaches in a number of areas. For
example, they may help athletes use psychological principles to reduce stress and anxiety,
and also offer training for coaches on how to improve the performance of their athletes.

 They carry out their consultancy by going through specific routines like first they diagnose the
nature of the problem.

 Next, they develop methods that are important in dealing with the problem e.g., relaxation
techniques.

 Finally, they carry out evaluation to see if the problem has been solved. If they fail they are
modified or even replaced by new techniques.

12 MAZLAN, 2019
 Cont’d
 Clinical: carry out clinical sport psychological activity have been trained in techniques that allow them
to diagnose and treat athletes suffering from personality and emotional problems.

 They are trained to find solutions for physical, psychological and emotional problems that affect
athletes and their performance. Also dealing with problems that include severe depression, eating and
sleeping disorders, suicidal behaviour, and drug abuse and addiction.

 Educational: they are trained in sports and exercise psychology, physical education, kinesiology, and
human movement and how they influence athletes’ behaviour and performance.

 They use their expertise to help athletes, teams and coaches deal with sport-related problems
including arousal control, concentration, goal setting, injury rehabilitation, mental preparation, stress
and stress management, development of self-confidence and improvement of communication skills
among athletes.
13 MAZLAN, 2019
 Academic activities
 Teaching: involves teaching both sports and traditional psychology courses, at graduate and
undergraduate levels, in universities. Example of their activities, they teach courses in drug abuse in
sports; aggression; gender; and sports behavior; motivation and sports performance; performance
improvement techniques; anxiety and sports performance; and stress management (Sports – Related
Courses).

 They teach courses in social psychology; personality psychology; research methods and statistics;
developmental psychology; and counseling psychology (Traditional Psychology Courses). They offer
training of athletes, coaches and sports administrators about the application of sports administrators about
the application of sport psychology to deal with sport problems (Conduct of training programme).

 Research: is aimed at using research to increase, change and modify knowledge, theory and practice in
sport psychology. The researcher use both quantitative and qualitative research methods to conduct
research on sports participants (athletes, coaches, teams, and managers) and non –participants (sports
fans and spectators); and the communication of their research findings through publication in refereed
journals and presentations at national and international conferences for sport psychologist.
14 MAZLAN, 2019
 SCHOOL OF THOUGHT IN PSYCHOLOGY

 Structuralism developed by Edward Titchener with an analysis of the mind or

consciousness. Basic elements such as sensation, perception, and images that constitute
conscious mental process were studied.

 Functionalism is a study of the function of consciousness developed by William James

(1942-1910) and did not survive as a distinctive approach to the study of psychology.

 Behaviorism founded by John Watson that study observable behavior that rejected a study
of mental elements and conscious process.

 Gestalt established by Max Weitheimer (1880-1943) that originated from German word
means “form” or “shape”. It stressed that perceptions were more than the sum of its parts.

15 MAZLAN, 2019
 Cont’d
 Psychoanalysis- established by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) that
believed in the significance of unconscious thoughts and feelings in
influencing a person’s development.

 Humanistic- emphasized a person’s freedom to think and act and an

existence of his or her potential for growth. It was founded by Abraham
Maslow in the 1960’s and developed because of dissatisfaction with the
behavioral and the psychoanalytic school of thought

16 MAZLAN, 2019
 CAREERS IN PSYCHOLOGY

 Psychologist: for a person who has completed a graduate education in

psychology and has been awarded a doctorate (PhD) Degree in Psychology.

 Clinical psychologist: for a person who has PhD Degree in Clinical Psychology
with skills in diagnosing and treating a wide spectrum of abnormal behaviors. He or
she cannot examine the underlying physical or neurological cause of abnormal
behaviors and also not allowed to prescribe drugs.

 Psychiatrist: is a medical doctor who has spent some time to be trained as a

clinical psychologist and can prescribe drugs as part of the treatment regime to
deal with abnormal behaviors.

17 MAZLAN, 2019
 AREAS OF PSYCHOLOGY
 Social Psychology: it include leadership theory and styles, the psychological aspects of effective coaching,
understanding the factors that influence group cohesion and group dynamics, effects of audience
characteristics on athletic performance (psychosocial and behavioral factors also influence sport performance).

 Personality Psychology: it is not only relying on the athlete but also the roles of growth, development,
coaching, training and motivation.

 Cognitive Psychology: it is the technical term of thinking. It studies the ways in which the timing and content
of the athlete’s thoughts and emotions influence performance quality and outcome. Intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation explains performance success and failure among the athletes.

 Biological Psychology: it is defined as the inference of psychological processes, emotional states and
performance outcomes. It studies the mechanisms of the muscle and the nervous system that are associated
with performance quality.

18 MAZLAN, 2019
 Cont’d
 Psychometrics: it focuses on how different methods are used to
measure different psychological states of people including their skills,
abilities and intelligence.

 Developmental psychology: it is the branch of psychology that

examines how people grow and change from time of conception,
through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and death (from womb to
tomb).

 Health psychology: it is examines the relationship between

psychological factors, lifestyle and physical ailment or disease.

19 MAZLAN, 2019