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Upon completion of this course, students will able to:
1. Examine the history of sport and exercise psychology as a science and practice.
2. Describe what sport and exercise psychology specialists do.
3. Examine theories and application of personality development on being an athlete.
4. Explain basic learning principles that shape sport behavior.
5. Examine the effects of anxiety and arousal on competitive performance.
6. Compare and contrast the principles and effectiveness of "goal setting."
7. Describe contemporary approaches to anxiety reduction and performance enhancement.
8. Examine motivation theories and their application to sport performance.
9. Identify the social and psychological dimensions of sport.
10. Examine aggression and its relationship to sport behavior.
11. Distinguish between accurate and misinformation about the "minority" athlete.
12. Examine the psychological concepts of high-risk sports and the elite athlete.
13. Identify performance-enhancing drugs and affects on sport behavior.
14. Describe the socialization and psychological variables in the female sport experience.
15. Identify the relationship between good communication skills, effective coaching, and athlete performance.
16. Define the affective benefits of physical fitness and exercise psychology.
17.Examine the psychological growth and maintenance of good sporting behavior.
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1. Introduction to Sport and Exercise Psychology
a. Main Theoretical Elements of Psychology
b. Define Sport and Exercise Psychology
c. Review the History of Sport and Exercise Psychology
d. Distinguish Between Two Specialties
e. Understand Correlation Between Science and Practice
2. Professional Issues in Sport Psychology
a. Training for the Profession
b. Ethical Principles
c. Employment Opportunities
3. Personality and Sport
a. Define Personality Structure
b. Cognitive Strategies and Success
c. Identifying Athletes' Role in Understanding Personality
4. Behavioral Principles and Applications
a. Classical Conditioning and Operant Learning Theories
b. Behavioral Coaching Techniques
c. Conditioned Reinforcers
d. Learned Helplessness
5. Anxiety and Arousal
a. Effects of Anxiety on Competitive Performance
b. Effects of Arousal on Competitive Performance
c. Psychological Measures of Anxiety and Arousal
d. The Inverted-U Hypothesis
6. Goal-Setting System for Sports
a. Principles of Goal Setting
b. Common Problems in Goal Setting
c. Setting Performance Goals in Sport
7. Anxiety Reduction and Stress Management
a. Defining Stress and Measuring Anxiety
b. Identifying Sources of Stress
c. Mental Toughness and Hypnosis
d. Yoga, Zen, and Transcendental Meditation
8. Motivation and Sport
a. Attribution Theory and Need Achievement
b. Locus of Control and Self Theory
c. Using Achievement Motivation in Professional Practice
d. Collective or Team Efficacy
9. Social Psychology of Sport
a. Leadership and Group Cohesion
b. Research on the Multidimensional Model of Sport Leadership
c. Four Components of Sport and Exercise Leadership
d. Interactive Audience Effects on Sport Performance
10. Aggression: Dimensions and Theories
a. Provoked and Unprovoked Aggression
b. Hostile Aggression and Sport Assertiveness
c. Theories of Aggression
d. Sport-Related Variables Affecting Aggression
11. Minority Athletes
a. The African American Athlete
b. The Hispanic Athlete
c. The Asian American Athlete
d. The Native American Athlete
e. The Gay Athlete
12. High-Risk Sport and The Elite Athlete
a. Correlation Between Participation and Performance in High-Risk Sports
b. Research on Exceptional Performance
c. Kroll's Personality Performance Pyramid
13. "Doping" in Sports
a. "Win-At-All-Cost" Philosophy
b. Substances and Methods Prohibited at All Times
c. Substances Prohibited In and Out of Competition
d. Efforts to Control Doping in Sports
14. The Female Sport Experience
a. Historical and Current Issues of Women's Sports
b. Socialization of Women Into Sport
c. Psychological Variables
d. Traditional Gender Role Expectations
15. Communication, Effective Coaching, and Athlete Performance
a. Sending and Receiving Messages Effectively
b. Recognizing Breakdowns in Communication
c. Delivering Constructive Criticism
d. Components of Effective Communication
16. Exercise and Psychological Well-Being
a. Reducing Anxiety and Depression With Exercise
b. Changing Personality and Cognitive Functioning with Exercise
c. Understanding Exercise's Effect on Psychological Well-Being
d. Using Exercise as an Adjunct to Therapy
17. Facilitating Psychological Growth and Understanding
a. Burnout and Overtraining
b. Managing Eating Disorders and Substance Abuse
c. Character Development and Good Sporting Behavior
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Sport Psychology. Arnold LeUnes. Psychology Press: 2010.
Sport Psychology: Performance Enhancement, Performance Inhibition, Individuals, and Teams. Nicholas T. Gallucci. Psychology Press: 2008.
Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology. R. S. Weinberg and D. Gould.
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics 2008.
Sport Psychology: A Student's Handbook. Matt Jarvis. Routledge: 2006.
The Winning Spirit: Sixteen Timeless Principles that Drive Performance Excellence. Tom Mitchell and Joe Montana. Random House: 2005.