Sport and Exercise Psychology

What this unit covers

This unit sits in the Skill Acquisition, Psychology and Performance strand of Physical education and sport. Most of it is mind maps, and they cover the classic topics of sport psychology. The Arousal map explains arousal as a state of alertness that prepares the body for action, and links it to Drive Theory and the Reticular Activating System. The Attribution map looks at the reasons coaches and players give for successes and failures. The Aspects of Personality map deals with stable traits that make people different from one another.

Where to start

If you are new to the topic, begin with the Sports Psychology mind map for the overall picture. Then move to the topics most courses return to again and again:

1. Personality, using A2 PE - Personality for nature, nurture and trait ideas.
2. Arousal and anxiety, using the Arousal map and then the Anxiety Quiz.
3. Attribution, using the Attribution map.
4. Aggression, using the Aggression quiz, which separates hostile aggression from instrumental aggression and assertion.

Using maps and quizzes together

Read a map first, then close it and take the matching quiz. Anything you get wrong tells you which branch to go back to. Flashcards suit the finer detail. The Kroll and Crenshaw deck asks about the aims, design and sports of that study, and MST Planning asks you to define mental skills training and compare mental techniques, skills and qualities.

Going further

Once the core topics feel familiar, the page also lists flashcard decks on burnout, coping, perfectionism, injury and career transitions, plus quizzes on group cohesion, leadership and exercise across the lifespan. Revising for GCSE PE or A-level PE? The notes and maps with those names are a handy way in. Teachers can set a single quiz as a quick check or point a class to a mind map as a starting point.

Choose one topic today, open its map, and then test yourself with a quiz.