Psychology Week 3 Study Notes

Week 3 Study Notes

• Performing Your Best: Involves a strong mind and perseverance through challenges, having inner strength to keep going when needed.

Mental Fortitude

• Development: Achieved through challenges, stepping outside comfort zones, and understanding what is being done.
• Characteristics: Strong mind, perseverance through challenges, inner strength to keep going. Develops through lived experiences.

Facilitative Environment

• Factors: Social, cultural, political, and economic factors contribute to a supportive environment for performance.

Examples of Performing Your Best

• Strengths: Public speaking, achieving important goals, behavioral change/self-improvement, independent accomplishments, overcoming challenges, winning/participating in elite events, surviving and thriving in a particular area, and having a winning mindset.

Confidence

• 'Confidence Drug': Confidence increases performance.
• Its Role: A factor in determining successful vs. unsuccessful performance.
• Relationship to Perseverance: The "want" for winning fuels commitment and perseverance.
• Development: Lived experiences are crucial; deliberate practice in uncomfortable situations helps build confidence and competence.
• Fake it Till You Make It: Doing something repeatedly boosts comfort with the task involved, increasing confidence over time.
• Support Network: Surround yourself with supportive people to build your support systems and encouragement.
• Goal Setting: Setting short-term and long-term goals improves concentration, focus, and performance.

Confidence and Performance

• Impact on Performance: Confidence influences how individuals approach a task, set goals, and handle challenges. It fosters positive emotions, improves focused attention, freeing up mental space, affecting goal setting and planning. Confident people often set more challenging goals.

Winning Mindset

• Components: Visualizations, perspectives, understanding background, modifying performance practices.
• Training: Focuses on development of key skills and attributes.
• Competition: Maintaining a positive mindset when things get tough, learning to persist through challenges, and persevering through difficult experiences all contribute to performance.

Building Confidence

• Focus on Small Wins: Celebrate successes, no matter how small.
• Confident Actions: Act and speak in a confident manner even if lacking complete assurance.
• Internal Dialogue: Positive internal self-talk and use of imagery.
• Goal Setting and Mapping: Clear goals, plans, and steps to achieving them boost confidence.
• Physical Conditioning and Practice: Preparing physically improves confidence, performance, and the ability to focus.

Confidence and Performance - Impact

• Positive Emotions: Confidence generates resilience under pressure.
• Positive Interpretation of Anxiety: Confident people can view anxiety as a driver of performance, improving perceived ability to handle pressure.
• Mental Resourcefulness: Confidence frees mental space, allowing focused attention on the task, optimizing planning processes.
• Setting More Ambitious Goals: Increased confidence enables setting higher standards.
• High Effort and Perseverance: Confidence encourages determination during challenging tasks.
• Adapting Strategies: Confident individuals adjust strategies based on performance.
• Psychological Momentum: Confident approach can create a positive cycle.

Bi-Directional Concept

• Performance and Motivation: Performance impacts motivation in terms of winning or losing.
• Cognitive and Physiological: Anxiety, physiological responses (like increased arousal), cognitive interpretations, and perceptions of anxiety affect performance.

Quiz Information

• Format: 25 questions, including multiple choice and short answer.
• Scope: Covers all material from the readings.

Additional Notes

• Environment: Comfortable environment impacts performance.
• Feedback: Effective feedback is crucial.

Explore the key concepts of mental fortitude and performing your best in this quiz. Learn how perseverance, inner strength, and conducive environments play a pivotal role in achieving goals and overcoming challenges. Test your understanding of confidence and its impact on performance.