KINES 112: Sport and Exercise Psychology

Spring 2015

First Midterm Study Guide

Overview and Chapter 1
● Primary roles of the sport psychology professional and the contributions of Coleman Griffith to the field of sport psych in each of the three areas
○ The primary roles:
■ conducting research
● Griffith conducted extensive research with the
Chicago Cubs during the 1938 season
● Griffith, 1925 University of Illinois research in athletics laboratory is established. Appointed director.
Developed a research lab and did systematic study and wrote a lot of articles/books on sport psych. His goal was to find out basic psych principles and applying it to sport to publish articles and teach the world on athletic performance

● Griffith, 1918 made a series of informal observations on the psychological factors involved in football and basketball ● Griffith stopped b/c of The onset of the Great
Depression causing budgetary restraints ... also, the football coach wasn't happy with the results anyway.
■ teaching
● he was a professor at Univ. of Illinois in the Psych dept. ● Credited for the first sport psych class at a university. ● He took his Psych 1 class and he reserved all the spots for athletes.
● He taught a psych class and geared everything toward sport. Psychological
■ consulting
● Griffith consulted for the U of Illinois and the
Chicago Cubs baseball club (1938-1940)
● Both sides of the argument of whether or not Griffith really advanced the field of sport psychology and provide supporting evidence for either side

1

KINES 112: Sport and Exercise Psychology

Spring 2015

First Midterm Study Guide

● Yes, he did advance the field:
○ regarded as father of American sport psychology
○ He was the first North American to devote significant portion of his career to sport psychology.
○ He developed the first laboratory in sport psychology.
○ Helped initiate one of the first coaching schools in America
○ U of Illinois psychologist - dept of physical welfare
(physical education & athletics)
○ Wrote 2 classic books: Psychology of Coaching, Psychology of Athletics
** Maybe Griffith did not advance the field because after his Chicago
Clubs days he had no PhD doctorate students take up his work after the Cubs
● No, he did not advance the field:
○ Conducted series of studies on the Chicago Cubs baseball team and developed psychological profiles (Dizzy Dean)
○ Even though he made a prediction about Phil Cavarretta using his analysis of players, he wasn’t able to detect underlying talent nor bring the potential to fruition through his various drills and training regimens
○ Griffith predicted through psychological profiling that
Cavarretta would not be a good player, yet he went on to be a starting player, national leagues MVP in 1945
○ 1932 U of Illinois shut down the lab supposedly because
Illinois football coach Robert Zuppe did not see Griffith’s research do much to improve his teams.

Personality and Chapter 2
● Definition of personality and the three levels - PTR
○ Personality is the sum of the characteristics that make a person unique. 2

KINES 112: Sport and Exercise Psychology

Spring 2015

First Midterm Study Guide

○ Three separate levels: psychological core, typical responses, role-related behavior.
○ Psychological core: (most basic level of personality) The deepest component, it includes your attitudes and values, interests and motives, and beliefs about yourself and your self-worth.
○ Typical responses: the ways we each learn to adjust to the environment or how we usually respond to the world around us.
○ Role-related behavior: How you act based on what you perceive your social situation.
● Five different approaches to studying personality - SIT PP
1. Psycho-dynamic= 2 themes…. emphasis on unconscious determinants of behavior, understanding the person as a whole rather than identifying isolated traits or dispositions.
2. trait approach- assumes that the fundamental units of personality are relatively stable. Does not