Using Sport Psychology to Teach Traditional Psychology Courses

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Using Sport Psychology to Teach Traditional
Psychology Courses

• American Psychological Association Annual Meeting
• August 6-10, 2003
• Toronto Canada

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Dr. Judy Van RaalteSpringfield College Dr.
Vincent Granito John Carroll University Dr.
Diane FinleyPrince Georges Community College
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• Introduction to Field of Sport Psychology
• Academic and Work Settings for Sport
  Psychologists
• Sport Psychology in Introduction to Psychology
• Sport Psychology in Personality Psychology
• Sport Psychology in Lifespan and Child Psychology

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• Sport Psychology Interdisciplinary Field
  Combines psychology and sport science
• Applied field similar to educational and
• industrial/organizational psychology
• Focus is on how psychological principles and
  theories
• explain behavior in action how
  psychological
• principles can improve performance
• Sport psychologists work in a variety of arenas
• academia
• business
• athletic departments
• private consulting

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Sport Psychology in Lifespan and Child Psychology

• Many topics in sport psychology are also taught
  in Lifespan and Child Psychology courses.
• Topics that cross courses include
• Motivation Personality Aggression Youth
  Sports Exercise Behavior

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Motivation

• Motivation is a topic that covers many areas.
• Attribution theory is particularly relevant .
• We often teach attribution by using examples from
  the classroom.
• A more interesting and interactive approach is to
  use sport.

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• Group project
• Why do athletes and coaches say they win and
  lose?
• Bring in newspapers.
• Have students find an article in which an athlete
  or coach discusses wins and losses
• Have groups chart each as internal/external,
  locus of causality, stability and controllability

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Exercise Behavior

• Obesity is on the rise in children.
• Increasing exercise behavior is critical.
• Increasing exercise behavior among adults is a
  common topic in sport psychology.
• Use the same ideas related to children and
  adolescents.

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• Have students list reasons why people and kids
  dont exercise.
• Present research on what enhances exercise
  adherence.
• Using what we know about exercise adherence and
  cognitive levels (Piaget), design an exercise
  program for children of different ages.
• Evaluate a local sports program for kids.

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Aggression

• Aggression and bullying has become a major focus
  in many child psychology courses.
• How do you decide if playground behavior is
  aggression?
• Aggression is defined as involving harm or
  injury, directed toward a living thing and
  involving intent.

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• Object To decide if a behavior is aggressive or
  not aggressive
• Tape several clips of a contact sport on
  television such as football or hockey. Try to
  find penalty situations.
• Have students evaluate the clips according to the
  criteria. Focus on the issue of intent.
• Have students brainstorm situations where
  children would be aggressive apply the criteria
  again.

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Using Sport

• There are many other topics in most psychology
  courses that can be demonstrated using sport
  activities.
• Sport increases interest and helps students learn
  to apply theory to real life.

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• Thanks for coming!
• Contact InformationDr. Diane FinleyDepartment
  of Psychology
• Prince Georges Community College301 Largo Road
• Largo MD 20774dfinley_at_pgcc.edu