The Psychology of Performance

Stewart T. Cotterill

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781315435992
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychologie
• Subtopic: Histoire et théorie en psychologie

Why is performing under pressure often so difficult? What strategies can help us deliver our best performance? How can we boost our self-confidence?

The Psychology of Performance explores the key psychological factors that affect our ability to cope under pressure, whether it's competing in a sport, appearing in front of an audience, or meeting a tight deadline. It looks at how we develop skills through learning and practice, and how self-confidence and decision-making can be sharpened to boost our expertise. The book explains how to develop the best mindset for performance, and shows how factors such as sleep, nutrition, and rest and recovery can influence our moods and how we function.

When we need to perform a task with little room for error, The Psychology of Performance helps us to understand how to do this to the best of our ability.

1

Introduction

As a branch of psychology, the psychology of performance is pretty much what the title suggests: a domain within psychology that focuses on the way the mind works (or needs to work) to be able to perform at a high level when it counts time after time. The ability to perform when it matters is a key characteristic of many performance environments within human existence including: sport, business, surgery, the emergency services, the military, and aviation. Those performers who are successful, and successful on a regular basis, across these domains have developed specific strategies to cope with and excel under the pressure that is associated with performance at the highest level. The psychological strategies utilized to perform when it counts are similar across many performance-focused domains. While the context is different each performance environment is ‘pressured’ and the key psychological skills and abilities that separate the successful from the unsuccessful are similar across the board. This chapter will seek to introduce this domain by clarifying what performance and performance psychology are, and by outlining key psychological factors that underpin successful performance.

What is psychology?

In order to understand what the psychology of performance is, it is important to first re-clarify what we understand by psychology, and how the psychology of performance or ‘performance psychology’ exists as a subcomponent of the broader field of psychology. At a very simplistic level psychology is a science of the mind and human behaviour, though it does not occupy a completely distinct position as a field of study as there are ‘crossovers’ around the periphery of the field with other disciplines, including biology, medicine, neuroscience, linguistics, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, and artificial intelligence. The field of psychology is multifaceted and includes many subdisciplines including cognitive, developmental, clinical, evolutionary, forensic, health, occupational, social, biological, and sport and exercise psychology. Of fundamental importance to the field of psychology is developing an understanding of the individual’s thoughts and behaviours: how these thoughts and behaviours are developed, and how they change; and by understanding the influence of a broad range of personal, interpersonal, and environmental factors on how individuals and groups think and behave.

What is performance?

Successful performance across a range of performance domains is not just about having good technical movement skills; good decision-making is crucial as well (knowing when and how to execute these skills). So good performance is not simply about executing your skills, it is also about executing the right skills at the right time. Indeed, in seeking to further conceptualize performance, sport psychology researchers Jerry Thomas, Karen French and Charlotte Humphries (1986) developed a specific definition that suggests performance is “a complex product of cognitive knowledge about the current situation and past events, combined with a player’s ability to produce the sport skill(s) required” (p. 259). This definition emphasizes the same two important components of performance: mental (knowledge and decision-making) and motor (executing the required skills).

A second fundamental aspect of performance relates to the ability to ‘perform’ under pressure. It is one thing to be able to execute your skills and make the right decisions in practice/training but can this be achieved under pressure? As a result, the performance of the relevant skills and undertaking the required decision-making processes in themselves are not always enough (although it is a good start). Being able to perform under pressure is crucial in ultimately determining how you will perform in real performance settings (the real world). Understanding what performance is and the factors that determine its outcomes are important because these factors should determine what practice for performance looks like and what factors are included in practice design.

Performance psychology

The field of performance psychology is concerned with understanding the psychological factors that both influence and determine performance. There has been an increasing interest in the psychological factors influencing performance across a diverse range of performance domains in the last 10–15 years, which in turn has seen the development of this hybrid field within psychology. Specifically, performance psychology has been defined as “the mental components of superior performance, in situations and performance domains where excellence is a central element” (Hays, 2012, p. 25). The ability to flawlessly execute complex skills under pressure when the stakes are high is a crucial characteristic of a number of performance environments of human endeavour. It is also true that many of the underpinning psychological factors that determine the degree of success achieved are also similar across these performance domains. The psychological demands are similar because broadly speaking the key characteristics of a range of different performance environments are similar. Specifically:

• Limited time (time pressures)
• Uncertain outcome(s)
• Successful performance dependent on high skill level and near flawless execution
• A desired outcome
• The existence of perceived pressure

Due to the similarities in the constraints of these environments there are also similarities in the techniques and approaches adopted by performers across these environments to ensure they are able to perform effectively when needed. Another important aspect of performance, and performance psychology, is the preparation that is required to underpin performance. Preparation that focuses solely on technical motor skills is not enough for individuals to consistently perform to a high level. There also needs to be practice of the psychological skills required, and practice for the performance environment. The closer the practice environment replicates the performance environment the more likely it is that successful outcomes will be achieved on a regular basis. Key factors to consider when developing expert performers who deliver under pressure include: understanding how expertise is acquired (how you move from a novice to an expert); appreciating the impact of confidence on performance; understanding the process underpinning decision-making; and understanding key psychological skills that enhance performance.

Key concepts within performance psychology

As an emerging field, authors to date have explored performance psychology from a range of different perspectives. One of the earliest books that explicitly focused on performance was Human Performance: Cognition, Stress, and Individual Differences written by Gerald Matthews, Roy Davies, Stephen Westerman, and Rob Stammers in 2000. In this book the authors considered a broad range of psychological factors linked to human performance, including the underpinning cognitive architecture and key subsystems (including memory and attention). The book also considered a range of relevant related factors including: skilled performance, human error, stress and arousal, fatigue, individual differences, and ageing. More recently in Performance Psychology: A Practitioner’s Guide, edited by Dave Collins, Angela Button, and Hugh Richards (2011), four specific aspects of performance were considered: preparation, provision (of support), practice, and performance. Across these four broad sections the book considers the following: the development of expertise; the identification and development of talent; the development and organization of the environment in which performance is expected to develop; skill acquisition; and mental practice and decision-making. The book then considers key performance ‘skills’ including coping, emotional control, attention, and dealing with pressure. Markus Raab, Babett Lobinger, Sven Hoffmann, Alexandra Pizzera, and Sylvain Laborde, in their 2016 book titled Performance Psychology: Perception, Action, Cognition, and Emotion, adopted a slightly different approach to understanding performance. Raab and colleagues adopted a very ‘cognitive’ perspective on performance, exploring factors such as action-cognition coupling, expectations and performance failure, motor imagery and performance, perception, attention and errors, and emotion and performance. The authors also sought to consider these cognitive-perceptual factors in different performance domains.

Finally, Stewart Cotterill (2017), in his book titled Performance Psychology: Theory and Practice, offered a more applied conceptualization of performance psychology, considering the factors that both influence and determine performance under pressure. Cotterill’s book starts by providing an overview of factors limiting human psychological performance (such as the nervous system, diet, and rest and recovery). The book then explores key factors that influence performance including cognition, perception, and action; pressure; the decision-making process; the role of emotion in performance; resilience; ageing and experience; and confidence, as well as considering how motor skills are developed; how expertise is achieved; psychological strategies to enhance performance under pressure; and how to practice for performance. The book is organized based on a model of performance psychology the author presents at the start of the text. This model is split into four sections. The first highlights individual characteristics that influence the individual performer’s ability to perform, including age and experience, resilience, skill level, strengths, predispositions, and personality. The second section of the model highlights a number of factors determining performance including the quality of performance preparation, environmental factors, state factors (such as sleep and nutrition), personalized performance strategies, and cognition (including decision-making, motivation, problem-solving ability). The third part of the model highlights the impact confidence and coping strategies have on performance, with the final section of the model stating that perceptions of preparedness ultimately determine the degree to which there are positive or negative performance outcomes.

These different texts outline a broad range of topics under the umbrella term of performance psychology. However, while this is the case there are some relatively consistent factors that emerge from various sources, which will form the main focus for the current book.

Overview of the book

The remaining chapters of this book seek to provide an introduction and overview of key concepts that form the bedrock of the psychology of performance domain. Chapter 2 focuses on how individuals learn to perform and achieve high levels of both performance and consistency. In particular, the chapter introduces the concept of learning, outlining both traditional (cognitive) and ecological dynamics approaches to understanding the learning process. The chapter also considers the role of deliberate practice in the development of expertise, and considers the psychological differences between novice and expert performers.

The third chapter focuses on the importance of confidence for successful performance in both individual and team contexts. Central to this area of understanding are the related concepts of self-efficacy and collective efficacy. Building upon this knowledge base the chapter also considers how to both develop and enhance efficacy beliefs as well as explores the emerging concept of resilient confidence.

Chapter 4 explores the process of decision-making and how the choices individuals and teams make impact upon performance. The chapter considers classical, naturalistic, and ecological approaches to conceptualizing the decision-making process. The chapter also explores factors that influence the decision-making process including the influence of emotions and risk-taking. The chapter also explores how teams develop a ‘shared’ approach to decision-making in the formation of shared mental models.

The fifth chapter considers a range of factors that both influence and determine psychological performance. Of primary importance in this chapter is the mindset adopted, and understanding how to develop an optimal mindset for performance. The chapter also considers a range of factors that can limit performance, including sleep, rest, and recovery; nutrition and hydration; and the experience of pressure. Linked to the concept of pressure is the ability to cope, and understanding the coping strategies and techniques that can be applied. The chapter finishes by considering a range of ‘psychological skills’ that can be developed and applied including goal-setting, relaxation techniques, imagery, self-talk, and the development of pre-performance routines. Finally, the chapter also considers team-related factors including role clarity, leadership, cohesion, and team emotion.

The final chapter focuses on how best to prepare for the performance environment. In order to do this the chapter considers what preparation is, and how effective performance habits can be developed. The chapter also considers how the way that you prepare impacts your performance, and strategies that can be adopted to better prepare for successful performance. The chapter also considers how to enhance team performance through focusing on the development of a supportive team performance environment.

At the end of the book there are also recommendations for further reading. This section considers books that either offer the next step in terms of understanding, or provide greater clarity regarding some specific concepts.

Summary

The mind and psychological performance can have a significant impact upon overall performance outcomes and the likelihood of a successful performance outcome. Understanding the factors that both influence and determine this psychological performance are important if you want to maximize the potential for performance success. Historically this understanding has been limited to some specific fields of expertise. However, the recent development of the field of performance psychology offers the potential for individuals and teams across different performance domains to better and more broadly understand the nature of performance rather than simply limited to their specific performance domain. This development in turn opens the door to future elevation in performance levels through the sharing of best practice and understanding.

2

Learning the ropes

Becoming an expert

The first aspect of any performance that needs to be mastered is the development of the relevant skill set to perform the required movements and actions. Understanding the process through which learning and development takes place is important to first develop, then to maximize skill execution for performance. It is important for performers to develop consistent skills that can elicit consistent levels of performance. Without consistent expertise in this area performance is ultimately doomed to failure. This chapter explores the process of learning and the development of expertise and expert performance. The chapter will also consider the role and effect of deliberate practice on expertise development, and crucially explore the differences that exist between expert and novice performers, and how this information can be used to facilitate the development of expert performers.

What is learning?

Learning can be broadly conceptualized as a change in behaviour, knowledge, or cognition. As a result, the outcomes of learning are often communicated in some sort of measurable index of behaviour change, changes in reportable knowledge, or changes in cognition. This conceptualization suggests that a learner (after learning) can do something, knows something, or thinks something that they did not before. This psychological change is described as being ‘relatively permanent’, suggesting that it is neither transitory (will disappear quite quickly) or fixed (will always be there). Also, it is important to recognize that these changes might not take place immediately after the learning experience. The changes that take place are a result of experience and/or practice; these experiences must be continually reinforced for learning to take place. As such, experiencing something once does not count as learning. Recent advances in the understanding of learning, or at least its conceptualization, have been offered from the field of neuroscience. This field has helped to establish a fundamental concept, that learning equals a change in the organization of the brain. This statement is literally true, with learning resulting in changes in brain microstructure and function. To be more technical these changes are usually observed in the organization, complexity, and robustness of neural networks. When the brain learns something new it establishes new connections among neurons to represent what it has learnt. It is also important to acknowledge that this learning does not necessarily take place at pre-designated times for learning (e.g., a training session or class). Learning is predominantly a function of repetition and reinforcement. Whenever this repetition takes place, the brain is learning. As a result, adopting a broader perspective on what an individual is learning is important if you are going to understand (and as a result try to mould) human behaviour.

An important related concept of particular importance to performance and performers is the notion of learning from failure. Theories about failure suggest that the core of learning in this context is to understand why the gap between performance and preceding ...