Sport Psychology

Introduction:
Sport psychology is the study of psychological knowledge and skills in the developmental and social aspects in sports participation. There are many different processes and research methods that play a critical role in shaping an athlete 's mind. In this report, we will discuss how these processes and research methods help maintain and impact athletes ' well-being and performance. Chapter 1: Psychology (An Evolution) Theme 5: (Behavior is Shaped by Cultural Heritage)
Behaviour is shaped by cultural heritage, where culture is defined as shared norms across communities and generations (Weiten, 2013). Matsumoto and Juang (2008) state that cultural heritage largely impacts emotions and thoughts (as cited in Weiten, 2013, p.26).

Encoding is forming a memory code in order to get information into memory (Weiten, 2013). Commonly, athletes use visual imagery to remember better. For instance, when one is playing table tennis, the athlete must visualise the steps to hit the ball. As such, the athlete will create a vivid image and feel confident when executing. Moreover, the athlete can also use visual imagery during tournaments to gauge how opponents will react. Hence, one will be more calm and focused during the competition. In conclusion, visual imagery can help athletes to perfect their skills sequence and perform

For example, if a team loses in a basketball match, the players are affected by the intensity of the loss. Thus, even though there are chances of winning bigger matches in the future, a loss in a big match can cause one to stop playing basketball completely due to overestimation of the degree of the loss and expecting negative emotions to last long. This loss causes a great emotional impact as humans often rationalize, discount, and distort negative events (Weiten, 2013). Therefore, loss aversion may affect athletes drastically where they pass up excellent opportunities, such as success in sports.

Chapter 10: Theories of Motives and Emotions Incentive theories An incentive is an external goal that has the capacity to motivate behavior (Weiten, 2013). For instance, athletes are often influenced by incentives such as doing well in a sport to bring pride to their nation. Another example is that soccer players do not want to let their supporters down in a soccer match. Thus, this drives athletes to improve their skills. Achievement