@article{BeckmannEhrlenspielSchoenfelderetal.2009, author = {Beckmann, J{\"u}rgen and Ehrlenspiel, Felix and Sch{\"o}nfelder, Martin and Strahler, Katharina and Weil, Jakob}, title = {Neuroendokrine Facetten der Wettkampfangst : Identifikation objektiver Kriterien erfolgreicher sportpsychologischer Interventionen}, year = {2009}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Ehrlenspiel2006, author = {Ehrlenspiel, Felix}, title = {Choking under pressure : attention and motor control in performance situations}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-12377}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2006}, abstract = {When top sports performers fail or "choke" under pressure, everyone asks: why? Research has identified a number of conditions (e.g. an audience) that elicit choking and that moderate (e.g. trait-anxiety) pressure - performance relation. Furthermore, mediating processes have been investigated. For example, explicit monitoring theories link performance failure under psychological stress to an increase in attention paid to a skill and its step-by-step execution (Beilock \& Carr, 2001). Many studies have provided support for these ideas. However, so far only overt performance measures have been investigated which do not allow more thorough analyses of processes or performance strategies. But also a theoretical framework has been missing, that could (a) explain the effects of explicit monitoring on skill execution and that (b) makes predictions as to what is being monitored during execution. Consequently in this study, the nodalpoint hypothesis of motor control (Hossner \& Ehrlenspiel, 2006) was taken to predict movement changes on three levels of analysis at certain "nodalpoints" within the movement sequence. Performance in two different laboratory tasks was assessed with respect to overt performance (the observable result, for example accuracy in the target), covert performance (description of movement execution, for example the acceleration of body segements) and task exploitation (the utilization of task properties such as covariation). A fake competition (see Beilock \& Carr, 2002) was used to invoke pressure. In study 1 a ball bouncing task in a virtual-reality set-up was chosen. Previous studies (de Rugy, Wei, M{\"u}ller, \& Sternad, 2003) have shown that learners are usually able to "passively" exploit the dynamical stability of the system. According to explicit monitoring theories, choking should be expected either if the task itself evokes an "active control" (Experiment 1) or if learners are provided with explicit instructions (Experiment 2). In both experiments, participants first went through a practice phase on day 1. On day 2, following the Baseline Test participants were divided into a High-Stress or No-Stress Group for the final Performance Test. The High-Stress Group entered a fake competition. Overt performance was measured by the Absolute Error (AE) of ball amplitudes from target height; covert performance was measured by Period Modulation between successive hits and task exploitation was measured by Acceleration (AC) at ball-racket impact and Covariation (COV) of impact parameters. To evoke active control in Exp. 1 (N=20), perturbations to the ball flight were introduced. In Exp. 2 (N=39) half of the participants received explicit skill-focused instructions during learning. For overt performance, results generally show an interaction between Stress Group and Test, with better performance (i. e. lower AE) for the High-Stress group in the final Performance Test. This effect is also independent of the Instructions that participants had received during learning (Exp. 2). Similar effects were found for COV but not for AC. In study 2 a visuomotor tracking task in which participants had to pursuit a target cross that was moving on an invisible curve. This curve consisted of 3 segments of 6 turning points sequentially ordered around the x-axis. Participants learned two short movement sequences which were then concatenated to form a single sequence. It was expected that under pressure, this sequence should "fall apart" at the point of concatenation. Overt Performance was assessed by the Root Mean Square Error between target and pursuit cross as well as the Absolute Error at the turning points, covert performance was measured by the Latency from target to pursuit turning and task exploitation was measured by the temporal covariation between successive intervals between turning points. Experiment 3 (intraindividual variation) as well as Experiment 4 (interindividual variation) show performance enhancement in the pressure situation on the overt level with matching results on covert and task exploitation level. Thus, contrary to previous studies, no choking under pressure was found in any of the experiments. This may be interpreted as a failure in the experimental manipulation. But certainly also important characteristics of the task are highlighted. Choking should occur in tasks where performers do not have the time to use action or thought control strategies, that are more relevant to their "self" and that are discrete in nature.}, language = {en} } @article{EhrlenspielBeckmannStrahler2008, author = {Ehrlenspiel, Felix and Beckmann, J{\"u}rgen and Strahler, Katharina}, title = {Competitive anxiety : review and perspectives with a neuroendocrine slant}, year = {2008}, language = {en} } @article{EhrlenspielGrafKuehnetal.2011, author = {Ehrlenspiel, Felix and Graf, Karla and K{\"u}hn, Christian and Brand, Ralf}, title = {Stability and variability of competitive anxiety}, series = {Zeitschrift f{\"u}r Sportpsychologie}, volume = {18}, journal = {Zeitschrift f{\"u}r Sportpsychologie}, number = {1}, publisher = {Hogrefe}, address = {G{\"o}ttingen}, issn = {1612-5010}, doi = {10.1026/1612-5010/a000034}, pages = {31 -- 43}, year = {2011}, abstract = {Spielberger's (1972) Trait-State-Anxiety theory distinguishes between anxiety as a trait (A-trait) - involving a stable characteristic of a person to react with anxiety in response to varying situations and anxiety as a state (A-state), a situation-dependent reaction to a stimulus perceived as threatening. Using a general instead of a sport-specific measure, a previous study provided only mixed support for core predictions of the theory as related to sports (Schwenkmezger, 1985). With the aid of enhanced instruments and statistical methods, we tested these predictions again. The multidimensional and competition-specific assessment of anxiety results in support for the assumption of a stable A-trait and a fluctuating A-state, whereby the A-trait not only predicts the intensity of A-states but also the A-state variability. The repeated assessment of A-states prior to two competitions reveals a rather low relative consistency (i.e., interindividual differences across measurements were only moderately stable). Especially this latter finding suggests that, in order to gain a full understanding of the experience of competitive anxiety in athletes, sport psychologists should not only assess competitive A-traits, but also repeatedly measure competitive A-states.}, language = {de} } @article{EhrlenspielLieskeRuebner2004, author = {Ehrlenspiel, Felix and Lieske, Jascha and R{\"u}bner, Anne}, title = {Interaction between preferences for and instructions for a focus of attention in billiards}, year = {2004}, abstract = {The present study evaluated the interaction between preference for a focus of attention and instructions for focusing attention. N = 42 experienced billiard players had to shoot a billiard ball into a target area and received a focus instruction either corresponding or opposite to their preferred focus of attention. Two-dimensional error scores of accuracy and consistency were obtained. Accuracy of performance increased between the first test phase without instructions and the second test phase with focus instructions, independent of preference or instruction. However, participants with a preference for an external focus receiving an internal focus instruction showed less consistent performance.}, language = {en} } @article{EhrlenspielSternad2006, author = {Ehrlenspiel, Felix and Sternad, D}, title = {Not a joke : no choking under pressure in a ball bouncing task}, issn = {0895-2779}, year = {2006}, language = {en} } @article{HossnerEhrlenspiel2006, author = {Hossner, Ernst-Joachim and Ehrlenspiel, Felix}, title = {Paralysis by analysis and nodal-point motor control}, issn = {0895-2779}, year = {2006}, language = {en} } @article{HossnerHegeleErlacheretal.2006, author = {Hossner, Ernst-Joachim and Hegele, Matthias C. and Erlacher, Daniel and Ehrlenspiel, Felix}, title = {Dimensions of distality : Spatial, temporal, and perceptual features of attentional control}, issn = {0895-2779}, year = {2006}, language = {en} } @article{StrahlerEhrlenspielHeeneetal.2010, author = {Strahler, Katharina and Ehrlenspiel, Felix and Heene, Moritz and Brand, Ralf}, title = {Competitive anxiety and cortisol awakening response in the week leading up to a competition}, issn = {1469-0292}, year = {2010}, language = {en} } @article{StrahlerEhrlenspielHeeneetal.2010, author = {Strahler, Katharina and Ehrlenspiel, Felix and Heene, Moritz and Brand, Ralf}, title = {Competitive anxiety and cortisol awakening response in the week leading up to a competition}, issn = {1469-0292}, doi = {10.1016/j.psychsport.2009.10.003}, year = {2010}, abstract = {Objectives: This study investigated the psychological as well as neuroendocrine stress response across one week before an important sport competition, introducing the cortisol awakening response (CAR) to sport psychological research. Methods: On three days in the week before the German Nationals, martial artists (N = 17) reported their competitive state anxiety and collected five samples of salivary cortisol during the first hour after awakening. Results: Hierarchic-linear models and multiple regressions were conducted. Despite a significant rise in "somatic anxiety" (p < .05), the increment of CAR across the week remained non-significant. A moderator function of competitive anxiety on the released amount of cortisol in the morning was not found significant. Results did not show any significant regression of changes in the neuroendocrine response on changes in state anxiety. Conclusion: Non- significant increments of CAR with a closer proximity to the competition may be interpreted as a possible habituation of basal hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal activity. Moreover, athletes appear to have a lower CAR than found in norm studies, which points to further investigation of interindividual and situational effects on the temporal pattern of the neuroendocrine response to sport competitions.}, language = {en} }