Instructional and motivational self-talk : an investigation on perceived self-talk functions
Part of : Hellenic journal of psychology ; Vol.3, No.2, 2006, pages 164-175
Issue:
Pages:
164-175
Author:
Abstract:
The aim of the study was to investigate perceived functions of self-talk. Twenty sixphysical education students participated in an intervention study using an experimental task inswimming. The study lasted five consecutive days. On the first day participants were tested on abreaststroke leg drill. For the three following days participants practiced the use of different typesof self-talk on breaststroke arm drills. On the last day participants repeated the test of the first day,using instructional and motivational self-talk, and reported their perceptions regarding thefunctions of self-talk. The results revealed that according to participants' perceptions both types ofself-talk helped them mainly to improve their attention to the task. Furthermore, participantsreported that the motivational self-talk cue had greater impact on effort, than the instructional selftalkcue, whereas effects on attention, confidence, anxiety control, and automaticity were similarwhen using instructional and motivational cues. The results suggest that the effectiveness of selftalkis attributed mainly to its attention function, at least in the case of novel tasks. Furthermore,preliminary evidence suggests that different types of self-talk serve different functions dependingon the content of the self-talk cues.
Subject (LC):
Keywords:
instructional self-talk, motivational self-talk, self-talk functions
Notes:
Περιέχει πίνακες και βιβλιογραφία, Special issue: Self-talk in sport psychology
