Abstract/Details

GOLF PERFORMANCE: THINKING, IMAGING, AND DOING

COURTNEY, JAMES EDWARD.   Illinois Institute of Technology ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  1983. 8405618.

Abstract (summary)

Past research in sports psychology has been dominated by extreme environmental or extreme personological perspectives. Recent findings implicate cognition as an important determinant of athletic performance. The present research is based upon an information processing perspective, cognitive-behavioral models, and two recent theories of social action. Factor analysis resulted in the identification of five cognitive dimensions related to golfing performance. When used in conjunction with measures of arousal and measures of self-efficacy, these variables accounted for 58% of the variance in golf score. Successful performance was found to be related to a positive affective response toward the golfing experience, low levels of concern regarding negative performance outcomes and negative self-evaluations, and a high degree of self-efficacy for driving. A second study revealed that skilled golfers use more external imagery than unskilled golfers. In a third study, golf instruction was found to elicit increases in molecular-mastery cognitions, in self-efficacy, and in the use of imagery. These cognitive changes were found to precede reported improvement in actual performance. The data suggest that cognitive factors are an important factor in golf performance. However, a number of methodological limitations of the present research are identified. The present findings should be viewed largely as a source of hypotheses for future research.

Indexing (details)


Subject
Psychology;
Experiments;
Experimental psychology
Classification
0623: Experimental psychology
0621: Psychology
Identifier / keyword
Psychology
Title
GOLF PERFORMANCE: THINKING, IMAGING, AND DOING
Author
COURTNEY, JAMES EDWARD
Number of pages
98
Degree date
1983
School code
0091
Source
DAI-B 44/12, Dissertation Abstracts International
Place of publication
Ann Arbor
Country of publication
United States
ISBN
979-8-204-42437-1
University/institution
Illinois Institute of Technology
University location
United States -- Illinois
Degree
Ph.D.
Source type
Dissertation or Thesis
Language
English
Document type
Dissertation/Thesis
Dissertation/thesis number
8405618
ProQuest document ID
303159361
Copyright
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/docview/303159361