Health and Sports Psychology Literature Review

The sports psychologists try to engage contemporary techniques in focus on imparting new knowledge (Love, 2009). The methods revolve around employing one-trial learning, reinforcing the existing schedules, or developing a new one to suit desires. Every attempt has an array of different results depending on the manner it is utilized. Sports psychologist finds it critical to link shaping and chaining in such a manner to disintegrate the stages giving room for either behavioral change or behavior learning. The foundation of sports psychology focuses on assisting athletes into realizing their full potential. Afterwards, the psychologist draws the reinforcement blueprint that must suit the environment of the athlete (Schunk, 2012). Later, the psychologist disintegrates the plan into more manageable goals where he or she then uses reinforcements to infiltrate the athlete to the most likely behavior.

For example, if an athlete raises a concern revolving around leg muscle weaknesses. The sports psychologist can opt to embark on the legs first before further progress. He or she can choose to train the athlete by hurdles, which is likely to strengthen the leg muscles (Lloyd, 2006). The frequency of the reinforcement schedules plays an impeccable role in achieving the desired result. Sports psychologists usually use the rewards and punishments to reinforce programs (Mahoney, 1984). The ultimate goal is to assist an athlete in attaining the highest talent standards. The athletes portray focus and dedication in the presence of reinforcement schedules (Lloyd, 2006). For instance, sports psychologist use continued happiness as positive reinforcement through friendly visits sometime before workout especially with the athlete who suffers physiological or psychological issue.