OCR A Level Psychology
OCR A Level Psychology Sport and Exercise Psychology Exam Questions
Free OCR A Level Psychology exam questions for Sport and Exercise Psychology, with a mark scheme for every pack. Covers arousal and anxiety, exercise and mental health, motivation, personality, performing with others and audience effects in sport.
Sport and Exercise Psychology exam questions
1 question pack of real past exam questions, each with its mark scheme. Do not stop after a few: answer as many as you can without notes, then mark every answer with the mark scheme. The more questions you do, the more quickly you will spot how examiners ask about each idea.
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A-Level Psychology Flashcards for 2027 Onwards
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About OCR A Level Psychology Sport and Exercise Psychology
Sport and Exercise Psychology is one of the four options on OCR A Level Psychology Paper 3, Applied Psychology. It applies psychology to performance and wellbeing in sport and exercise. The six topics are arousal and anxiety, exercise and mental health, motivation, personality, performing with others, and audience effects. For each you learn background theories, a key research study and an application, such as a technique to manage anxiety or improve team performance. The option draws on biological and social psychology and links to individual and situational explanations. Questions often ask you to apply theory to an athlete or team described in a scenario.
What you need to know
- Arousal and anxiety Theories include drive theory, the inverted-U hypothesis and the catastrophe model. Key research is Fazey and Hardy (1988), who argued that when cognitive anxiety is high, increasing arousal can cause a sudden, dramatic drop in performance rather than a gradual decline.
- Exercise and mental health Exercise can improve mood and reduce depression and anxiety. Key research is Lewis et al. (2014), who found mood improved after social dance sessions in people with Parkinson's disease.
- Motivation Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and self-efficacy. Key research is Munroe-Chandler et al. (2008), who found imagery use was linked to self-confidence and self-efficacy in youth soccer players.
- Personality Trait approaches to personality in sport. Key research is Kroll and Crenshaw (1970), who compared the personality profiles of athletes in four sports, including football, wrestling, gymnastics and karate, using the 16PF.
- Performing with others Team cohesion, social loafing and leadership. Key research is Smith et al. (1979), who found coach effectiveness training improved how young players rated their coaches and the team experience.
- Audience effects Social facilitation, social inhibition and home advantage. Key research is Zajonc et al. (1969), who found cockroaches ran a simple runway faster but a complex maze more slowly when watched by other cockroaches.
Common mistakes in Sport and Exercise Psychology
- Describing the catastrophe model as the same as the inverted-U; the catastrophe model predicts a sudden drop when cognitive anxiety is high.
- Writing that Zajonc found audiences always improve performance; they improve simple or well-learned tasks and impair complex ones.
- Treating intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as interchangeable.
- Generalising directly from cockroaches to human athletes without discussing this limitation.
- Suggesting applications such as imagery without explaining how they work psychologically.
Try three Sport and Exercise Psychology exam-style questions
1. Outline Zajonc et al.'s (1969) research into audience effects. (4 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
Cockroaches had to escape from a light by running along a simple runway or through a more complex maze; they ran alone or with an audience of other cockroaches watching from a transparent box; with an audience, cockroaches ran the simple runway faster; but took longer to complete the complex maze, supporting drive theory of social facilitation.
2. Explain the difference between the inverted-U hypothesis and the catastrophe model. (4 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
The inverted-U hypothesis predicts performance improves as arousal increases up to an optimum point; after this performance declines gradually; the catastrophe model, supported by Fazey and Hardy, says that when cognitive anxiety is high, increases in arousal beyond the optimum cause a sudden and dramatic drop in performance; and recovery requires a large reduction in arousal.
3. Suggest one strategy a coach could use to increase a young player's self-confidence. (3 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
The coach could train the player in motivational imagery, imagining themselves succeeding and staying confident in difficult situations; Munroe-Chandler et al. found imagery use was linked to higher self-confidence and self-efficacy in youth soccer players; sessions could be built into regular training.
Sport and Exercise Psychology FAQs
What does OCR A Level Psychology Sport and Exercise Psychology cover?
It covers arousal and anxiety, exercise and mental health, motivation, personality, performing with others and audience effects, each with background, key research and application.
Which paper is Sport and Exercise Psychology examined in?
Sport and Exercise Psychology is one of the four options in Section B of Paper 3, Applied Psychology.
Which key research should I learn for Sport and Exercise Psychology?
Learn Fazey and Hardy (1988), Lewis et al. (2014), Munroe-Chandler et al. (2008), Kroll and Crenshaw (1970), Smith et al. (1979) and Zajonc et al. (1969).
