Introducing Sport Psychology

Analyses have been made of the final games of the baseball World Series and the National Basketball Association (NBA) championships. Using fielding errors as an indicator of stress, the home team in the final game of the World Series makes more errors than the visitors. In basketball, the home team shoots free throws less accurately than the opponents. Both situations can determine the outcome of critical games, and the results suggest a home field disadvantage.

It’s a popularly held belief that misbehavior is eradicated through the use of punishment, but learning researchers long ago established the fact that punishment represses or submerges rather than eradicates.

being manipulated by the reinforcement regimen in place.

Immediacy in applying the reinforcement is essential. If a beginning soccer player makes a great pass leading to a goal by a team-mate, immediately tell him or her how great you thought the assist was.
Start out reinforcing desirable behavior every time it occurs, then ‘lean out’ the schedule to make it more potent. Initially reward a beginning golfer for every shot that hits the green, but later, only those that land within twenty feet of the hole.

Immediacy in applying the reinforcement is essential. If a beginning soccer player makes a great pass leading to a goal by a team-mate, immediately tell him or her how great you thought the assist was.

simple in theory: Positively reinforce those behaviors that you would like to see repeated.

wrath of the coach

Negative reinforcement, again, implies avoiding or terminating a negative consequence, whereas punishment is the application of a negative consequence to prevent future undesirable behavior