Sport Psychology

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SUNY Cortland Memorial Library Research Guide

Suggested steps for an information search in the library:

Use encyclopedias, dictionaries, and specialized references to define your topic and familiarize yourself with terminology. Suggested specialized encyclopedia and dictionaries include the following:

Dictionary of sport science: German, English, French. 1987. Ref/GV/567/W62/1987
Dictionary of the sport and exercise sciences. 1991. Ref/GV/558/D53/1991
Salmela, John H. The World sport psychology sourcebook. 1992. (Ref/GV/706.4/S25/1992)
Look in the Library Web Catalog to see if the library has any books about your subject. To access the catalog, go to the library homepage select Primary Web Catalog, and enter your subject terms in a keyword search. Some suggested texts which give an overview of the field of sport psychology and help introduce basic terminology and concepts are listed below:

Anshel, Mark H. Sport psychology: from theory to practice. 1990. (GV/706.4/A57/1990)
Bakker, F.C. Sport psychology: concepts and applications. 1990. (GV/706.4/B3513/1990)
Cox, Richard H. Sport psychology: concepts and applications. 1994. (GV/706.4/C69/1994)
Gill, Diane K. Psychological dynamics of sport. 1986. (GV/706.4/G55/1986)
Horn, Thelma S., ed. Advances in sport psychology. 1992. (GV/706.4/A38/1992)
LeUnes, Arnold & Nation, Jack R. Sport psychology: an introduction. 1989. GV/706.4/L48/1989)
Martens, Rainer. Coaches guide to sport psychology. 1987. (GV/711/M35/1987)
Martens, Rainer. Competitive anxiety in sport. 1990. (GV/706.4/M36/1990)
Silva, John M. & Weinberg, Robert S., eds. Psychological foundations of sport. 1984. (GV/706.4/P67/1984)

To look for additional books on sport psychology, use appropriate Library of Congress Subject Headings:

M Subject headings for general works about sport psychology include:

EXERCISE — PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS
SPORTS — PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS
PHYSICAL FITNESS — PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS

M Information might also be found under broader subject headings or related headings:

SPORTS SCIENCES SPORTS — SOCIAL ASPECTS

M For books about specific topics, look under more specific subject headings, such as:

MOTIVATION (PSYCHOLOGY)
COMPETITION (PSYCHOLOGY)
COGNITION
COACHING (ATHLETICS) — PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS
WOMEN ATHLETES — PSYCHOLOGY
RELAXATION
ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION
MOVEMENT, PSYCHOLOGY OF

M For books about sport psychology as related to specific sports, look under the sport. For example:

RUNNING — PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS
Year books, annual reviews, and special reference works will provide abstracts, reviews of
recent literature, and lengthy bibliographies. Some examples of such reference works are
listed below.
Bartone, John C. Science & medicine of sports: with research subject analysis & bibliog-raphy.
(Ref./RC/1210/B37/1984)
Completed Research in Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (annual).
(Abstr/Indexes/GV/201/C65)
Exercise and Sports Science Reviews (annual) (RC/1200/E94).
Singer, Robert et al., eds. Handbook of Research on Sport Psychology. 1993.
(GV/706.4/H37/1993)
Ostrow, Andrew, ed. Directory of psychological tests in the sport and exercise sciences.
1996. (Ref./GV/706.4/D57/1996)
Use periodical indexes, including both printed indexes and online databases to find journal and magazine articles about your topic. Suggested indexes and examples of appropriate subject headings to check for each include those listed below.

PRINTED INDEXES

Physical Education Index (Abstr/Indexes/GV/201/P452)

General Heading: Sport Psychology
Also, check under specific headings, such as:

Achievement
Motivation
Aggression
Anxiety
Mental Control
Mental Practice
Motivation
Psyching
Relaxation
Self-Concept
Staleness
Stress
Visual Imagery
Visualization

Psychological Abstracts (Abstr/Indexes/BF/1/P77)

General Heading: Sport — Psychology Sports
More Specific Headings:

Exercise
Physical-Fitness
Aerobic-Exercise

PERIODICAL ONLINE DATABASES

SPORT DISCUS
This index is specifically devoted to sports-related literature. Check the Sport Thesaurus for appropriate keywords to use in your search. Examples:

General search: psychology —
More specific search:

achievement —
anxiety —
applied-psychology
confidence —
goals —
group-dynamics
psychomotor-performance
relaxation —
self-concept
visualization —

Search about psychological aspects of a specific sport:

swimming — and psychology —
running — and psychology —

ERIC
Check the Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors (Abstr/Indexes/L/11/T53) for the most appropri-ate headings. Examples:

General search: sport-psychology
More specific search:

athletics — and anxiety —
athletics — and relaxation-training

EXPANDED ACADEMIC INDEX and HEALTH REFERENCE CENTER
Both of these indexes use Library of Congress Subject Headings. Examples:

General search: sports — psychological aspects
More specific search:

motivation (psychology)
competition (psychology)
women athletes — psychology

PsycINFO 1887 to Present
Like its print counterpart, Psychological Abstracts, (Abstr/Indexes/BF/1/P77), this index is specifically devoted to psychology literature. Check the thesaurus for appropriate terms to fit your topic, such as:

General Heading: sport-psychology sports —
More Specific Headings:

exercise —
physical-fitness
aerobic-exercise
running —
Once you have identified relevant journal articles by using periodical indexes, check the Periodical Holdings List (http://library.cortland.edu/periodical.html) to determine whether the library owns the journals you want.
The following list includes some of the journals in the library which may contain articles on sport psychology:

Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology
International Journal of Sport Psychology
Journal of Applied Sport Psychology
Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance
Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology
Journal of Sport Behavior
Journal of Sport Psychology
Journal of Sports Sciences
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport
Sport Psychologist
Doctoral dissertations and masters theses relative to sport psychology can be found through SPORT DISCUS, which includes citations for all of the dissertations and theses indexed through the University of Oregon's Microform Publications project. Through the Microform Publications Project, graduate dissertations and theses relative to all aspects of sports science and physical education, from colleges and universities throughout the United States, are indexed. The library owns most of the microfiche produced by this service, as well as a printed index to the collection (Microform Publications Bulletin). Abstr/Indexes/GV/201/H424).

Dissertations and theses may also be identified through Dissertation Abstracts Online and Completed Research in Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (Abstr/Indexes/GV/201/C65).

Masters theses completed by SUNY Cortland graduate students can be located in the library's catalog by an author, title, or subject search.

Prepared by Tom Bonn
Updated: 5/2001