Elena is an elite archer competing in the individual gold-medal shootout at the World Archery Championships. During the final ends, she experiences a dramatic increase in heart rate, muscle tension in her drawing arm, and shallow, rapid breathing. She is highly conscious of the silent, expectant crowd and a close-up television camera tracking her every movement.
Discuss how biological arousal and somatic anxiety might affect Elena's performance, and explain how a sports psychologist could help her manage these physiological responses using somatic stress management techniques.
12 exam-style questions on OCR A Level Psychology Arousal and anxiety (Biological). Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.