Marcus, an elite basketball player, is about to take a critical free throw in the final seconds of a playoff game. He is experiencing intense negative thoughts about failing (cognitive anxiety) and physical symptoms such as an elevated heart rate and muscle tension (physiological arousal). After missing the first free throw, Marcus's performance deteriorates rapidly and catastrophically during the remaining minutes of the game, and he is unable to recover his composure.
Using Fazey and Hardy’s (1988) catastrophe model, analyze Marcus’s performance. Your explanation should address:
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.