Sports Psychology

In 1988, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed professionals to participate.

A French doctor named Philippe Tissié, known today as the founder of French physical education, was one of the very first to study mental changes in athletes when he performed studies on bicyclists in long-duration races in 1894. An American psychologist, Edward Scripture, measured the reflex speed of sprinters and fencers. Fellow American researcher Norman Triplett measured the influence of other participants on cycling, using concepts of social psychology (also an emerging area of psychology) that are today known as social facilitation , meaning the improvements in performance when in the company of other people. Triplett discovered that cyclists will pedal harder in group races than in stand-alone races, indicating the influence of competition on athletic performance. He also found that the influence of other people extended past cycling: children who were around other children proved capable of reeling in a fishing line more quickly than childing performing the same task alone.

Chapter 2: History and Development of the Field

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