Sport and Exercise Psychology
Overview
- Awareness in sport and exercise psychology
- The environment and sport and exercise psychology
- Positive reinforcement and feedback
- Expectations and self-fulfilling prophecies
- Communication in sport and exercise
- Team cohesion and team building
- Parents in sport
- Motivation
- Psychological characteristics of peak performance
- Theoretical aspects
- Research on peak performance in sport
- Assessment of peak performance
- Psychological skills, interventions and strategies
- Goal setting
- Arousal, emotion, performance relationship
- Imagery
- Cognitive strategies for building confidence
- Concentration and attentional control
- Implementing psychological skills training (PST) programs
- Theoretical aspects
- Research on PST program effectiveness
- Season planning for PST
- Additional topics in sport and exercise psychology
- Clinical issues in sport and exercise psychology
- Psychology of injury and rehabilitation
- Overtraining and burnout in sport
- Career transitions in sport
- Gender, diversity, and cultural considerations in sport and exercise psychology
In this course, students engage in a variety of learning activities such as lecture, group discussion, self-study from assigned materials, case studies, and practical activities such as discussion, collaboration in groups (in class and online), case analysis, and video observations.
Assessment will be in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. The instructor will present a written course outline with specific evaluation criteria at the beginning of the semester. Evaluation will be based on the following:
Test(s) 10-40%
Projects 10-40%
Discussions 0-30%
Quizzes 0-25%
Journals 10-30%
Participation & Check-Ins 0-20%
Final Exam 0-40%
Total: 100%
Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in the course as part of the student’s graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation will be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline.
- identify and describe the mental skills required for optimal performance in sport and health outcomes;
- develop and apply mental skills in personal and hypothetical situations guided by constructive feedback;
- reflect on and apply theoretical and conceptual knowledge of sport and exercise psychology to personal lived experiences;
- develop practical competence with regard to the application and delivery of mental skills training in sport and exercise psychology;
- interpret, analyze, and evaluate personal strengths and weaknesses and areas for improvement within the area of mental skills and sport and exercise psychology;
- design a personal mental training plan based on a self-evaluation and personalized goal setting process.
Consult the Douglas College Bookstore for the latest required textbooks and materials. Example textbooks and materials may include:
Williams, J. M. & Krane, V. (Current Edition). Applied Sport Psychology: Personal Growth to Peak Performance. McGraw-Hill.
Requisites
Course Guidelines
Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.
Course Transfers to Other Institutions
Below are current transfer agreements from Douglas College to other institutions for the current course guidelines only. For a full list of transfer details and archived courses, please see the BC Transfer Guide.
| Institution | Transfer details for SPSC 2231 |
|---|---|
| Alexander College (ALEX) | ALEX SOSC 2XX (3) |
| Camosun College (CAMO) | CAMO PSYC 160 (3) |
| Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) | KPU PSYC 2XXX (3) |
| Langara College (LANG) | LANG KINS 1150 (3) |
| Simon Fraser University (SFU) | SFU PSYC 3XX (3) |
| Thompson Rivers University (TRU) | TRU PHED 2XXX (3) |
| Trinity Western University (TWU) | TWU HKIN 340 (3) |
| University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) | UBCO HES_O 131 (3) |
| University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) | UBCV KIN_V 150 (3) |
| University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) | UBCV KIN_V 231 (3) |
| University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) | UFV KIN 266 (3) |
| University of Victoria (UVIC) | UVIC EPHE 2XX (1.5) |
| Vancouver Community College (VCC) | VCC PSYC 1XXX (3) |
| Vancouver Island University (VIU) | VIU KIN 262 (3) |
Course Offerings
Fall 2026
| CRN | Days | Instructor | Status | More details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
CRN
33049
|
Mon Wed | Instructor last name
Hetherington
Instructor first name
Shawn
|
Course status
Open
|
Registration in this course provides registrants with a 'time conflict' error. This error can be disregarded for this course as it is due to a required room booking overlap.
| CRN | Days | Instructor | Status | More details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
CRN
33050
|
Wed Fri | Instructor last name
Hetherington
Instructor first name
Shawn
|
Course status
Open
|