50 exam-style questions on Self-determination — topic C.3.2 of Sports psychology and motor learning in the IB Sports, Exercise and Health Science syllabus — with answers and explanations. Samples below; the full set is free with an account.
Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory is built on three basic psychological needs. Which option names all three?
Answer: Autonomy, competence and relatedness
Self-determination theory states that motivation becomes more self-determined when autonomy, competence and relatedness are satisfied. Confidence, arousal control and cohesion are outcomes studied elsewhere in sport psychology and are not basic needs in this theory.
A footballer dislikes gym work but completes his prehabilitation programme because he accepts that it is personally important for staying available for selection. Which regulation on the self-determination continuum does this show?
Answer: Identified regulation
Identified regulation means the athlete has accepted the value of the behaviour even though the activity itself is not enjoyable, so it is extrinsic but relatively self-determined. External regulation would mean the coach enforces attendance, and introjected regulation would mean he trains to avoid guilt.
A club starts paying a monthly bonus to the swimmers with the best attendance. Several swimmers who used to train because they enjoyed it stop attending once the bonus is withdrawn. Which interpretation fits self-determination theory?
Answer: The bonus was experienced as controlling, so intrinsic motivation was undermined
A reward that is experienced as a means of control shifts the perceived locus of causality outwards, so behaviour that was intrinsically regulated becomes dependent on the reward and collapses when it stops. Self-determination theory therefore treats an extrinsic reward as a risk to intrinsic motivation, not as a reliable way of adding to it.
A coach maps her squad onto the self-determination continuum. Which sequence runs from the least to the most self-determined form of motivation?
Answer: Amotivation, external regulation, identified regulation, intrinsic motivation
The continuum runs amotivation, external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, integrated regulation and finally intrinsic motivation. Amotivation, not external regulation, sits at the least self-determined end, because the athlete sees no contingency between behaviour and outcome at all.
At the end of term a gymnastics coach hands each athlete a certificate that names the specific skill she has mastered. According to self-determination theory, which effect is most likely?
Answer: Perceived competence rises, supporting intrinsic motivation
A reward that carries information about what the athlete can now do feeds the need for competence and tends to support intrinsic motivation. The same certificate would work in the opposite direction if it were used to rank the squad against one another, because a ranking says nothing about what she can do.
In a badminton squad the players help set the focus of the session and lead their own warm-up. Which TARGET dimension is being used, and which basic psychological need does it mainly support?
Answer: Authority, supporting the need for autonomy
Authority covers the extent to which athletes share in decisions about their training, which is the dimension that speaks most directly to the need for autonomy. Recognition, timing and evaluation address praise, pacing and the criteria for judging progress.
That was 6 of 50 Self-determination questions.
Practise all 50 freeOutlineAO2 · 1–4 marks
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50 Self-determination questions — free with an account. Spaced repetition, streaks and full exam simulations included.
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