Psychological strategies for peak performance : an academic intervention for university music students
Creators: name: Bennett, Scarlet
Publisher: name: The Australian National University
Year: 2013
Subjects: subject: Music Performance Psychological aspects
subject: Music Instruction and study Psychological aspects
subject: Music in universities and colleges
subject: Attitude (Psychology)
subject: Stress (Psychology)

description: A rapidly growing body of evidence in sport psychology attests to the importance of psychological attributes in the achievement of optimal performance outcomes. Interventions designed to teach athletes these psychological skills have long been utilized, and with well-documented success. The impact of peak performance training, sometimes also called psychological skills training, has been chiefly researched in athlete populations, largely ignoring other highly competitive domains. Yet there is every reason to believe that performers in other highly competitive domains may also derive benefits from psychological skills training interventions relevant to their domains. This thesis presents the results of a project with two core objectives: 1) to design a custom academic peak performance intervention for tertiary student musicians; 2) to measure the efficacy of that intervention to determine the extent to which the intervention influenced participant scores and perceptions on key psychological variables associated with superior achievement. Prior to the development of the intervention, a sample of elite musicians was surveyed to gather information about the specific needs of tertiary and advanced student musicians. Confidence recalibration, the development of optimally effective work habits, strategies to deal with music performance anxiety, self-regulation skills, and stress-management training, were all identified as potentially beneficial interventions in fostering peak performance outcomes in tertiary music students. A later study compared student and staff (assessment panel) perceptions of performance quality immediately following student assessment recitals. This study found a negative relationship between state anxiety and state confidence in student participants. Both variables were dynamic in the performance situation. The study also found that students were better able to predict the grade they would be awarded than the extent to which they had achieved a professional performance standard in their recitals. The academic intervention presented in this thesis was strongly endorsed by participants and data from its delivery in 2011 suggests that the intervention was effective. Comparison of baseline versus post-intervention scores revealed statistically significant increases in self-confidence and coping ability, a stronger internal locus of control, and significantly improved work habits, with impressive effect sizes on all these variables. Participants also reported perceptions of higher self-confidence, a greater sense of personal control over their outcomes, an improved ability to deal with criticism, more realistic expectations, improved work habits, and a strengthened ability to cope with setbacks. Hardiness and goal-commitment were found to be significant predictors of high overall peak performance scores. There was no significant decrease in music performance anxiety arising from the intervention, although this was a key dependent variable in the efficacy study. It is possible that the structure of the academic semester - such that baseline measures were taken when performance assessments were months away, while the post-intervention measure was taken when performance assessments were imminent - affected this result. Overall, the intervention effectively achieved its objectives.