FIRST THING TO DO :
Peer Review Worksheet
1. Student’s name or ID and title of work to be reviewed:
2. What does the writer want you to believe (if known)? Each of these should be one sentence.
Premise 1:
Premise 2:
H:
3. What supporting research/evidence does the writer provide for each? These should be the supporting statements for number 1 and should include citations.
P1 Support:
P2 Support:
H Support:
4. What areas need improvement and why/how? Be honest, be picky, be detailed.
5. Is the paper well organized? Does it flow easily from one idea to the next, using appropriate transitions? Explain what the author can do to improve.
6. What are this writer’s strengths and weaknesses? Focus mostly on weaknesses. Remember grammar counts!
7. Does the paper follow APA formatting regulations? Be sure to mark the errors on their copy.
example of how you should write the paper : DO NOT COPY .
The Effects of Mindfulness on Performance Anxiety Versus Social Anxiety
Student ID
Governors State University
Thinking and Writing in Psychology PSYC 2102
Professor
Term
The Effects of Mindfulness on Performance Anxiety Versus Social Anxiety
Success in social evaluative situations is important. It can be a critical part of a person’s life (Beltzer, Nock, Peters & Jamieson, 2014). Social evaluative situations, and the measure of performance, can take place in the workplace or at school. Even asking someone for a date can be considered to be socially evaluative performance. There are certain expectations when it comes to social performance situations. Many people suffer with anxiety due to the fear of failing in these situations. Behavior displays, physiological responses, and the quality of social performance can all be related to levels of anxiety (Belzer, et.al, 2014). Research looks at stressful evaluative situations in regards to anxiety; in particular, performance anxiety and social anxiety (Beltzer et. al., 2014).
Alleviating, or reducing, performance anxiety and social anxiety has been approached in many different ways. Studies of mindfulness, one of the newer non-traditional forms of intervention, has been shown to be effective (Golden et.al, 2016). Regular practices that strengthen mindfulness have been shown to improve task performance, guide individuals towards their goals, and encourage individuals to use cognitive abilities to get to their valued, or chosen, ends (Goodman, Kashdan, Mallard & Schumann, 2014); those abilities that can lead to a successful social evaluation experience. Mindfulness practices come in several forms, many of which have been associated with reducing performance anxiety or social anxiety. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of practicing mindfulness on performance anxiety and social anxiety.
Yoga
In order for an individual to accomplish mindfulness, three elements must be achieved. Participants must pay attention to the present moment, recognize and know their emotions, and have self-awareness of the present (Butzer, Ahmed & Khalsa, 2016). Research has shown that yoga is an effective practice for acquiring mindfulness.
Yoga is an ancient practice utilizing breathing exercises, body postures, and meditation (Butzer, Ahmed & Khalsa, 2016). Yoga listens and responds to bodily sensations (Goodman, Kashdan, Mallard & Schumann, 2014). Positive appraisal of these sensations can help in social evaluative situations. Participants that reframed stress arousal had less anxiety and shame, less avoidant non-verbal gesturing, and performed better (Beltzer et.al, 2014).
Yoga helps to move the participant to a comfortable physical and mental space (Goodman, Kashdan, Mallard & Schumann, 2014). Past research suggests that yoga reduces negative psychological states. In musicians, it reduces musical performance anxiety (Butzer, Ahmed & Khalsa, 2016). The benefits of moving to comfortable mental space is apparent in other performance activities. Mindful athletes were able to decrease task-related worries and experience energized flow and full involvement and less anxiety (Goodman, Kashdan, Mallard & Schumann, 2014).
Achieving a comfortable physical space is also important, and yoga can help to accomplish this. According to three studies, yoga increases mindfulness by building “mindfulness in motion” (Butzer, Ahmed & Khalsa, 2016). Finally, Yoga assists in focusing on the present (Goodman, Kashdan, Mallard & Schumann, 2014). When yoga builds mindfulness, it frees attention from remembering and planning (Butzer, Ahmed & Khalsa, 2016). Focusing on the present moment allows psychological flow. When the person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of an activity resulting in a loss of time and space, psychological flow is attained (Csikszentmihalyi & Asakawa, 2016) This, in turn, may decrease anxiety during the performance.
Yoga has been associated with a number of benefits in regards to anxiety of all types. Yoga can decrease stress and fatigue, reduce depression and anxiety, and lead to more positive and fewer negative emotions (Goodman, Kashdan, Mallard & Schumann, 2014). Research relates mindfulness with yoga, and yoga with well-being (Butzer, Ahmed & Khalsa, 2016). Therefore, yoga can be reasonably associated with less anxiety and increased satisfaction with life.
Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction
Performance anxiety and social anxiety share some similarities, but they are distinct from each other. Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a common condition, very much like performance anxiety. SAD can introduce other anxiety disorders, substance abuse, and depression (Golden et.al, 2016). Both performance anxiety and social anxiety can cause impairment in functioning in social, educational or occupational settings (Golden et.al, 2016). To relieve those who suffer from anxiety, specifically social anxiety, a method of intervention that has been found to be effective in establishing mindfulness is MBSR, mindfulness-based stress reduction.
Mindfulness-based stress reduction is the most researched form of mindfulness training (Goldin & Gross, 2010). Mindfulness-based stress reduction consists of breath-focused and body scan-based attention, walking and eating meditation, and open evaluation of moment to moment experience (Goldin & Gross, 2010). According to research, utilizing MBSR therapy showed improvement in mood, functioning, quality of life, self-esteem, negative self-views, depression, and, in relation to this paper, social anxiety (Golden et.al, 2016).
There is much interest in MBSR in regards to reducing anxiety and depression disorders, especially how it works in relation to emotions (Goldin & Gross, 2010). Emotions can play a major role in how an individual feels before, during and after a social evaluative experience. According to research, MBSR reduces stress, anxiety and depression by emotional regulation (Goldin & Gross, 2010), Emotional regulation influences which emotions arise and occur during social evaluative situations (Goldin & Gross, 2010). It addresses how long emotions stay, how they are experienced, and how they are expressed (Goldin & Gross, 2010). SAD patients, in social situations, can benefit from emotional regulation. SAD influences individuals to focus on emotions related to negative thoughts, self-imagery, and other’s facial expressions (Goldin & Gross, 2010). MBSR training allows those with SAD to regulate their feelings towards themselves and others. Emotions can be regulated through reappraisal. Research shows evaluating situational thoughts and emotional states can be a useful tool (Beltzer et.al, 2014). The patient can then view their emotions as not harmful, but a coping tool for better performance. Therefore, situational evaluation can bring less stress and anxiety.
Conclusion
Developing mindfulness, regardless of the manner in which it is achieved, is beneficial in lessening performance anxiety or social anxiety. Research has demonstrated that mindfulness training can reduce the levels of anxiety and stress a person experiences during social evaluative situations. Although many studies have addressed performance anxiety and social anxiety suffering from a traditional healing path, little research has been complete in its efforts to examine the effects of mindfulness. There have been far less studies on non-traditional MBSR as compared to cognitive behavioral therapy, a more conventional method to reduce social anxiety (Golden et.al, 2016).
It is difficult to weigh the outcome, whether or not mindfulness has greater effects on performance anxiety or social anxiety. Gauging the level of comparable relief is challenging due to the lack of common techniques addressing both performance anxiety and social anxiety. While mindfulness-based stress reduction incorporates a form of yoga, it does not single out yoga as its defining component. Research shows that mindfulness and acceptance training is more effective than traditional sports psychological skills training for performance anxiety (Goodman, Kashdan, Mallard & Schumann, 2014). Studies have shown that mindfulness and acceptance-based therapy reduces social anxiety, but to what degree as compared to performance anxiety? Even so, it can be clearly stated through minimum research, that mindfulness training shows promise of reducing anxiety in both cases, especially in social evaluative situations.
second assignment : Thinking & Writing in Psychology
CAMP 3 – Informational Interview
Informational interviews are effective ways of learning about jobs and careers you may be interested in pursuing. An informational interview consists of meeting with a professional working in a career you are interested in and asking questions to learn about the career and what it is like to work in such a position.
Before scheduling an informational interview, do some research to determine which careers in psychology you are interested in pursuing. You can start with the information about careers in psychology that you have learned from the previous career activities in this course. Once you have an idea of which careers you would like to interview someone about, look up names and contact information for individual psychologists currently working in such careers. Search online or ask GSU Psychology faculty members for suggestions. You can conduct your interview with a GSU faculty member if he or she works in an area you are interested in, but you are encouraged to seek out psychologists outside of GSU – doing this will provide an opportunity to learn from someone other than your GSU professors and so you may learn something that you would otherwise miss. Note: You may NOT use the instructor for this course.
Approach the interview as you would an actual job interview. Do some more online research to learn about the position and specific organization or work setting that psychologist you would like to interview works in. Contact the individual you would like to interview, say that you are a student conducting informational interviews about careers in psychology, and ask if the person would be able to meet with you briefly (15 to 30 minutes) to answer some questions about the job and what it is like.
Think about and prepare the questions you will want to ask.
Here is a list of possible questions to ask:
1. What is the job/work like?
What do you do on a typical day?
What are the tasks and duties of the position and the time spent on each?
2. What do you find most challenging and rewarding about the work?
3. What are the lifestyle implications of this kind of work (salary, benefits, job security,
flexibility and autonomy, family life and life-work balance)?
4. What are the skills, training, experience, and credentials needed for such a position? How did you prepare yourself for this job and profession?
5. What kinds of classes or projects would help prepare me for this career?
6. What advice would you give to someone thinking about entering this career?
What do you think the job outlook is like in this area?
7. What would you suggest I can do to learn more about this type of career?
Is there another person working in this field who would be good for me to talk to
as well?
After conducting the interview, be sure to send a thank you note to the person you interviewed.
To complete this assignment, type an essay that addresses the following:
1. List the name, contact information of the person you interviewed, as well as the organization or setting where the person works.
2. Describe the research (such as searching online) and preparation you did before conducting the interview. (be sure to identify the sources used)
3. List the questions you asked and thoroughly present the responses you received from the person you interviewed. (this should be in question/answer format)
4. Now that you have learned more about the career you are interested in by doing an informational interview, describe some additional steps you can take to get further information about this career.
5. Conclusion and Summary: write a summary of what you have learned by doing this interview about the psychology career you are interested. Also, discuss how this new information has affected your thoughts about this career and your interest in pursuing it. Is there anything that you should consider doing while you are working on your degree (research, volunteer or paid work, other courses, preparation for different types of exams, so on)?
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