APPLICATIONS OF PLACEBO ACTION FOR SPORTS PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT
Journal Title: Medycyna Sportowa - Year 2009, Vol 25, Issue 1
Abstract
The first part of the paper sums up contemporary approaches to the subject of placebo action. The definition of placebo is discussed, as well as the types of its effects and underlying mechanisms. Placebo is defined as a method or an element of the method without any specific activity for the condition being treated. A proposal is discussed to classify the effects of placebo in one coherent system consisted of eight different effects. Also the psychological mechanisms underlying placebo effect are discussed. These include classical conditioning, expectancy and anxiety, and relationships between them. In the second part of the paper,a summary is used for critical analysis of the data from the rese-arch on the applications of placebo as an ergogenic aid in sports. Discussion of the research results is focused on the effectiveness of placebo in athletic performance improvement, the influence of the information given to sportsmen on placebo action on its effectiveness, the influence of the informa-tion given to sportsmen on active methods action on their effectiveness, and prior experience with active methods as a factor contributing to a placebo effect. The discussed results prove the use-fulness of placebo in athletic performance improvement, and this, indicate an important role of the information given to sportsmen in evoking a placebo effect and as a placebo factor modifying action of active procedures. The results of the discussed research suggest that the effects of any ergogenic aid are due to both its active components and psychological factors, e.i., placebo component of any active method.
Authors and Affiliations
Przemysław Bąbel
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