Sparrow W A, Shemmell J, Shinkfield A J
School of Health Sciences, Deakin University, Victoria, Australia.
J Sci Med Sport. 2001 Jun;4(2):233-44. doi: 10.1016/s1440-2440(01)80033-5.
Cricket umpires, cricket bowlers, and physical education students (who were knowledgeable about the rules of cricket), were shown 72 videotaped point-light displays of cricket deliveries with varying extents of elbow flexion such that they ranged from highly "bowl-like" to highly "throw-like". The observers made a bowl-throw decision about each display, and the umpires and bowlers reported their confidence on a 5-point scale. The percentage of displays reported as a "bowl" was 59, 40, and 44 for the umpires, bowlers, and students respectively. Umpires made significantly more bowl decisions than both the bowlers and students, but there was no difference between the latter groups. Umpires were significantly more confident than the bowlers in both their bowl and throw decisions. Thus, in an experimental setting, with no apparent costs or benefits associated with their decision-making, umpires "called" a bowler significantly less frequently for throwing than other knowledgeable observers. The procedures devised for this experiment demonstrate that psychophysical methods can be applied to the problem of discrete action-category nominations in sport (e.g., bowl or throw, walk or run).
板球裁判、板球投球手以及（熟悉板球规则的）体育专业学生观看了72段板球投球的录像点光源显示，这些投球的肘部弯曲程度各不相同，范围从高度“类似投球动作”到高度“类似投掷动作”。观察者对每段显示做出投球或投掷的判断，裁判和投球手以5分制报告他们的信心程度。裁判、投球手和学生分别将显示判断为“投球动作”的比例为59%、40%和44%。裁判做出的投球动作判断显著多于投球手和学生，但后两组之间没有差异。裁判在投球动作和投掷动作的判断上都比投球手更有信心。因此，在实验环境中，在决策没有明显成本或收益的情况下，裁判将投球手判定为投掷动作的频率明显低于其他有相关知识的观察者。为该实验设计的程序表明，心理物理学方法可以应用于体育中离散动作类别判定的问题（例如，投球或投掷、行走或奔跑）。
