Factors affecting decision-making in Gaelic Football: a focus group approach

ObjectivesResearch examining decision-making in sports has predominantly used experimental approaches that fail to provide a holistic understanding of the various factors that impact the decision-making process. The current study aimed to explore the decision-making processes of Senior (expert) and Academy (near-expert) Gaelic Football players using a focus group approach.MethodsFour focus groups were conducted; two with Senior players (n = 5; n = 6) and two with U17 Academy players (n = 5; n = 6). In each focus group, short video clips of Senior Gaelic football games were played, and the action was paused at key moments. The group then discussed the options available to the player in possession, the decision they would make in that situation, and importantly, what factors influenced the final decision. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes that emerged from the focus groups.Results and discussionFour primary themes emerged that affected the decision-making process. Three themes were related to information sources, namely, pre-match context (coach tactics and instructions, match importance, and opposition status), current match context (score and time remaining), and visual information (player positioning and field space, and visual search strategy), and the fourth theme related to individual differences (self-efficacy, risk propensity, perceived pressure, physical characteristics, action capabilities, fatigue) that moderated the decision-making process. Compared to the near-expert Academy players, the expert Senior players displayed a more sophisticated understanding of the various sources of information and were able to integrate them in a more complex manner to make projections regarding future scenarios. For both groups, the decision-making process was moderated by individual differences. A schematic has been developed based on the study findings in an attempt to illustrate the hypothesized decision-making process

Decision-making of English Netball Superleague umpires: Contextual and dispositional influences

Objectives. The decisions made by officials have a direct bearing on the outcomes of competitive sport contests. In an exploratory study, we examine the interrelationships between the decisions made by elite netball umpires, the potential contextual and environmental influences (e.g., crowd size), and the umpires’ dispositional tendencies – specifically, their propensity to deliberate and ruminate on their decisions. Design/Method. Filmed footage from 60 England Netball Superleague matches was coded using performance analysis software. We measured the number of decisions made overall, and for home and away teams; league position; competition round; match quarter; and crowd size. Additionally, 10 umpires who officiated in the matches completed the Decision-Specific Reinvestment Scale (DSRS). Results. Regression analyses predicted that as home teams’ league position improved the number of decisions against away teams increased. A model comprising competition round and average league position of both teams predicted the number of decisions made in matches, but neither variable emerged as a significant predictor. The umpire analyses revealed that greater crowd size was associated with an increase in decisions against away teams. The Decision Rumination factor was strongly negatively related to the number of decisions in Quarters 1 and 3, this relationship was driven by fewer decisions against home teams by umpires who exhibited higher Rumination subscale scores. Conclusions. These findings strengthen our understanding of contextual, environmental, and dispositional influences on umpires’ decision-making behaviour. The tendency to ruminate upon decisions may explain the changes in decision behaviour in relation to the home team advantage effect

Reinvestment, task complexity and decision making under pressure in basketball

The aims of this study were to investigate choking susceptibility in a perceptual judgment task and to examine the predictive validity of the Decision Specific Reinvestment Scale (DSRS). A computer-based, choice response time basketball passing task was performed under low and high pressure conditions. Complexity was manipulated by depicting 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 scenarios. Repeated-measures ANOVAs revealed performance decrements under pressure with regard to response accuracy, moderated by task complexity, and a general speeding of performance over successive blocks. The DSRS was a significant predictor of poorer response accuracy under pressure in the high-complex task. Examination of the DSRS subscales revealed rumination as the only significant factor, predicting changes in response time and accuracy in the low- and high-complex versions of the task, respectively. Findings support the predictive validity of the DSRS, and highlight the importance of avoiding ruminative thoughts when making complex decisions under pressure

Decision-making of English Netball Superleague umpires: contextual and dispositional influences

Objectives: The decisions made by officials have a direct bearing on the outcomes of competitive sport contests. In an exploratory study, we examine the interrelationships between the decisions made by elite netball umpires, the potential contextual and environmental influences (e.g., crowd size), and the umpires' dispositional tendencies – specifically, their propensity to deliberate and ruminate on their decisions. Design/Method: Filmed footage from 60 England Netball Superleague matches was coded using performance analysis software. We measured the number of decisions made overall, and for home and away teams; league position; competition round; match quarter; and crowd size. Additionally, 10 umpires who officiated in the matches completed the Decision-Specific Reinvestment Scale (DSRS). Results: Regression analyses predicted that as home teams' league position improved the number of decisions against away teams increased. A model comprising competition round and average league position of both teams predicted the number of decisions made in matches, but neither variable emerged as a significant predictor. The umpire analyses revealed that greater crowd size was associated with an increase in decisions against away teams. The Decision Rumination factor was strongly negatively related to the number of decisions in Quarters 1 and 3, this relationship was driven by fewer decisions against home teams by umpires who exhibited higher Rumination subscale scores. Conclusions: These findings strengthen our understanding of contextual, environmental, and dispositional influences on umpires' decision-making behaviour. The tendency to ruminate upon decisions may explain the changes in decision behaviour in relation to the home team advantage effect

Re-evaluating the measurement and influence of conscious movement processing on gait performance in older adults: development of the Gait-Specific Attentional Profile

Background. Recent decades have seen increased interest in how anxiety–and associated changes in conscious movement processing (CMP)–can influence the control of balance and gait, particularly in older adults. However, the most prevalent scale used to measure CMP during gait (the Movement-Specific Reinvestment Scale (MSRS)) is generic (i.e., non-gait specific) and potentially lacks sensitivity in this context. Methods. In a preliminary study, we first sought to evaluate if MSRS scores associated with the number of CMP-related thoughts self-reported by older adults while walking. The next aim was to develop and validate a new questionnaire (the Gait-Specific Attentional Profile, G-SAP) capable of measuring gait-specific CMP, in addition to other attentional processes purported to influence gait. This scale was validated using responses from 117 (exploratory) and 107 (confirmatory factor analysis) older adults, resulting in an 11-item scale with four sub-scales: CMP, anxiety, fall-related ruminations, and processing inefficiencies. Finally, in a separate cohort of 53 older adults, we evaluated associations between scores from both the GSAP CMP subscale and the MSRS, and gait outcomes measured using a GAITRite walkway in addition to participants’ fall-history. Results. MSRS scores were not associated with self-reported thoughts categorised as representing CMP. In regression analyses that controlled for functional balance, unlike the MSRS, the G-SAP subscale of CMP significantly predicted several gait characteristics including velocity (p=.033), step length (p=.032), and double-limb support (p=.015). Significance. The G-SAP provides gait-specific measures of four psychological factors implicated in mediating the control of balance and gait. In particular, unlike the MSRS, the G-SAP subscale of CMP appears sensitive to relevant attentional processes known to influence gait performance. We suggest that the G-SAP offers an opportunity for the research community to further develop understanding of psychological factors impacting gait performance across a range of applied clinical contexts

Dispositional reinvestment and skill failure in cognitive and motor tasks

Objective: The objective of the study was to examine the moderating effect of dispositional reinvestment upon ‘choking’ in motor and cognitive tasks. Method: Sixty-three university students (40 males, 23 females) completed low-complexity (peg-board) and high-complexity (golf putting) tests of motor skill, card sorting and working memory (modular arithmetic) under low-pressure and high-pressure conditions. Results: Pressure had a deleterious effect on performance in the peg-board motor task, led to faster but more error-prone performance in the high-complexity card-sorting task, and led to more errors in the highcomplexity modular arithmetic task. High reinvestment scale scores were significantly correlated with performance decrements from low to high-pressure conditions in both the peg-board and golf-putting tasks, and in both modular arithmetic tasks. Conversely, in the card-sorting tasks, higher reinvestment scores were associated with a speeding of performance from the low to high-pressure conditions. Discussion: Our findings suggest that the association between reinvestment and choking extends beyond the motor skill domain to cognitive tasks, particularly those that place significant demands on working memory, and that this relationship is moderated by task complexity. The nature of the relationships between skill failure and sub-scales of the Reinvestment Scale, together with the extent to which these tap into explicit monitoring/conscious processing and distraction-based accounts of choking, is discussed

Individual propensity for reinvestment: field-based evidence for the predictive validity of three scales

Two field-based studies were conducted to test the predictive validity of the Reinvestment Scale, the Movement Specific Reinvestment Scale and the Decision- Specific Reinvestment Scale. In Study 1, performance ratings were gathered for female university field hockey and netball players (N = 44) competing in low-pressure group games and high-pressure play-off games over the second half of a season. In Study 2, passing accuracy was assessed in a group of female university netball players (N = 15) over the course of a season. Analyses of variance using group data coupled with correlation and regression analyses revealed good support for the predictive validity of the Reinvestment Scale and Decision-Specific Reinvestment Scale, with high reinvesters being more prone to skill failure under pressure. The results are discussed in terms of task demands, the processes underlying skill failure, and the definition of choking