Influence of reaction time and movement in the performance of football referees
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5944/ap.14.1.19251Keywords:
reaction time, movement time, Vienna Test System, refereeing, footballAgencies:
We are grateful to the company Schuhfried© which has offered its teams for research to be carried out with football referees by this research team. In addition, we would like to express our gratitude to the Technical Committee of Referees of the Royal FooAbstract
The primary objective of this research is to study the relationship between reaction time (RT) and movement time (MT) in a sample of 121 football referees. Assessment has been performed using an objective computerised test (RT, Vienna Test SystemÓ), with regard to the average score obtained for refereeing performance over the season (RAR in Spanish). To perform the analysis, the following variables have been considered: a) Level refereed (2 levels); b) Age (3 levels); and c) Experience (4 levels). The hypothesis states that: (i) The higher the level refereeing at, better results are expected in RT and MT; (ii) The older the referee, the greater the expected value in RT and MT; (iii) The more experienced the referee, the lower the score expected in RT and MT; and (iv) It is expected that there will be a negative correlation between the RAR and the RT and MT scores. The results show that: (i) RT and MT do not differentiate between semi-professionals and amateur referees; (ii) Only the older group has differences in line with the proposed hypothesis; (iii) There are no differences in RT and MT regarding refereeing experience; (iv) The RT scores, taking the optimal transformation parameters, show significant correlations with the RAR (r = -.271, p = .020); but not regarding the MT and RAR. Future research should take a deeper look into the results obtained, including professional referees in the comparisons, as well as investigating the effects of other psychological variables in refereeing performance.
Downloads
References
Araújo, D. & Davids, K. (2015). Towards a theoretically-driven model of correspondence between behaviours in one context to another: Implications for studying sport performance. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 46, 268-280. http://dx.doi.org/10.7352/IJSP.2015.46.745
Beise, D. & Peaseley, V. (1937). The Relation of Reaction Time, Speed, and Agility of Big Muscle Groups to Certain Sport Skills. Research Quaterly, 8, 133-142. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23267402.1937.10761808
Blumenstein, B. & Orbach, I. (2014). Development of Psychological Preparation Program for Football Referees: Pilot Study. Sport Science Review, 23(3-4), 113-125. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/ssr-2014-0007
Caracuel, J. C., Andreu, R., & Pérez, E. (1995). Análisis psicológico del arbitraje y juicio deportivos. Una aproximación desde el modelo interconductual [Psychological Analysis of Arbitration and Sports Judgment. An Approach from the Interconductual Model]. Motricidad, 1, 5-24.
Castagna, C., Abt, G., D’Ottavio, S., & Weston, M. (2005). Age related effects on fitness performance in elite-level soccer referees. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 19(4), 785-790. http://dx.doi.org/10.1519/R-14984.1
Deary, I. J. & Der, G., (2006). Age and sex differences in reaction time in adulthood: results from the United Kingdom Health and Lifestyle Survey. Psychology and Aging, 21(1), 62-73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.21.1.62
Famose, J. P. (1992). Aprendizaje motor y dificultad de las tareas [Motor Learning and Task Difficulty]. Barcelona, Spain: Paidotribo.
Ghasemi, A., Momeni, M., Jafarzadehpur, E., Rezaee, M., & Taheri, H. (2011). Visual skills involved in decisión making by expert referees. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 112(1), 161-171. http://dx.doi.org/10.2466/05.22.24.27.PMS.112.1.161-171
Ghasemi, A., Momeni, M., Rezaee, M., & Gholami, A. (2011). The difference in visual skills in expert versus novice soccer referees. Journal of Human Kinetics, 22, 15-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/v10078-009-0018-1
González, J. & Dosil J. (2005). Evaluación de las habilidades psicológicas de los árbitros de fútbol. Iberpsicología [Evaluation of the Psychological Skills of Soccer Referees. Iberpsychology]. Revista Electrónica de la Federación Española de Asociaciones de Psicología, 10(8), 6-12.
Guillén, F., Morán, M., y Castro, J. J. (1997). Consideraciones de carácter psi- cosocial sobre el arbitraje y el juicio deportivo. En F. Guillén (Ed.), La Psicología del Deporte en España al final del Milenio [Sport Psychology in Spain at the End of the Millennium] (pp. 583-591). Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Guillén, F., Noce, F., Valdés, H., Ferreira, M., Caracuel, J., Gonzalez A., Garcés, ... Martin, D. (2003) Psicología del Arbitraje y el Juicio Deportivo [Psychology of Arbitration and Sport Judgment]. Barcelona, Spain: Inde.
Guillén, F. & Feltz, D. L. (2011). A conceptual model of referee efficacy. Frontiers in Psychology, 2(25), 1-5. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00025
Henry F. M. & Rogers, D. E. (1960). Increased response latencyforcomplicatedmovements and a «memorydrum» theory of neuromotor reaction. Research Quarterly, 31, 448-458. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10671188.1960.10762052
Neville, A., Balmer, N., & Williams, A. (2002). The influence of crowd noise and experience upon refereeing decisions in football. Psychology of Sports and Exercise. 3(4), 261-272. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1469-0292(01)00033-4.
Pérez, J., Soto, J., & Rojo, J. J. (2011). Estudio del tiempo de reacción ante estímulos sonoros y visuales. European Journal of Human Movement, 27, 149-162.
Put, K., Baldo, M., Cravo, A., Wagemans, J., & Helsen, W. (2013). Experts in offside decision making learn to compensate for their illusory perceptions. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 35(6), 576-584. http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/jsep.35.6.576
Reilly, T. & Gregson, W. (2006). Special populations: The referee and assistant referee. Journal of Sports Science, 24(7), 795-801. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02640410500483089
Robles, J. J. (2014). El tiempo de reacción específico visual en deportes de combate [Visual Specific Reaction Time in Combat Sports] (Tesis doctoral publicada). Universidad Autónoma de Madrid: Madrid, España. Recuperado de http://hdl.handle.net/10486/661009
Rudzitis, A., Kalejs, O., & Licis, R. (2014). Model characterizing sports game referees. SHS Web of Conferences. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/20141000039.
Sage, A. (1977). Introduction to motor behaviour: A neuropsyhological approach. Massachusetts: Addison - Wesley Publishing Company.
Schmidt, R. (1975). A schema theory of discrete motor skill learning. Psychological Review, 82(4), 225-260.
Spitz, J., Put, K., Wagemans, J., Williams, A., & Helsen, W. (2016). Visual search behaviors of association football referees during assessment of foul play situations. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 1(1), 12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s41235-016-0013-8
Stamford, B. A. (1988). Exercise and the Elderly. Exercise and Sports. Science Reviews, 16, 341-379.
Vargas, L. M. (1994). Sobre el concepto de percepción [About the Concept of Perception]. Alteridades, 4(8), 47-53.
Vences-Brito, A., Silva, A., & Ferreira, D. (2012). Atención y tiempo de reacción en practicantes de kárate Shotokan [Attention and Reaction Time in Shotokan Athletes]. Revista de Artes Marciales Asiáticas, 6(1), 141-156.
