The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of repeated viewings of gymnastics routines on the accuracy of judges' scores. More specifically, the purposes were threefold: firstly, to determine if the accuracy of judges' scores improved with repeated viewings of the same routines; secondly, to determine the number of repeated viewings required to optimally improve the scorers' accuracy; and thirdly, to determine the relationship between the number of viewings established and the participating judges' levels of proficiency. Criterion scores for four selected vault performances and four selected optional uneven parallel bars routines were established by two women's gymnastics judges, one of national and one of international certification. Four treatment conditions were established, each having a different routine shown one, two, three or four times. Eight regional judges and eight national judges were presented with the vault and bars test videotapes; all judges viewed the same treatments but the presentation order was determined by the Latin Square design. The judges recorded their deductions for each vault performance and their values for each of the component part scores for each bars performance. The experimenter tabulated the final scores for each event and calculated the absolute deviations of the experimental scores from their respective criterion scores. The results indicate that scores for vault become more accurate with repeated viewings and that uneven bars scoring, though reasonably accurate after a single viewing, improved in terms of reduced variability after more than one viewing. The increased accuracy in scores implies that repeated viewings reduce the limiting effects of human information processing capacities on judges' scoring accuracy. No significant differences were found between judges of regional and national proficiency levels. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to discover whether the gymnasts' body shape affects the judging of gymnastics. The goal was to discover whether the judges' perceptions of the gymnasts' body shape related to the gymnasts' performance scores. A second goal was to discover whether performance scores differed when given by judges with two levels of experience (experienced and novice). Videotapes of compulsory routines performed by 16 gymnasts on bars, beam and floor were constructed to simulate a competition. Eighteen judges, nine novice and nine experienced, evaluated the routines. They were also required to rate their perception of the aesthetic appeal of the 16 gymnasts' body shape. Each gymnasts' body mass index (BMI) was calculated from their height and weight measurements to quantify body shape. The scores were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance. The results showed a significant main effect of BMI on judges' perception of gymnasts' body shape scores, $F(3,48)=9.50, p<.001.$ Gymnasts with a medium-low BMI received significantly higher perception scores than gymnasts with a medium-high BMI and gymnasts with a high BMI. The results also showed a significant main effect $(p<.001)$ of BMI on performance scores. Gymnasts with a high BMI received higher performance scores than those gymnasts with a low BMI, medium-low BMI and medium-high BMI. The effect of judge experience was very close to significant $(p<.059)$ in relation to performance scores. Experienced judges gave lower performance scores than novice judges. Although all judges preferred smaller body shape, this preference did not affect the performance scores award by the judges.

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