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Order effects in assessments of sporting ability

Research (e.g. McKelvie, 1990) has shown that order of information can influence judgments. In light of equivocal findings in this research, Hogarth and Einhorn (1992) developed their belief-adjustment model to present a more detailed approach to predicting order effects. Greenlees, Dicks, Thelwell and Holder (2007) were the first to test the predictions of the belief-adjustment model in sport. The aim of this thesis was to extend Greenlees et al.'s work through a more systematic examination of order effects in sport. Specifically, the aims were to examine the generalisability of Greenlees et al.'s findings, to examine the impact of differing processing strategies on order effects, to investigate the influence of personality traits, and to consider variables that might offset order effects. To achieve these aims, four experimental studies were conducted. In Study 1, ultimate frisbee players watched DVD footage of two players (a control and target player) performing a catching and throwing drill, and assessed the ability of each target player. Participants viewed the same footage for the control player. For the target player, participants viewed the same footage, with half viewing a declining (successful to unsuccessful) performance pattern, and half viewing an ascending pattern. Study I found primacy effects when participants made one end-of-sequence (EoS) judgment. In addition, step-by-step (SbS) judgments eliminated primacy effects. Study I also controlled for the time delay inherent in making the SbS judgments, and found that SbS processing, rather than the time delays, eliminated order effects. Study 2 examined the effect of individual differences on order effects. Using the same methodology as in Study I, the impact of participants' theory of learning, level of motivation to think, and level of experience were examined.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:507132
Date January 2009
CreatorsSmith, Matthew J.
PublisherUniversity of Chichester
Source SetsEthos UK
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Sourcehttp://eprints.chi.ac.uk/814/

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