Open feedback in gymnastic judging causes conformity bias based on informational influencing

The aims of this study were twofold: (1) to determine whether open feedback (i.e. the ability to hear or see the scores of colleague judges after each performance) would lead judges in gymnastics to conform with their colleagues, and (2) to identify the underlying process on which this conformity is based. Twenty-three certified Flemish judges in women's gymnastics were randomly divided into panels of a maximum of five judges. These panels had to rate the same 30 videotaped individual vaults: 15 in phase 1 and 15 in phase 2. Two independent variables were orthogonally manipulated: feedback (or no feedback) during phase 1 and feedback (or no feedback) during phase 2. The results of phase 1 revealed that the variation between the judges' scores was less within panels that had received feedback than within panels that had not received feedback. We therefore conclude that the availability of feedback elicits conformity among gymnastic judges. The results of phase 2 indicated that this conformity continued even when feedback was no longer provided, suggesting that the observed conformity was based on informational influencing (i.e. because of uncertainty about the correct responses) and not on normative influencing (i.e. out of fear of standing out in the group).     

Reliability and validity of judging in women's artistic gymnastics at University Games 2009

Abstract

The aim of our research was to analyse the reliability and validity of judging on all women's apparatuses and all sessions (qualification, all round finals and apparatus finals) at the World University Games-Universiade 2009 in Belgrade. For validity assessment, mean absolute and rank deviations of judges’ execution scores were calculated. For consistency and reliability assessment, Cronbach's alpha coefficient, intra-class correlations, Armor's theta and Kendall's W coefficient were calculated. Vault and floor exercise finals were the sessions with the highest scores and the lowest score dispersion. The overall highest individual judge average absolute deviation was 0.34 point and the largest mean rank deviation was 0.88 with most values well below this. A correlation matrix for between-judge correlations identified three judges (out of 20) in the apparatus finals sessions with remarkably inferior correlations with others. Except for vault and floor finals, the results in terms of consistency (Cronbach's alpha mostly above 0.95) and reliability (Armor's theta mostly above 0.94, intra-class correlation for single and average measures above 0.87 and 0.94, respectively) were satisfactory. In conclusion, overall high values of reliability and consistency indices were found. Sessions where the variability between competitors is low (such as vault and floor finals in this competition) should be inspected with special care in future judging analyses.     

2001年艺术体操规则变化的主要特点及对技术发展的影响

艺术体操规则历来对艺术体操技术的发展起着积极导向和主动制约的作用，并与裁判员的评分紧密相联。通过对国际艺术体操评分规则的比较、分析和研究，探讨了2001～2008年艺术体操国际评分规则变化的主要特点及对技术发展的影响，以期更加科学地指导运动训练实践。