Work

Psychological Pressure Distorts High Jumpers’ Perception of the Height of the Bar

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: The effects of psychological pressure on perceiving the height of a jump bar just before starting a high jump run was investigated. University students (n = 14) training for a high jump event performed 15 trials (3 practice, 6 high-pressure, and 6 low-pressure) in counterbalanced order in their daily practice environment. The height of the bar was judged as significantly higher on high-pressure trials compared to low-pressure trials (p = 0.030). A regression analysis indicated that participants who reported increased subjective perceived pressure tended to judge the bar to be higher (r = 0.468, p = 0.091). There was no significant difference between high-pressure and low-pressure trials for the performance index, defined as the success rate (p = 0.209). This study provides the first evidence that environmental perceptions prior to executing a motor task under pressure may make performance of the task appear to be more difficult.

Source: Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology

DOI: 10.3390/jfmk3020029

Authors: Yoshifumi Tanaka, Joyo Sasaki, Kenta Karakida, Kana Goto, Yufu M. Tanaka, Takayuki Murayama