ERIC Number: EJ977658
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Jun
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1076-898X
EISSN: N/A
Take the First Heuristic, Self-Efficacy, and Decision-Making in Sport
Hepler, Teri J.; Feltz, Deborah L.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, v18 n2 p154-161 Jun 2012
Can taking the first (TTF) option in decision-making lead to the best decisions in sports contexts? And, is one's decision-making self-efficacy in that context linked to TTF decisions? The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the TTF heuristic and self-efficacy in decision-making on a simulated sports task. Undergraduate and graduate students (N = 72) participated in the study and performed 13 trials in each of two video-based basketball decision tasks. One task required participants to verbally generate options before making a final decision on what to do next, while the other task simply asked participants to make a decision regarding the next move as quickly as possible. Decision-making self-efficacy was assessed using a 10-item questionnaire comprising various aspects of decision-making in basketball. Participants also rated their confidence in the final decision. Results supported many of the tenets of the TTF heuristic, such that people used the heuristic on a majority of the trials (70%), earlier generated options were better than later ones, first options were meaningfully generated, and final options were meaningfully selected. Results did not support differences in dynamic inconsistency or decision confidence based on the number of options. Findings also supported the link between self-efficacy and the TTF heuristic. Participants with higher self-efficacy beliefs used TTF more frequently and generated fewer options than those with low self-efficacy. Thus, not only is TTF an important heuristic when making decisions in dynamic, time-pressure situations, but self-efficacy plays an influential role in TTF. (Contains 2 figures, 2 tables, and 3 footnotes.)
Descriptors: Video Technology, Graduate Students, Team Sports, Self Efficacy, Heuristics, Decision Making, Undergraduate Students, Computer Simulation, Experimental Psychology
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A