For social scientists, the National Basketball Association isn’t simply a source of pulse-pounding excitement, it’s a laboratory that yields insights into human behavior. As the strike-shortened season settles into its groove, we examine some NBA-related studies that have dribbled out in recent months, exploring such game-changing factors as performance-sapping stress, unconscious racism, and the power of positive momentum. Chokehold: LeBron Explained Do world-class athletes choke under pressure? Evidence from the NBA suggests the answer is yes — but only during the final minute of ... Read More
Another Cognitive Benefit for Musicians, Athletes
December 5, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
Can you mentally rotate a three-dimensional object, getting a clear sense of how it looks it from a variety of angles? It’s a specific cognitive skill that has been the subject of much study in recent years, since it’s a key component of processing spatial information. Professionals ranging from auto mechanics to brain surgeons rely on this ability. A newly published study suggests there may be a way to enhance this important skill, and it does not involve spending hours in front of a computer screen. Rather, it suggests students might want to put down their laptops and pick up a ... Read More
Secret of Peak Performance: Indispensability
January 3, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
Necessity may or may not be the mother of invention, but it appears to be a highly effective motivator — even for the best of the best. That’s the conclusion of a new study that looks at data from swimming competitions at the 2008 Olympics. It finds these world-class athletes turned in better performances during relays than in their individual competition heats. But there was a catch: This team effect was only found when they were the second, third or fourth person in a four-person relay. A sense of “perceived indispensability” — the understanding that their performance had to ... Read More
Tennis Anyone? Just Follow the Bouncing Ball …
December 22, 2008 • By • Leave a Comment
Tennis referees are not universally beloved figures. (Just ask John McEnroe; he's still yelling, "You can't be serious!" over a point he lost in 1981.) But are bad calls really their fault? New research in Current Biology, which received some press coverage in England, suggests McEnroe should have focused on inherent flaws in human vision rather than the fallibility of individual refs. Scientists have long known that the human eye often misperceives moving objects and shifts them in the direction of their motion so the objects appear to be farther along their path than they really are. ... Read More
