Let’s “Focus” on Judging - Understanding Bias | Episode 45
By Tim Worden & Nicole Lakin of the IGNITE
Does a rider’s nationality or start order affect their dressage score? How do humans allocate visual focus to assess movement and assign scores? In this episode, Dr. Inga Wolframm is joined by Dr. Peter Reuter to discuss recent research efforts to better understand different sources of bias in judged sports and how expert evaluators form visual search patterns to arrive at their assessments.
We kick off this episode discussing recent findings from a publication, authored by Inga, on sources of bias in judging scores present in elite-level dressage competition. It is important to note that these sources of bias are observed across multiple sports, both in the equestrian space and human-centric sports, and are present due to deeply rooted ecological reasons (such as wanting to be part of a social group, how the visual system processes information, and so on).
Peter and Inga then provide other insights regarding how the visual system works when assessing movement and how expert evaluators develop highly refined and consistent search patterns to inform an evaluation. They also discuss how precise the field of focus actually is, and Peter provides a classic example that you can experience yourself (please check out the YouTube video below to go through this exercise).
Selective Attention Test – Simons & Chabris 1999
We really enjoyed this discussion and look forward to following their research closely!
About the Expert
Dr. Inga Wolframm was recently appointed as Professor of Sustainable Equestrianism at the University of Applied Sciences Van Hall Larenstein in the Netherlands. She holds an MSc in human and equine sports science and a PhD in rider psychology. Her previous research ranged from rider personality, affective mood states and mental skills training, to horse-rider coordination dynamics, judging bias and visual search behaviour. She’s worked with equestrians from grass-roots to international level and has published several books about rider psychology and the horse-rider interaction. She’s passionate about equestrian sports, and even more passionate about making it future-proof. Inga’s current research focusses on how the equine sector can transition towards more sustainability and longevity.
Dr. Peter Reuter's passion for horses began when he learned about horseback riding at the age of 8. He completed his PhD in 2010 in the field of Neurology and molecular genetics (essentially neuroscience) followed by a postdoctoral fellowship. Peter then joined Tobii (the Swedish eye tracking company) and was the Sales director for the Medical and Scientific research segment. During the pandemic he got back into the horse world, and at this time began working with Dr. Inga Wolframm on a number of research topics related to horse welfare and performance. He is currently an Associate Professor at Van Hall Larenstein where he uses eye-tracking technology to study visual patterns used when judging and training horses.‘
If you enjoyed this podcast episode, be sure to check out our in-depth video content in the Sport Horse Series Video Library!
Episode Links
Hosts: Nicole Lakin and Dr. Tim Worden of the IGNITE
Podcast Website: Sport Horse Podcast
Presenting Sponsor: IGNITE
Guest: Dr. Inga Wolframm and Dr. Peter Reuter
Suggested Reading:
https://www.tobii.com/solutions/scientific-research/sports-performance-research
