Stimulus Control in Baseball Batters

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Stimulus Control in Baseball Batters
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To be successful the baseball batter must swing
at good pitches, and withhold swinging at bad
pitches. In order to do this the batter must
discriminate, in less than a second, good from
bad pitches.
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The other pitches are less favorable
The most favorable pitch is down the center of
home plate
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The Average batter discriminates well enough to
swing mostly at balls toward the center of the
plate
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The Free-Swinging batter discriminates poorly,
swinging at most of the balls regardless of their
location.
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The discriminating batter swings primarily at
pitches down the center of the plate, such that
small variations in pitches produce large
differences in bat-swinging responses.
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The pure hitters like Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn
are well tuned to the specific features of
pitched balls. Why are pure hitters under such
precise stimulus control? Probably because of
several factors such as visual-motor capacity,
extensive previous experience at the plate, and
selective reinforcement of responding.
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Effect of Discrimination Training on Stimulus
Control
Discrimination training as a sharpener of
stimulus control.
After Jenkins Harrison, 1960, 1962