PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF JUDGING IN DANCE Matej TU

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PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF JUDGING IN DANCE Matej
TUŠAK, Ph.D., sport psychologist

• University of Ljubljana
• Faculty for sport
• Gortanova 22
• 1000 Ljubljana
• gsm 386 (0) 41 676-221
• e-mail matej.tusak_at_fsp.uni-lj.si

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THE PROBLEMS OF ESTIMATION AND JUDGING IN DANCE

• An estimation is based on a simple psychological
  truth that human being is able to give an
  objective and exact evaluation of a certain
  subject (dancing performance).
• A lot of different opinions were given about the
  problems of objectivity and subjectivity of
  measurement, estimation and judging. We are all
  very sure that objectivity of judging is quite
  hard to reach. The more the subject is general
  and undefined, the harder the objective judging
  is. In such cases the estimation is quite
  subjective.
• A process of judging is always under
• the estimators attitudes influence.

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THE FAMOUS MISTAKES AND ERRORS OF JUDGMENT AND
ESTIMATION

• an easy estimation error
• a central tendency error or average mistake
• a hallo effect error
• a logical error
• a contrast error
• a closeness error

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AN EASY ESTIMATION ERROR

• People are appearing to be easy or hard
  estimators, judgers. An easy estimation error
  include the tendency to estimate someone (we know
  or we are interested in more that the others)
  better. This error is specially present when an
  estimator
• has any kind of (or even
• strong) emotional relationship
• with a dancer. At least
• following situation are
• problematic

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• If a judge is also a member of a certain dancing
  club or group and when he/she judges also those
  dancers
• If judges are even parents of the competing
  dancers (it is not allowed in dance), or any
  other similar kind of relation to dancers
• For judges judging dancers from his/her country.
• This error always appears when a judge
  knows dancers well or is their supporter and wish
  them to win.
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• Such estimation is unconscious and judges are
  unaware of that. But sometimes they are aware of
  those problems and they want to control them.
  They become too harder judge. For instance A
  judge has harder demands for the dancer from his
  country or for the World champions. This error
  also make a big mistake in the process of judging
  and on the reliability of estimation and
  judging.

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A CENTRAL TENDENCY ERROR OR AN AVERAGE
MISTAKE

• The issue of this error is that a judge tries to
  avoid extreme estimation and judgment. On that
  way the dancer is judged to the average and
  middle. Such estimation is often observed when
  the competing dancers are new and we do not have
  any information about them. So, if you do not
  know dancers at all or you dont have enough
  information about him/her, this error is very
  possible.
• A judge in such cases forgets (in a certain way)
  the real quality of the performance and tries not
  to do big mistakes by giving him/her an average
  estimation, even when the performance is good.

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A HALLO EFFECT ERROR

• It has already been discussed in 1907. The
  meaning of this error is the tendency that all
  characteristics of a dancer is judged and
  estimated according to some personal impression
  or mental attitude about him/her or anything
  similar to the dancer.
• Previous experiences with the dancer or the
  dancers previous performances can effect
  estimators present estimation. Such errors can be
  recognise in the similarity of estimations of
  different parts of performances (first, secong,
  semi-final, final). A hallo effect is often
  presented in judging of non-adequate defined
  characteristics or subjects of judgement or
  rarely mentioned characteristics (moral
  characteristics, such as honesty, being good)
  and especially in characteristics of interaction
  between dancing couple or group). This last
  situation is very common in dance so when the
  estimators are looking for compatibility between
  dancers and their cohesion, communication and
  relationship, we should be very careful in
  estimation. There is a big chance that the
  estimation is influenced by this error (we
  estimate incorrectly the group or couple
  according to their previous performance and not
  according to the actual performance). This is the
  estimators consistency error. If someone is a
  good competitor, it means he competes well also
  today, so he has to be estimated welland
  opposite.

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A LOGICAL ERROR

• A judge gives similar judgements for those
  characteristic for which he thinks, they are
  connected in some way. For example if we think
  that exactness and co-ordination are related,
  then the dancers exactness in movement and
  his/her co-ordination will be estimated
  similarly, no matter how each of the real
  components of the performance were executed. So,
  here we talk about consistency inside the
  characteristics the role of dancer is here
  unimportant. This error may appear while
  estimating any dancer.
• We can avoid these errors by giving a warning to
  judges that a judgement must be done on the base
  of concrete and actual observed characteristics
  and not on the base of the abstract
  characteristics. Such warning must be said
  rapidly so the judges are really aware of this.

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A CONTRAST ERROR

• This error appears when a judge estimate the
  dancers characteristic (performance, ability,
  skill etc.) contrary to his/her own
  characteristic.
• If a judge thinks he was good in compatibility
  between couple, all other competitors are perhaps
  bad in this. It is specially often error when a
  judge is still a kind of competitor or a coach
  and when any kind of relationship is present.
• A judge may estimate bad just one or some dancers
  he/she is related to, but for others the right
  judgements are done. Beside this classic error
  also the opposite error appears sometimes. A
  judge thinks that everyone is similar to him/her.
  So he estimates them similar that he would
  estimate himself. This contrast error very often
  appears to less emotional stable estimators who
  mix their work with the feelings and emotions.

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A CLOSENESS ERROR

• It is made because of the mixing problem
  of estimating characteristics of components of
  performance. Characteristics that are closer
  together in judging , are judged more similarly
  than those which are judged far apart. If we
  estimate more characteristics or components of
  performance, those which are put together will be
  more similar than those which are far apart (on
  the leaflet, or in our mind while estimating).
  The problem comes to estimators mind and create
  mixed subjective evaluation which effects final
  estimation. Such error can be controlled by
  suggesting to concentrate on estimation of
  specific component or by regular use a
  pre-estimation routine before giving specific
  estimation.

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Example of leaflet

• Physical apperance
• Story
• Motor abilities
• Coordination
• Number of mistakes or
• reliability of
• performance
• Connection in couple
• Etc.

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CONCLUSIONS THE SOURCES OF ERRORS IN JUDGING

• The error of interaction between
• judges and dancers
• The variability among judges
• The error of relation between
• judge and estimating
• characteristics of dancer
• The error of interaction between
• estimating components or
• characteristics

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HOW TO IMPROVE ESTIMATION

• All those errors warn us that big correlations
  among components of performance still does not
  mean the actual correlation, because the results
  and estimation is not absolutely objective.
  Avoiding errors can be reached by some important
  steps
• training of judges
• public judgment (that anybody can see
  judgment)
• strong defining of subject of estimation
• not knowing dancers (which is almost impossible)
  or at least avoiding settlement of estimators
  (for competition) who have possible strong
  relationship to any dancer
• erasing upper and bottom estimations
• standardising instructions before judging and
  giving warnings according to object of judgement
  before any judging
• controlling judging (by correlation and
  analysing comparing my to others estimations)
  and warning estimators about their mistakes
• education of judges (workshops)
• Judging on the base of objective scale and not
  just on the base of one-to another subjective
  impression

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 FOLLOWING ERRORS STILL APPEAR

• A beginning error is related to too hard
  estimation. In the beginning of the process of
  estimation we do not use the best estimations
  (in mind or in real), because we are still
  waiting for something better. Dancers we had
  estimated in the beginning, they got worse
  estimations they really deserved. This error is
  deleted when the estimation is made at the end
  for every dancer. But the problem still exists
  because we make our own part-estimations in mind
  and those may be influenced by the error.
• An ending error appears when all good dancers
  finished their performances. The motivation of
  estimators fell down, so the rest of the dancers
  got worse estimations. This error can be a
  problem in the beginning of competition (in first
  parts of competition), when a lot of dancers
  should be estimated, but not at finals of the
  competition.
• A referent group error stands for estimators
  tendency to choose the best dancers in a group of
  dancers. In such way, just an average dancer(s)
  will be good among bad competitors, but this
  opinion may be brought through next circle of
  competition and this error will become a hallo
  error, so the estimation is again unreliable.

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At the end I would like to emphasise that all
those errors are very present in a process of
judging (even we are not aware of that) and we
have to do as much as possible to avoid those
factors.
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THANK YOU