The use of Think Aloud Protocol to Investigate Golfers Decision Making Processes
type: CreativeWork
description: Decision making in sport in general and golf in particular has received only limited attention in the sport psychological literature. In addition, research which has been conducted has mainly used retrospective methods of data collection to investigate athlete’s thoughts and decisions during performance. Ericsson and Simon (1993) proposed Think Aloud (TA) protocol analysis as a tool for collecting concurrent data of cognitive processes. As a result this thesis aimed to investigate the efficacy of this method for the collection of decision making data in sport using a self-paced sport in particular to investigate the decision making process in differing skill level golfer’s. Within this thesis 4 studies were conducted. Study 1 used TA to investigate differences in decision making of 30 skilled and 30 novice golfer’s on a putting task, and examine if different verbalization instructions influence performance. Participants performed 30 putts on an indoor green in either a level 2, level 3, or no verbalization condition. Level 3 verbalization produced a higher volume of verbal data than level 2. Skilled golfers verbalized more about gathering information and planning putts than novices, while novices verbalized more technical instruction than skilled golfers. TA verbalizations at either level 2 or level 3 did not impair putting performance compared to no verbalization. It was concluded that TA protocol is an appropriate method for exploring decision making in self-paced motor tasks such as golf. Study 2 aimed to further investigate the appropriateness and the use of TA by examining the congruence between data collected via think aloud protocol at level 3 and cued retrospective recall of decisions on a golfing task. Six high level male golfers performed six holes of golf whilst engaging in level 3 think aloud, this involved describing one’s thoughts and explaining one’s decisions during the task. After performance, three semi-structured retrospective interviews were cond…
abstract: Decision making in sport in general and golf in particular has received only limited attention in the sport psychological literature. In addition, research which has been conducted has mainly used retrospective methods of data collection to investigate athlete’s thoughts and decisions during performance. Ericsson and Simon (1993) proposed Think Aloud (TA) protocol analysis as a tool for collecting concurrent data of cognitive processes. As a result this thesis aimed to investigate the efficacy of this method for the collection of decision making data in sport using a self-paced sport in particular to investigate the decision making process in differing skill level golfer’s. Within this thesis 4 studies were conducted. Study 1 used TA to investigate differences in decision making of 30 skilled and 30 novice golfer’s on a putting task, and examine if different verbalization instructions influence performance. Participants performed 30 putts on an indoor green in either a level 2, level 3, or no verbalization condition. Level 3 verbalization produced a higher volume of verbal data than level 2. Skilled golfers verbalized more about gathering information and planning putts than novices, while novices verbalized more technical instruction than skilled golfers. TA verbalizations at either level 2 or level 3 did not impair putting performance compared to no verbalization. It was concluded that TA protocol is an appropriate method for exploring decision making in self-paced motor tasks such as golf. Study 2 aimed to further investigate the appropriateness and the use of TA by examining the congruence between data collected via think aloud protocol at level 3 and cued retrospective recall of decisions on a golfing task. Six high level male golfers performed six holes of golf whilst engaging in level 3 think aloud, this involved describing one’s thoughts and explaining one’s decisions during the task. After performance, three semi-structured retrospective interviews were cond…
author: Whitehead, Amy, Elizabeth
language: en
keywords: C800 - Psychology
date published: 2015-06
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:35:49Z
provider: University of Central Lancashire
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Central Lancashire