Why Observers Perceive the Same Event Differently: Testing the Effects of Reference Frame and Conscious Agency in Sports

Michael McBeath (video)

Sports settings can serve as powerful metaphors for important behavioral phenomena,
and provide simple, cleanly-defined tests of significant, generalizable psychological principles.
Vantage is a key element in judging events, but interpretations may also be a function of an
observer’s extent of control. Establishing systematic reasons why people's experiences differ in
fundamental ways can have far-reaching promise for reducing disputes and promoting a better
understanding of how to cope with others from different perspectives.

Published Work

• Perception is reality: Who really touched ball last is a matter of neuroscience | GlobalSport Matters
• Who hit the ball out? An egocentric temporal order bias | ScienceAdvances
• Who really hit the ball out of bounds? | ASU Now
• Who Touched It First? Most People Say ‘I Did’ | KJZZ
• Scientists Explain A Common Fight In Basketball | NPR
  
• ‘I got there first!’ How your subjective experience of time makes you think you did – even when you didn’t | The Conversation
• Scientists find reason behind split-second sporting disputes | The Guardian