Sequential effects in important referee decisions: The case of penalties in soccer

In a study on penalty decisions in soccer, 115 participants made decisions as referees for each of 20 videotaped scenes from an actual match. In three scenes, defenders committed potential fouls in their penalty area. The fir st two scenes involved the same team and the third scene occurred in the op posite penalty area. Consistent with the assumption that judges' initial de cisions have an impact on later decisions, we found a negative correlation between participants' successive penalty decisions concerning the same team , and a positive correlation between successive penalty decisions concernin g first one and then the opposing team.