高水平足球裁判员判罚决策的优势及神经机制*

he appropriateness of referees decision-making in sports not only concerns the procedural fairness of the game process but also significantly affects the outcome of the match. Therefore, enhancing the quality and efficiency of referees decision-making on the field is an urgent practical issue that needs to be addressed. This study attempts to provide insights from basic research into the resolution of this question by clarifying the behavioral manifestations and neural mechanisms of high-level football referees decision-making. Considering the special requirements of football match rules, which is that the final decision-making is manifested as a comprehensive decision of "degree of infringement + tactical impact," this study comprehensively considers three types of decisions in the experimental tasks: "degree of infringement," "tactical impact," and the comprehensive "final decision (degree of infringement + tactical impact)."A total of 129 football referees at the national level and above, as well as first and third-level referees. They were recruited to perform decision-making tasks with 114 trials of 8s foul videos (4s vista +4s close-up). A mixed experimental design was adopted in this study with three factors: 3 (referee level: national and above, first level, third level) 3 (decision type: degree of infringement, tactical impact, final decision) 4 (degree of foul: none, mild, moderate, severe). In this design, referee level is a between-subjects variable, while decision type and degree of foul are within-subjects variables. Decision-making behavior indicators were recorded, and functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to synchronously collect Hemoglobin Oxygen (HbO) during the decision-making tasks.After conducting the experiment with the designed tasks and data collection methods, the following differences and relationships in referees decision - making processes were discovered. 1) The reaction time for decision-making regarding tactical impact was longer than that for the severity of the infringement and the final decision for referees of all levels. National-level and above football referees had higher decision-making accuracy for "none" and "light" foul severity across all decision types compared to first and third-level referees, which corresponds to the activation of the left precuneus. 2) National-level and above referees showed different brain activation patterns compared to referees of other levels during decision-making: under the condition of tactical impact, there was stronger activation in the left superior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and right middle occipital gyrus; under the condition of infringement severity, there was stronger activation in the superior frontal gyrus and right middle occipital gyrus. 3) National-level and above referees had a greater association between correct decision-making in tactical impact and final decision-making and the prefrontal and occipital brain regions.Based on the above - mentioned research findings, we can draw the following inferences about the characteristics and mechanisms of high - level football referees decision - making. 1) Decision-making for "none" and "light" foul severity is a primary advantage for high-level football referees. 2) High-level football referees exhibit stronger activation in corresponding brain regions when making decisions on infringement severity and tactical impact, confirming the role of the referees experience level and the three-stage decision-making model in football refereeing decisions. 3) High-level referees have a close relationship with the prefrontal and occipital cortices during tactical impact and final decision-making, leading to a cautious and efficient decision-making process.