The Effect of Viewer-Induced Arousal on Depth Perception in Male and Female Athletes

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of increasing arousal and its effect on athlete's depth perception. Participants of this study included the students of Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences. 58 students (23 female and 35 male, mean age: 23.3 and SD: 2.16) were selected randomly. Participants performed the study tests under two motivational conditions (with viewer and without viewer). The sport competitive anxiety test (SCAT) was performed to test the level of participant's arousal. Moreover, the instrument to test depth perception was the electrical set of depth perception (122B). Results of paired t-test showed a significant difference in scores of depth perception test between the two motivational conditions at 0.05. In other words, participants in high arousal condition (i.e. with viewer) had an inaccurate estimation of depth perception. This effect was the same in both sexes. The results of this study indicated that novice athletes in high arousal condition pay attention to different information resources or different peripheral cues which lead to inaccurate estimation of depth.