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Observations (Referee 11/78-6/79) — This seven-part feature series written by Dr. Roy Askins, a noted social psychologist and baseball and basketball official, was the first multi-part series we ran and has long been remembered as the best. Askins delved into the psychology of officiating by covering topics such as officiating personalities, officials’ interactions, reacting to pressure and the differences between old and new officials. Since the series first ran, the psychology of officiating has been examined, discussed and written about countless times in a wide variety of publications and forums. But back in 1978, the first installment of the series came with this disclaimer: “This material may represent a view of officiating that is foreign to most officials because it is written from the point of view of a social psychologist. Many of the ideas and descriptions do not follow the general prescriptions found in manuals and may be controversial, if not offensive to some.” |