PDFE Assignment 3

I recently watched an Atlanta Braves baseball game, as I pretty much do every night throughout the summer. The Braves played the Washington Nationals on their quest do give away all possible playoff hopes. Since baseball is such a reactionary sport there were many instances where I was able to see various aspects that go along with the human reaction. The most obvious way one could see human reaction would be the batters response to when the pitcher threw the ball. The batter has less than a second to decide whether or not to swing. Along with this difficult task the batter also must adjust and swing to a ball that can have tremendously sharp movement. I was able to view Hick's Law when the umpire called balls and strikes. The location of the pitch was the stimulus while the umpires decision to call a ball or a strike was the response choice. During the game, reaction time could be seen as the fielders attempted to field the ball once it was hit. There was a definite lag between the time the batter hit the ball and to the time the fielder made his initial move to field the ball. There were several instances where the pitcher would throw over to first in an attempt to pick off the runner or just keep him closer to the base. Because the pitcher initiated the stimulus, the time it took the base runner to return to the base was the Psychological Refactory Period. I was able to see a prime example of anticipation when the Washington Nationals set up a shift to try and prevent Brian McCann from getting a hit. The Nationals placed three infielders on the right side of the infield because McCann tends to hit the ball on the right side of the infield whenever he makes contact. Baseball is nothing more than a series of short immediate reactions. Hopefully the Braves can react a little faster before they loose all hopes of a postseason.