In 1920, the number of people who came to see the NY Yankees doubled. Fans came to see one man- Babe Ruth. In his first season as a Yankee, he hit 54 home runs- more than the total number of home runs by 14 of the 16 major league teams.
By the summer of 1921, Ruth was known as the "Home Run King." His hitting prompted sportswriter Hugh Fullerton to bring him to Columbia University's Psychological Labratory. Here, graduate students assessed Ruth's sensory-motor and cognitive skills using standard laboratory procedures for studying attention, reaction time, and coordination.
The laboratory tests revealed that Ruth performed better than average on these tests, and the hope was similar tests would be used to predict who would be the next all-star. However, these results were mostly stored away until now. These tests lead to the rise of sports psychology in the 1960s.
Today, what role do you see psychologists taking in the field of athletics? Where do you see the field heading?
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