Specifically, superstitious reinforcement.
A player happens to grunt (or some equally meaningless vocalization)
and then wins a point.
Thus reinforced, they do it again.
If they are also successful in competition (which I believe was the
case) then other players will imitate them;
not necessarily because of a conscious decision, but because we have
a tendency (learned, genetic, or some interaction of the two) to
imitate successful people.
On Jul 17, 2008, at 1:03 PM, Joan Warmbold wrote:
My guess is that it's a learned behavior selected by the player
because it
has been reinforced by making them feel like it provides them with
more
energy and focus.
Joan
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Michael Sylvester asks:
Is the grunt that emanates when female tennis players at
Wimbledon hit
the
ball
a) learned behavior
b) fixed action biological pattern
c) displaced targeted aggression
d) an aha! experience
e) other.Please explain
I suspect that their trainers have encouraged them to "grunt" as a
way of
(supposedly) getting more "oomph" into their strokes. It doesn't only
apply
to female tennis players (whose higher pitch produces what I would
call
more like a screech) but also to several male players (though
again it
doesn't sound like a "grunt" to me -- I'm not sure what to call it).
Allen Esterson
Former lecturer, Science Department
Southwark College, London
http://www.esterson.org
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Paul Brandon
Emeritus Professor of Psychology
Minnesota State University, Mankato
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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