Manipulating task constraints of situated normativity to study decision making in Krav Maga

Abstract

This paper claims that situated normativity is part of the task constraints which affect the dynamic process of decision making. Situated normativity is mainly defined by behavioural modes and levels of expertise, expressed in and as ethnomethods. 12 Krav Maga participants (five novices, five intermediates, two experts) were distributed into two experimental groups. Each group underwent a different experimental breaching condition: G1 faced a boxer that performed a judo attack (Morote Dori); G2 faced a judoka that performed a boxing attack (Jab). Results showed that every participant, irrelevant of their level of expertise, was surprised by the attack in T1. During T2, expectancies of the previous trial acted as a task constraint that affected participants in different ways. As a general trend, novices were still surprised but experts and intermediates were not. The detailed comparison of two case studies suggested that adaptability was only possible for experts, not novices.