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Message: [QUOTE="freescooter, post: 3614726, member: 1023"] I read a study a few years ago that also included Expectations in ref bias. Refs are influenced by the quality/reputation of the players. If you are covering James Bouknight and make an incredible block as he goes to the rim, it is likely they will call a foul because they expect him to make the play and you not to make it. Probably the best example was last year in an NBA game when LeBron took about 5 steps right in front of the ref and there was no whistle, because the ref just couldn’t process that he would do that, but more subtle cases occur regularly. Jordan got away with all manner of stuff because he was Jordan. It isn’t limited to basketball. A study in the NFL a few years ago found those refs throw flags on bad teams but not good ones for the same infractions because they don’t expect bad teams to make certain plays so the “see” penalties while they expect good teams to make them so they don’t see them. [/QUOTE]