Revised January 2017.
WHAT IS PSYCH BOWL?

Psych Bowl is a single-elimination quiz tournament for teams of undergraduate students in Psychology.

ELIGIBILITY
Teams of undergraduate students from any Kentucky college or university are eligible. Team members must not have completed the Baccalaureate degree nor have taken graduate level courses in Psychology (except 500 level courses open to undergraduates). Students must be enrolled full-time during the current semester at the school represented and must be members of KPA (no fee to join). Coaches must also be KPA Members. Team membership is open to students from all disciplines; however, individual institutions may be more restrictive, at their discretion.

TEAMS
During play, a maximum of 4 players per team competes at a time. Alternates may be substituted at the half. Coaches may be faculty members or currently enrolled graduate students.

NATURE OF THE COMPETITION
The single-elimination tournament format will be used. Pairings for the games will be drawn in advance of the tournament. If an uneven number of teams or more teams than space will allow for, byes will be given (in order) to last year's winning team, runner-up team, and then to teams with the strongest recent record in the tournament. The Champion team and the Runner-Up team from the previous year’s competition will automatically be assigned to Round 1 play on opposite brackets. If necessary, preliminary rounds will be added to accommodate all teams that register by the deadline. During the game, questions are presented to each team in alternation. If the first team does not answer the question, the other team is given the opportunity to do so.

QUESTIONS FOR THE COMPETITION
Questions are obtained primarily from a GRE-Psychology exam preparation resource. Item difficulty is like that of items on the actual Psychology GRE, ranging from introductory to advanced. Efforts are made to write questions which require only a one, two, or few word response. Items are selected, in approximately equal numbers, from an item pool covering the following areas: Measurement [psychometrics, design, statistics], Behavioral, Neuroscience, Learning, Cognition, Sensation/Perception, Social, Developmental, Personality, Abnormal, and General [history, the discipline and practice of psychology, APA style, and other questions not readily classified into other categories (e.g., I/0 psychology)]. Questions in any of these categories may concern basic or applied knowledge, and may concern the study of humans or animals. Judges and moderators check the items for accuracy and ambiguity prior to the competition.

MODERATORS AND JUDGES
Moderators and judges will be chosen from Kentucky institutions of higher education, including participating schools, and from the KPA membership. A moderator and judge (from institutions not represented in the match) will be assigned to each match, and may confer with one another to rule on the appropriateness of a response if doubts arise. Judges’ rulings may be disputed and referred to the Psych Bowl Chief Official, according to the rules in Disputed Responses, below.

AWARDS
The winning team takes home the state trophy until the following year's competition. Members of the winning and runner-up teams are awarded Psych Bowl medals.

RULES OF THE COMPETITION
Prior to the competition, the relevant rules of the match will be read to the teams by the moderator. Questions will be presented to each team alternately (even questions to one team and odd questions to the other team). The team to receive the first question will be determined by coin toss. The moderator will identify the team whose turn it is, the area of the question, and will read the question. Team members wishing to answer the question will immediately raise their hands (or buzz in if a buzzer system is available). A judge or designated spotter will identify the first team member whose hand is raised, who will immediately answer the question on behalf of the team. The moderator will announce the answer "correct" or "incorrect." If a team member fails to raise his/her hand within five seconds, fails to answer the question immediately after being called on, gives an incorrect answer, or answers before being called upon, the opportunity to correctly answer the question is lost and the moderator shall call the name of the other team whose members may answer the question following the same procedure. If the question was not read in full for the first team, then the Moderator will read the rest of the question for the second team, beginning at the start of the sentence in which the interruption occurred. Questions that have been read in full for the first team will not be re-read so players should listen to all questions carefully even if they are initially directed at the other team. Questions will not be repeated at the request of a team member.

Team members may not confer on questions at any time, write questions down, or write answers down. If team members do confer on questions, they will not be allowed to answer the question and it will go to the other team. A response by any member of a team constitutes the team's response for that item. If a member of the audience responds, the question will be thrown out and the next question read to the same team.

During the match, there will be no cell phones or notes allowed at the team table. These must be handed to the coach prior to the match’s start. Water bottles that are not provided by KPA will be checked to ensure there are no notes taped on the inside of the bottle. Additionally, no recording devices (e.g., video cameras or voice recorders) may be used during the match.

The moderator will pronounce the response as “correct” or “incorrect”. If the moderator is uncertain whether the response is correct, he or she may ask the judge for a ruling. In any case, the judge may overrule the moderator’s decision, by simply stating that the response was “correct” or “incorrect”. The judge is the final authority in the room on the acceptability of the response.

Judges’ rulings may be disputed by each team’s coach at the half or at the end of a match by following the written inquiry procedure.

In addition to the judge and moderator, a scorekeeper will keep score by tallying points in a prominent place. A spotter will call on the first member of each team who raises a hand. A timekeeper will monitor the time of the match and also the 5 second response once a team member is called for a response. (These roles may be audience volunteers if agreeable to both teams.)

Each game will consist of two halves. Each half will consist of 15 minutes or 40 questions, whichever comes first. There will be a 5 minute break between halves during which each team may substitute designated alternates if they wish. If there is an inquiry following the first half, the judge has the discretion to extend the break to 10 minutes to allow time for review of the inquiry and rebuttal if necessary. Questions being read at the end of each half will be completed and the teams will be able to respond. If the teams are tied at the end of the game, there will be a 5 minute break and a 10 item overtime. If the teams remain tied, there will be a 5 minute break followed by two-item overtimes with no break until a winner emerges.

DISPUTED RESPONSES: 

1. INQUIRIES: A coach may file an inquiry in Psych Bowl in two areas: procedure or answer. All inquiries must be in writing and presented to a match moderator or judge; only coaches may present inquiries. No contest official is to answer any inquiry that is not written. An official may ask a coach for clarification of a written inquiry, but no oral argument is allowed. If an oral argument is presented, this nullifies the opportunity to dispute the question. Coaches may submit supporting material to support their position. No team or student names are to be used in inquiries.

ACCEPTABLE AREAS OF PROCEDURAL INQUIRIES
-Questions read inaccurately
-Answers by incorrect individuals
-Application of rules

ACCEPTABLE AREAS OF ANSWER INQUIRIES
-Answer stated in the question set is incorrect
-Correct alternate answer is not accepted by the judge
-Correct answer is not the first answer given
-Incorrect or incomplete answer is accepted by the judge

2. TIMING FOR INQUIRIES: Written inquiries must be presented at the end of the half in which the alleged infraction occurs.

A coach may consult with his/her team concerning possible inquiries. Any inquiries regarding the just-completed half or overtime must then be lodged in writing by the team coach and presented to the match judge within three (3) minutes. When requested by coaches, officials shall re-read a question during the inquiry period for clarification purposes.

3. REBUTTALS: After an inquiry is filed and a decision given by the judge, the coach not lodging the original inquiry has three (3) minutes to present a rebuttal in writing on the inquiry form. The coach filing the original inquiry may not amend his/her original inquiry; once inquiries are submitted, the team coaches may make no changes or additions.

4. RULINGS: The judge rules upon all inquiries after the half in which they occur. The judge renders an initial decision and may consult with the moderator. If the judge's decision is not to the satisfaction of both coaches, either coach may direct that the inquiry be sent to the Chief Official for review of the judge's decision.

5. FINAL RULINGS: Decisions of the Chief Official are final and cannot be appealed. (All disputes involving on-site events occurring at a contest -correctness of answers, timing or scoring errors, rules interpretations - shall be resolved by the officials at the contest site. If the officials cannot agree, the Chief Official makes the final decision.)

Note: Please do not approach the Chief Official about matters that have already been decided by the in room moderators or judges. If there is a behavior in the match (e.g., writing down question or talking to team members), please let the judges and moderators know so that this can be addressed immediately.

6. SCORING CHANGES DUE TO INQUIRIES:
-Do NOT adjust the score at halftime for inquiries that go to the Chief Official.
-If the Chief Official makes a decision that causes a change in score, adjust the score at the end of the match. If the inquiry is NOT sent to the Chief Official, but decided in the room, the score is changed at halftime. The judge has the discretion to extend the break to 10 minutes to allow time for review of the inquiry and rebuttal if necessary.

7. ANONYMITY: If a coach identifies a team name in the inquiry, the Chief Official shall ignore the inquiry. If a coach identifies a team name in the rebuttal, the Chief Official shall ignore the rebuttal.

INQUIRY PROCEDURE TIMELINE

1. The time in a half or overtime expires—judge notifies coaches that the three-minute inquiry period has begun.
2. Coach files written inquiry within three-minute period.
3. Judge considers inquiry and informs coaches of initial ruling.
4. Either coach informs judge if he/she wishes the inquiry to be sent to the Chief Official.
5. If so, judge notifies the coach who did not file the inquiry that the three-minute rebuttal period has begun.
6. After rebuttal, judge sends inquiry and rebuttal to Chief Official. IMPORTANT: Do not put team names on the inquiry sheet.
7. If the inquiry is filed at halftime, the judge begins the second half and does NOT wait for the inquiry to be returned from the Chief Official.

RESOLUTION OF INQUIRIES - SCORING

Inquiries that are ruled favorably upon by the match officials or Chief Official may affect the match score. The guidelines below show how to adjust match scoring after successful inquiries resulting from two match situations.

1. Team A’s answer is called correct. It is later ruled incorrect through inquiry. Subtract one point.
2. Team A’s answer is called incorrect. It is later ruled correct through inquiry. Add one point to Team A’s score; if Team B gave a follow-up answer that was called correct, subtract one point from Team B.

REGISTRATION

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