Internal and External Imagery Effects on Tennis Skills Among Novices.
TL;DR: Findings highlight differential efficacy of internal and external visual imagery for performance improvement on complex sport skills in early stage motor learning in young male novices.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of internal and external visual imagery perspectives on performance accuracy of open and closed tennis skills (i.e., serve, forehand, and backhand) among novices. Thirty-six young male novices, aged 15-18 years, from a summer tennis program participated. Following initial skill acquisition (12 sessions), baseline assessments of imagery ability and imagery perspective preference were used to assign participants to one of three groups: internal imagery ( n = 12), external imagery ( n = 12), or a no-imagery (mental math exercise) control group ( n = 12). The experimental interventions of 15 minutes of mental imagery (internal or external) or mental math exercises followed by 15 minutes of physical practice were held three times a week for six weeks. The performance accuracy of the groups on the serve, forehand, and backhand strokes was measured at pre- and post-test using videotaping. Results showed significant increases in the performance accuracy of all three tennis strokes in all three groups, but serve accuracy in the internal imagery group and forehand accuracy in the external imagery group showed greater improvements, while backhand accuracy was similarly improved in all three groups. These findings highlight differential efficacy of internal and external visual imagery for performance improvement on complex sport skills in early stage motor learning.
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21 Apr 2010
TL;DR: In this paper, the VMIQ-2 has been modified in line with contemporary imagery modality and perspective conceptualizations, and the validity of the amended questionnaire has been tested.
Abstract: The purpose of this research was to amend the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire (VMIQ; Isaac, Marks, & Russell, 1986) in line with contemporary imagery modality and perspective conceptualizations, and to test the validity of the amended questionnaire (i.e., the VMIQ-2). Study 1 had 351 athletes complete the 3-factor (internal visual imagery, external visual imagery, and kinesthetic imagery) 24-item VMIQ-2. Following single-factor confirmatory factor analyses and item deletion, a 12-item version was subject to correlated traits / correlated uniqueness (CTCU) analysis. An acceptable fit was revealed. Study 2 used a different sample of 355 athletes. The CTCU analysis confirmed the factorial validity of the 12-item VMIQ-2. In Study 3, the concurrent and construct validity of the VMIQ-2 was supported. Taken together, the results of the 3 studies provide preliminary support for the revised VMIQ-2 as a psychometrically valid questionnaire.
239 citations
TL;DR: The mirror neuron system appears to function more efficiently through AO training than MI, and AO is less demanding in terms of cognitive load than MI.
Abstract: We present a neurophysiological hypothesis for the role of motor imagery (MI) and action observation (AO) training in the motor learning process. The effects of movement representation in the brain and those of the cortical-subcortical networks related to planning, executing, adjusting, and automating real movements share a similar neurophysiological activity. Coupled with the influence of certain variables related to the movement representation process, this neurophysiological activity is a key component of the present hypothesis. These variables can be classified into four domains: physical, cognitive-evaluative, motivational-emotional, and direct-modulation. The neurophysiological activity underlying the creation and consolidation of mnemonic representations of motor gestures as a prerequisite to motor learning might differ between AO and MI. Together with variations in cognitive loads, these differences might explain the differing results in motor learning. The mirror neuron system appears to function more efficiently through AO training than MI, and AO is less demanding in terms of cognitive load than MI. AO might be less susceptible to the influence of variables related to movement representation.
23 citations
Cites background from "Internal and External Imagery Effec..."
...Trial Population (Patients) Intervention Data and Target Results Cabral-Sequeira et al. 2016 [20] Adolescents with cerebral palsy: 11- to 16-year-old participants (mean = 13.58 years), who suffered left (n = 16) or right (n = 15) mild hemiparesis....
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...Trial Population (Patients) Intervention Data and Target Results Lagravinese et al. 2016 [36] HS (n = 25) (AO) training: subjects were exposed to the observation of a video showing finger tapping movements executed at 3 Hz, a frequency higher than the spontaneous one (2 Hz) for four consecutive days....
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...Trial Population (Patients) Intervention Data and Target Results Ingram et al. 2016 [31] HS (n = 102) Four groups: MI or PP tested in either perceptual (altering the sensory cue) or motor (switching the hand) transfer conditions (n = 60)....
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...Dana & Gozalzadeh, 2017 [27] Young male HS (n = 36) (15 to 18 years)....
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...Trial Population (Healthy Subjects) Intervention Data and Target Results Cuenca-Martínez et al. 2019 [24] HS (n = 45)....
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TL;DR: The present data suggest that, while the V MI-I serves to train an already internalised gesture, the VMI-E perspective could be useful to learn, and then improve, the recently acquired sequence of movements.
Abstract: The present study investigates whether a functional difference between the visualization of a sequence of movements in the perspective of the first- (internal VMI-I) or third- (external VMI-E) person exists, which might be relevant to promote learning. By using a mental chronometry experimental paradigm, we have compared the time or execution, imagination in the VMI-I perspective, and imagination in the VMI-E perspective of two kinds of Pilates exercises. The analysis was carried out in individuals with different levels of competence (expert, novice, and no-practice individuals). Our results showed that in the Expert group, in the VMI-I perspective, the imagination time was similar to the execution time, while in the VMI-E perspective, the imagination time was significantly lower than the execution time. An opposite pattern was found in the Novice group, in which the time of imagination was similar to that of execution only in the VMI-E perspective, while in the VMI-I perspective, the time of imagination was significantly lower than the time of execution. In the control group, the times of both modalities of imagination were significantly lower than the execution time for each exercise. The present data suggest that, while the VMI-I serves to train an already internalised gesture, the VMI-E perspective could be useful to learn, and then improve, the recently acquired sequence of movements. Moreover, visual imagery is not useful for individuals that lack a specific motor experience. The present data offer new insights in the application of mental training techniques, especially in field of sports. However, further investigations are needed to better understand the functional role of internal and external visual imagery.
17 citations
Cites background from "Internal and External Imagery Effec..."
...It could be hypothesized that such neural circuitry might underlie the improvements in movement efficiency induced by MI, allowing athletes to improve the level of performance [16, 17]....
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TL;DR: It is argued that observer-perspective remembering is a stable state of consciousness that is distinct from autoscopic phenomena with respect to the dimensions of minimal phenomenal self (MPS).
Abstract: The connection between memory and self-consciousness has been a central topic in philosophy of memory. When remembering an event we experienced in the past, not only do we experience being the subject of the conscious episode, but we also experience being the protagonist in the memory scene. This is the "phenomenal presence of self." To explore this special sense of self in memory, this paper focuses on the issue of how one identifies oneself in episodic simulation at the retrieval of memory and draws attention to the field and observer perspectives in episodic memory. Metzinger (2013a,b, 2017) recently introduced the concept of the phenomenal unit of identification (UI) to characterize the phenomenal property that gives rise to the conscious experience of "I am this." This paper shows how observer-perspective remembering provides an interesting opportunity for studying the sense of self. It is argued that observer-perspective remembering is a stable state of consciousness that is distinct from autoscopic phenomena with respect to the dimensions of minimal phenomenal self (MPS). Together, the notion of UI and the particular style of remembering offer a way of understanding the phenomenal presence of self, and three possible ways in which phenomenal properties constitute UI in memory are raised. The study of perspectives in episodic simulation may prompt new empirical and conceptual issues concerning both the sense of identity and the relationship between MPS and extended self.
13 citations
Cites background from "Internal and External Imagery Effec..."
...However, Dana and Gozalzadeh (2017) found external imagery more effective for open forms of skill performance that include “changing environmental conditions, intertrial variability, body transport, and object manipulation” (p. 4) in tennis (e.g., forehand accuracy), but internal imagery for closed…...
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors used targeted memory reactivation (TMR) to assess whether it influences task-related dream imagery (or task-dream reactivations) and found that the effect of TMR on whole-body procedural learning was strongest when applied during sleep.
12 citations
References
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Book•
01 Mar 1982
TL;DR: This chapter discusses the evolution of a field of study, methodology for Studying, and methods for studying human information processing and motor learning.
Abstract: Chapter 1. Evolution of a Field of Study Chapter 2. Methodology for Studying Chapter 3. Human Information Processing Chapter 4. Attention and Performance Chapter 5. Sensory Contributions to Motor Control Chapter 6. Central Contributions to Motor Control Chapter 7. Principles of Speed and Accuracy Chapter 8. Coordination Chapter 9. Individual Differences and Capabilities Chapter 10. Motor Learning Concepts and Research Methods.
4,316 citations
Additional excerpts
...The training included a general explanation of the skills, including task presentation, instruction and guidance, representation, and modeling (Schmidt & Lee, 1999)....
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TL;DR: Neuroimaging studies, combined with other methods, are revealing the ways in which imagery draws on mechanisms used in other activities, such as perception and motor control.
Abstract: Mental imagery has, until recently, fallen within the purview of philosophy and cognitive psychology. Both enterprises have raised important questions about imagery, but have not made substantial progress in answering them. With the advent of cognitive neuroscience, these questions have become empirically tractable. Neuroimaging studies, combined with other methods (such as studies of brain-damaged patients and of the effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation), are revealing the ways in which imagery draws on mechanisms used in other activities, such as perception and motor control. Because of its close relation to these basic processes, imagery is now becoming one of the best understood 'higher' cognitive functions.
1,521 citations
TL;DR: This article conducted a more comprehensive review of existing research using the meta-analytic strategy proposed by Glass (1977) and found that mental practice prior to performing a motor skill can enhance one's subsequent performance.
Abstract: A longstanding research question in the sport psychology literature has been whether a given amount of mental practice prior to performing a motor skill will enhance one's subsequent performance. The research literature, however, has not provided any clear-cut answers to this question and this has prompted the present, more comprehensive review of existing research using the meta-analytic strategy proposed by Glass (1977). From the 60 studies yielding 146 effect sizes the overall average effect size was .48, which suggests, as did Richardson (1967a), that mentally practicing a motor skill influences performance somewhat better than no practice at all. Effect sizes were also compared on a number of variables thought to moderate the effects of mental practice. Results from these comparisons indicated that studies employing cognitive tasks had larger average effect sizes than motor or strength tasks and that published studies had larger average effect sizes than unpublished studies. These findings are discus...
1,145 citations
Additional excerpts
...Generally, previous meta-analyses indicate that performance on cognitive tasks, compared to either motor or strength tasks, shows greater improvement from mental than from physical practice (Feltz & Landers, 1983; Feltz, Landers, & Becker, 1988)....
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TL;DR: A meta-analysis of the literature on mental practice was conducted to determine the effect of mental practice on performance and to identify conditions under which mental practice is most effective.
Abstract: Mental practice is the cognitive rehearsal of a task prior to performance. Although most researchers contend that mental practice is an effective means of enhancing performance, a clear consensus is precluded because (a) mental practice is often denned so loosely as to include almost any type of mental preparation and (b) empirical results are inconclusive. A meta-analysis of the literature on mental practice was conducted to determine the effect of mental practice on performance and to identify conditions under which mental practice is most effective. Results indicated that mental practice has a positive and significant effect on performance, and the effectiveness of mental practice was moderated by the type of task, the retention interval between practice and performance, and the length or duration of the mental practice intervention. Mental practice refers to the cognitive rehearsal of a task in the absence of overt physical movement. When a musician practices a passage by thinking it through or when an athlete prepares for an event by visualizing the steps required to perform the task, he or she is engaging in mental practice. A number of studies have examined the effects of mental practice on performance. Whereas the research of Kelsey (1961) and Ryan and Simons (1982) supports the efficacy of mental practice for enhancing performance, Beasley (1978) reported negative results. An astute reviewer may be able to estimate the direction and magnitude of effect of the relationship between mental practice and performance from the preponderance of evidence across the majority of studies. For example, Richardson (1967a) concluded that most studies support the efficacy of mental practice on performance. However, Richardson, and later Corbin (1972), noted that this evidence was inconclusive. Because different studies use different types of tasks, with different types of subjects, and report different study statistics, it is difficult if not impossible to integrate these disparate research studies on an intuitive level to draw firm conclusions on the effectiveness of mental practice. The purpose of this study was to integrate the literature on mental practice, summarize the overall effects of mental practice on performance, and specify the conditions under which mental practice is most effective.
1,092 citations
Book•
26 Feb 2020
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors classified motor skills and abilities and measured motor performance using the measure of motor performance and motor performance, as well as the amount and distribution of motor skills.
Abstract: Unit I: Introduction to Motor Skills and Abilities 1 The Classification of Motor Skills 2 The Measurement of Motor Performance 3 Motor Abilities Unit II: Introduction to Motor Control 4 Neuromotor Basis for Motor Control 5 Motor Control Theories 6 Sensory Components of Motor Control 7 Performance and Motor Control Characteristics of Functional Skills 8 Action Preparation Unit III: Attention and Memory 9 Attention as a Limited Capacity Resource 10 Memory Components, Forgetting, and Strategies Unit IV: Introduction to Motor Skill Learning 11 Defining and Assessing Learning 12 The Stages of Learning 13 Transfer of Learning Unit V: Instruction and Augmented Feedback 14 Demonstration and Verbal Instructions 15 Augmented Feedback Unit VI: Practive Conditions 16 Practice Variability and Specificity 17 The Amount and Distribution of Practice 18 Whole and Part Practice 19 Mental Practice
1,089 citations
"Internal and External Imagery Effec..." refers background in this paper
...Motor skills essentially lie on a continuum from extremely closed skills, which are performed in a totally stable environment, to extremely open skills, in which environmental factors are constantly changing (Magill, 2004)....
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