Learning How to Prepare Athletes for Peak Performance: Use of Mental Imagery Training as a Psychological Strategy to Enhancing Motor Learning, Retention and Transfer of Sport Rifle Marksmanship
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12922/jshp.v7i1.140Keywords:
Training and PerformanceAbstract
This article is intended to (a) compare the effects of mental imagery and physical practice only on the learning and transfer of an open motor skill; (b) identify the mental imagery modality (visual, kinesthetic, or temporal) which is most efficient for sport rifle marksmanship; and (c) determine the relationship between movement image vividness and motor performance. Seventy students from the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, participated in this study. They used their dominant hand to shoot (live-fire shooting) rotating targets. This study comprised four principal phases, namely the pretest, treatment, posttest (retention) and transfer. The results demonstrated that the retention performance obtained by each group using mental imagery combined with physical practice was equivalent to that produced by physical practice only. Furthermore, each group using visual or kinesthetic mental imagery combined with physical practice showed significantly superior performance than physical practice only during the transfer. These results may be explained by three functional evidences, namely behavioural, central and peripheral (Feltz & Landers, 2007; Holmes & Collins, 2001).References
References
Callow N, Hardy L. The relationship between the use of kinaesthetic imagery and different visual imagery perspectives. Journal of Sports Sciences. 2004;22(2):167-177. doi: 10.1080/02640410310001641449
Chung GKWK, Nagashima SO, Delacruz GC, Lee JJ, Wainess R, Baker EL. Review of Rifle Marksmanship Training Research. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); 2011.
Collet C, Guillot A, Lebon F, MacIntyre T, Moran A. Measuring motor imagery using psychometric, behavioral, and psychophysiological tools. Exercise & Sport Sciences Reviews. 2011;39(2):85-92. doi: 10.1097/JES.0b013e31820ac5e0
Decety J, Jeannerod M, Prablanc C. The timing of mentally represented actions. Behavioral Brain Research. 1989;34(1-2):35–42. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-4328(89)80088-9
Decety J, Sjoholm H, Ryding E, Stenberg G, Ingvar DH. The cerebellum participates in mental activity: Tomographic measurements of regional cerebral blood flow. Brain Research. 1990;535(2):313–317. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0006-8993(90)91615-N
Deschaumes-Molinaro C, Dittmar A, Vernet-Maury E. Relationship between mental imagery and sporting performance. Behavioral Brain Research. 1991;45(1):29–36. doi: 10.1016/S0166-4328(05)80177-9
Deschaumes-Molinaro C, Dittmar A, Vernet-Maury E. Mobilisation of autonomic nervous system variables during shooting competition. Homeostasis in Health and Disease. 2001;41:101-108. ISSN: 0960-7560, Medline
Feltz DL, Landers DM. The Effects of Mental Practice on Motor Skill Learning and Performance: A Meta-Analysis. In: Smith D, Bar-Eli M, editors. Essential readings in sport and exercise psychology. Champaign, IL, US: Human Kinetics; 2007. p. 219-230.
Féry YA. Differentiating visual and kinesthetic imagery in mental practice. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology. 2003;57(1):1–10. doi: 10.1037/h0087408
Féry YA, Morizot P. Kinesthetic and visual image in modeling closed motor skills: The example of the tennis serve. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 2000;90(3,Pt1):707–722. doi: 10.2466/PMS.90.3.707-722
Hanakawa T, Dimyan M, Hallett M. Motor planning, imagery, and execution in the distributed motor network: A time-course study with functional MRI. Cerebral Cortex. 2008;18(12):2775-2788. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhn036.
Hardy L. The Coleman Roberts Griffith address: Three myths about applied consultancy work. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. 1997;9(2):277–294. doi:10.1080/10413209708406487
Hardy L, Callow N. Efficacy of external and internal visual imagery perspectives for the enhancement of performance on tasks in which form is important. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology. 1999;21(2):95–112. ISSN: 0895-2779
Holmes PS, Collins DJ. The PETTLEP to motor imagery: A functional equivalence model for sport psychologists. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. 2001;13(1):60–83. doi: 10.1080/10413200109339004
Hsu, JC. Multiple comparisons: Theory and methods. London: Chapman & Hall; 1996.
Isaac A, Marks DF, Russell DG. An instrument for assessing imagery of movement: The Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire (VMIQ). Journal of Mental Imagery. 1986;10(4):23–30. http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1988-12630-001
Jarus T, Ratzon NZ. Can you imagine? The effect of mental practice on the acquisition and retention of a motor skill as a function of age. Occupational Therapy Journal of Research. 2000;20(3):163–178. http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2000-00370-001
Jeannerod M. (1994). The representing brain: Neural correlates of motor intention and imagery. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 1994;17(2):187–245. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00034026
Jeannerod M. Motor cognition. What actions tell the self. Oxford: Oxford U. Press; 2006.
Keller GJ, Li Y, Weiss LW, Relyea GE. Contextual Interference Effect on Acquisition and Retention of Pistol-Shooting Skills. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 2006;103(1):241-252. ISSN: 0031-5125
Kohl RM, Ellis SD, Roenker DL. Alternating actual and imagery practice: Preliminary theoretical considerations. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. 1992;63(2):162–170. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.1992.10607576
Lee TD, Genovese ED. Distribution of practice in motor skill acquisition: Learning and performance effects reconsidered. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. 1988;59(4):277-287. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.1988.10609373
Lee TD, Genovese ED. Distribution of practice in motor skill acquisition: Different effects for discrete and continuous tasks. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. 1989;60(1):59-65. doi: 10.1080/02701367.1989.10607414
Louis M, Guillot A, Maton S, Doyon J, Collet C. Effect of imagined movement speed on subsequent motor performance. Journal of Motor Behavior. 2008;40(2):117-132. doi: 10.3200/JMBR.40.2.117-132
Mahoney MJ, Avener M. Psychology of the elite athlete: An exploratory study. Cognitive Therapy and Research. 1977;1(2):135–141. doi: 10.1007/BF01173634
Malouin F, Richards CL, Jackson P L, Dumas F, Doyon J. Brain activations during motor imagery of locomotor-related tasks: A PET study. Human Brain Mapping. 2003;19(1):47–62. doi: 10.1002/hbm.10103
Morris T, Spittle M. A default hypothesis of the development of internal and external imagery perspectives. Journal of Mental Imagery. 2012;36:1-30. ISSN: 0364-5541
Morris T, Spittle M, Watt T. Imagery in Sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2005.
Mulder T, De Vries S, Zijlstra S. Observation, imagination and execution of an effortful movement: More evidence for a central explanation of motor imagery. NeuroImage. 2005;163(3):344-351. doi: 10.1007/s00221-004-2179-4
Nikulin VV, Hohlefeld FU, Jacobs AM, Curio G. Quasi-movements: A novel motor-cognitive phenomenon. Neuropsychologia. 2007;46(2):727-742. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.10.008
Oldfield RC. The assessment and analysis of handedness: The Edinburgh inventory. Neuropsychologia. 1971;9(1):97–113. ISSN: 0028-393
Papadelis C, Kourtidou-Papadeli C, Bamidis P, Albani M. (2007). Effects of imagery training on cognitive performance and use of physiological measures as an assessment tool of mental effort. Brain and Cognition. 2007;64(1):74-85. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2007.01.001
Pascual-Leone A, Dang N, Cohen LG, Brasil-Nato JP, Cammarota A, Hallett M. Modulation of muscle responses evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation during the acquisition of new fine motor skills. Journal of Neurophysiology. 1995;74(3):1037–1045. doi: 10.1152/jn.1995.74.3.1037
Pie JS, Tenenbaum G, Bar-Eli M, Eyal N, Levy-Kolker N, Sade S, Landers DM. Imagery orientation and vividness: Their effect on a motor skill performance. Journal of Sport Behavior. 1996;19(1):32-49. ISSN : 0162-7341
Radulescu PV, Adam JJ, Fischer MH, Pratt J. Fitts’s Law violation and motor imagery: Are imagined movements truthful or lawful? Experimental Brain Research. 2010;201(3):607-611. doi: 10.1007/s00221-009-2072-2
Roberts R, Callow N, Hardy L, Markland D, Bringer J. Movement imagery ability: Development and assessment of a revised version of the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 2008;30(2):200-221. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18490791
Robin N, Dominique L, Toussaint L, Blandin Y, Guillot A. Le Her M. Effects of motor imagery training on service return accuracy in tennis: The role of imagery ability. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 2007;5(2):175-186. doi: 10.1080/1612197X.2007.9671818
Schmidt RA, Wrisberg CA. Motor learning and performance: A situation-based learning approach. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2008.
Shapiro DC, Schmidt RA. The schema theory: Recent evidence and developmental implications. In: Kelso JAS, Clark JE, editors. The development of movement control and co-ordination. New York: Wiley; 1982. p. 113–150.
Spittle M. Preference for imagery perspective, imagery perspective training and task performance. PhD thesis, Victoria University of Technology; 2001.
Taktek K. The effects of mental imagery on the acquisition of motor skills and performance: A literature review with theoretical implications. Journal of Mental Imagery. 2004;28(1-2):79–114. http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2004-17704-004
Taktek K. Conceptual and methodological dilemmas in imagery perspectives research: Piaget’s theory of image development as a potential explanation for Morris and Spittle’s Default hypothesis, with suggestions for future research. Journal of Mental Imagery. 2012;36:95-109. ISSN: 0364-5541
Taktek K, Rigal R. Stratégies pédagogiques et apprentissage d’une tâche motrice discrète chez des enfants de huit à dix Ans. [Pedagogical strategies and learning of a discrete motor task in children 8 to10 years of age.] Revue des Sciences de l’Éducation. 2005;31(3):607–632. doi: 10.7202/013912ar
Taktek K, Salmoni A, Rigal R. The effects of mental imagery on the learning and transfer of a discrete motor task by young children. Journal of Mental Imagery. 2004;28(3-4):87–120. http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2005-00981-005
Taktek K, Zinsser N, St-John B. Visual versus kinesthetic mental imagery: Efficacy for the retention and transfer of a closed motor skill in young children. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology. 2008;62(3):174-187. doi: 10.1037/1196-1961.62.3.174.
Wakefield CJ, Smith D. Impact of differing frequencies of PETTLEP imagery on netball shooting performance. Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity. 2009; 4(1):10-20. doi: 10.2202/1932-0191.1043.
White A, Hardy L. Use of different imagery perspectives on the learning and performance of different motor skills. British Journal of Psychology. 1995;86(Pt 2):169–180. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7795939
Williams SE, Cumming J, Ntoumanis N, Nordin-Bates SM, Ramsey R, Hall C. Further validation and development of the movement imagery questionnaire. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology. 2012;34(5):621-646. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23027231
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
