Imagery Perspective and Its Role in Mental Training of Motor Skills

The article is intended to deduce a conceptual basis for the diff erence between external and internal imagery capacity to facilitate certain sport tasks. Features of a movement to be trained (i.e. importance of speed-strength, fi ne motor and spatial confi guration components), level of expertise of an athlete, his or her concentration on aforementioned aspects of an imagined movement, vividness of his or her imagery and focus on either concrete actions or total events are proposed to be considered as factors that determine specifi cs of a sport task in relation to expected eff ectiveness of external and internal imagery perspective

El-Shennawy S. W., El-Wishy A. A. A systematic review of efficacy of mental practice in chronic stroke rehabilitation. Egyptian Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery, 2012, vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 173–180.

Lotze M. Kinesthetic imagery of musical performance. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2013, vol. 7, no. 280. Available at: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00280/full (accessed 04.07.2015).

Mahoney M. J., Avener M. Psychology of the elite athlete: An exploratory study. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 1977, no. 1, pp. 135–141.

Grouios G. Mental practice: A review. Journal of Sport Behavior, 1992, no. 15(1), pp. 42–59.

Olsson C.-J., Jonsson B., Nyberg L. Internal imagery training in active high jumpers. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 2008, no. 49(2), pp. 133–140.

Whiting H. T. A., den Brinker B. P. Image of the act. Learning difficulties. Eds J. P. Das, R. Mulcahy, A. E. Wall. New York, Plenium, 1981, pp. 217–235.

Gatti R., Tettamanti A., Gough P. M., Riboldi E., Marinoni L., Buccino G. Action observation versus motor imagery in learning a complex motor task: A short review of literature and a kinematics study. Neuroscience Letters, 2013, no. 540, pp. 37–42.

Olsson C.-J., Nyberg L. Brain simulation of action may be grounded in physical experience. Neurocase: The Neural Basis of Cognition, 2011, vol. 17, no. 6, pp. 501–505.

Bernstein N. A. Fiziologiia dvizhenii i aktivnost' [The physiology of movements and activity]. Ed. by O. G. Gazenko. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1990. 495 p. (In Russian)

Spittle M. Preference for imagery perspective, imagery perspective training and task performance. A thesis… for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Melbourne, 2001. 431 p.

Annett J. Imagery and motor process: Editorial overview. British Journal of Psychology, 1995, no. 86, pp. 161–167.

Harris D. V. A comment to a comment... much ado about nothing. Journal of Sport Psychology, 1986, no. 8, pp. 349.

McLean N., Richardson A. The role of imagery in perfecting already learned physical skills. Imagery in sports and physical performance. Eds A. A. Sheikh, E. R. Korn. Amityville, NY, Baywood Publ., 1994, pp. 59–73.

Collet C., Guillot A. Th e Development of Internal and External Imagery Perspectives: Interactions Among Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors. Journal of Mental Imagery, 2012, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 39–44.

Poulton E. C. On prediction in skilled movements. Psych Bull, 1957, no. 54, pp. 467–478.

Jackson P. L., Meltzoff A. N., Decety J. Neural circuits involved in imitation and perspective-taking. Neuroimage, 2006, no. 31, pp. 429–439.

Hardy L. Th e Coleman Robert Griffi ths Address: Three myths about applied consultancy work. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 1997, no. 9, pp. 277–294.

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 and Exercise Psychology, 1999, no. 21, pp. 95–112.

Aglioti S. M., Cesari P., Romani M., Urgesi C. Action anticipation and motor resonance in elite basketball players. Nature Neuroscience, 2008, no. 11(9), pp. 1109–1116.

Callow N., Hardy L. The relationship between the use of kinaesthetic imagery and diff erent visual imagery perspectives. Journal of Sports Sciences, 2004, no. 22, pp. 167–177.

Denis M. Visual imagery and the use of mental practice in the development of motor skills. Canadian Journal of Applied Sport Science, 1985, no. 10, pp. 45–165.

Ungerleider S., Golding J. M. Mental practice among Olympic athletes. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1991, no. 72, pp. 1007–1017.

Hall C. R., Buckolz E., Fishburne G. Imagery and the acquisition of motor skills. Canadian Journal of Sport Sciences, 1992, no. 17, pp. 19–27.

Robin N., Dominique L., Toussaint L., Blandin Y., Guillot A., Le Her M. Eff ect of motor imagery training on service return accuracy in tennis: The role of imagery ability. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2007, no. 2, pp. 175–186.

Vealey R., Greenleaf C. Seeing is believing: Understanding and using imagery in sport. Ed. by J. M. Williams. Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (5th ed.) . Mountain View, CA, Mayfi eld Publ., 2006, pp. 285–305.

Libby L. K., Eibach R. P. Visual perspective in mental imagery: A representational tool that functions in judgment, emotion, and self-insight. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Eds M. P. Zanna, J. M. Olson. San Diego, Academic Press, 2011, vol. 44, pp. 185–245.

Vallacher R. R., Wegner D. M. What do people think they are doing? Action identifi cation and human behavior. Psychological review, 1987, vol. 94, no. 1, pp. 3–15.

Veraksa A. N., Gorovaia A. E. Vliianie voobrazheniia na rezul'taty sportivnoi deiatel'nosti nachinaiushchikh futbolistov [The impact of imagination on sporting activities of the beginner football players]. Natsional'nyi psikhologicheskii zhurnal [National psychological journal], 2010, no. 2, pp. 131–135. (In Russian)

Bandura A. Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, W. H. Freeman, 1997. 604 p.

Neck C. P., Manz C. C. Th ought self-leadership: Th e infl uence of self-talk and mental imagery on performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 1992, no. 13, pp. 681–699.

Veraksa A. N. Symbol as a cognitive tool. Psychology in Russia: State of the Art, 2013, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 57–65.

Fishbach A., Dhar R. Goals as excuses or guides: The liberating eff ect of perceived goal progress on choice. Journal of Consumer Research, 2005, no. 32, pp. 370–377.

Koestner R., Losier G. F., Vallerand R. J., Carducci D. Identified and introjected forms of political internalization: Extending self-determination theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1996, no. 70, pp. 1025–1036.