Mental Practice of Action

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Mental practice is the rehearsal of visio-motor imagery with the purpose of improving the effectors involved in that imagery. Visio-motor imagery simply requires the use of one’s imagination to simulate an action. It has come to the fore due to the relevance of imagery in enhancing sports performance (Driskell, Copper & Moran, 1994). Although imagery has been described as a pillar of sport psychology practice (Morris et al., 2005), its foundations lie in research from other domains.

The basis for the use of mental practice comes from an array of psychological research that includes chronometric comparisons of actual and imagined action (Decety & Michel, 1989; Decety, Jeannerod, & Prablanc, 1989; Papaxanthis, Gentili, & Pozzo 2002). In this paradigm, similarities between the duration times of actual and imagined movement are found. Research also demonstrates that there are cases when imagined movement durations are dissimilar when the task is particularly novel such as spring board dives (Reed, 2002).

The direct relationship between mental imagery and actual performance of a motor task remains unclear, however, there is support that mental practice has benefits similar to those of actual practice. Mental practice has been used to rehabilitate motor deficits in a variety of patients. Mental practice of action has facilitated improvements in balance for individuals with multiple sclerosis (Fell, 2000)and balance in elderly women (Fansler, Poff, & Shepard, 1985). Mental practice has also been used in combination with actual practice to rehabilitate a motor deficit in a patient with sub-acute stroke (Page et al., 2001).

While a literature has evolved within sport psychology (Morris et al., 2005) and cognitive neuroscience (Kosslyn et al., 2006) on mental imagery, cross-fertilization of research is rare. A new emerging field called motor cognitionwww.motorcognition.com, which is concerned with understanding action, includes imagery within its remit and offers the potential for research at the interface of these two domains. One approach that has emerged is the use of elite participants in the sport context as experts in human movement. This is essentially a paradigmatic shift away from the traditional neuroscience model of studying those with deficits, and augmenting it by studying experts (e.g., athletes). MacIntyre and Moran (2007) have suggested that this paradigm offers great potential for understanding imagery and action. While the field of motor cognition is embroyonic, the parallel field of social cognition has a more developed research base.

[edit] References

  • Decety, J., & Michel, F. (1989). Comparative analysis of actual and mental movement times in two graphic tasks. Brain and Cognition. 11, 87-97.
  • Decety, J., Jeannerod, M., & Prablanc, C. (1989). The timing of mentally represented actions. Behavioral Brain Research. 34, 35-42.
  • Fansler, C. L., Poff, C. L., & Shepard, K. F. (1985). Effects of mental practice on balance in elderly women. Physical Therapy. 65, 1332-1337.
  • Fell, N. T. (2000). Mental imagery and mental practice for an individual with multiple sclerosis and balance dysfunction. Physical Therapy Case Reports. 3, 3-9.
  • Gentili, R., Cahouet, V., Ballay, Y. Papaxanthis, C. (2004). Inertial properties of the arm are accurately predicted during motor imagery. Behavioural Brain Research. 155, 231-239.
  • Kosslyn, S.M., Thompson, W.L., & Ganis, G. (2006). The Case for Mental Imagery. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Morris, T., Spittle, M., & Watt, A. P. (2005). Imagery in sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
  • MacIntyre, T., & Moran, A. P. (2007). Motor Cognition and Imagery: Debunking Myths in Applied Sport Psychology. Paper presented at the American Psychological Association Annual Convention, San Francisco, August, 20th.[1]
  • Page, S. J., Levine, P., Sisto, S. A., & Johnston, M. V. (2001). Mental practice combined with physical practice for upper-limb motor deficit in subacute stroke. Physical Therapy. 81, 1455-1462.
  • Reed, C. (2002). Chronometric comparisons of imagery to action: Visualizing versus physically performing springboard dives. Memory & Cognition. 30, 1169-1178.