6. Imagery Flashcards
What is imagery?
a cognitive intervention strategy using one’s senses to create or recreate an experience or a visual image in the mind that in time this may seem as real as seeing the image with our physical eyes
– An image can be created in the mind in the absence of any external stimuli
– An image may involve one or more senses
– An image is created or re-created from information stored in the STM and LTM
Other term used synonymously with ‘imagery’:
– Cognitive and symbolic rehearsal
– Visualisation
– Mental practice
– Mental rehearsal
Mental practice =
imagery + physical practice to strengthen learning pattern
Mental rehearsal =
imagery used to prepare the athlete for correct execution of skill
4 W’s of applied sport imagery
Where, When, What, Why
Where and when does imagery occur?
Used both in training and competition
What do athletes imagine?
o Sessions
– Duration
– Intensity
o Surroundings
– Training venue
– Competition venue
– Weather, crowds
o Nature of imagery
– Positive - faciltative
– Negative – debilitative?
o Type of imagery
– Visual
– Kinesthetic
– Auditory
– Olfactory
– Tactile
Why do athletes use imagery?
– Cognitive function of imagery
– use of imagery to experience specific sport skills and develop strategies
– Motivational function of imagery
– use of imagery to attain goals, manage arousal and enhance confidence
Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ) and suggested imagery in sport could be conceptualised into 5 independent functions:
- Motivational Specific (MS)
- Motivational General – mastery (MG-M)
- Motivational General – arousal (MG-A)
- Cognitive Specific (CS)
- Cognitive General (CG)
Five functions of imagery
- Motivational Specific
– athlete imagines themselves in a specific motivational situation (e.g. scoring the winning penalty at a cup final) - Motivational General – mastery
– athlete imagines themselves in a specific sporting situation exhibiting the ability to remain focuse (e.g. maximal attentional focus prior to start of 100m sprint) - Motivational General – arousal
– athlete imagine the ability to control arousal (e.g. using deep breathing) - Cognitive Specific
– athlete imagines themselves correctly executing a specific skill correctly (e.g. performing a 3m tuck jump dive) - Cognitive General
– athlete imagines themselves reviewing strategies (e.g. football corner routines)
How does imagery enhance performance?
o Psychoneuromuscular theory
– Imagery results in subliminal neuromuscular patterns that are identical to the pattern used during the actual movement
– Research support has identified that during imagery use, there is an increase in electrical activity within the muscles used for that particular skill
o Symbolic learning theory
– Suggests that subliminal electrical activity in the muscles is not required
– Mental practice and imagery work due to the planning of actions “blueprinting” in advance
– Tasks that include cognitive and symbolic elements seem to benefit most from the use of imagery
o Functional equivalence hypothesis
– Functional equivalence hypothesis proposes that imagery draws upon the same neural network as that used in actual perception and motor control
– Functional equivalence exists between imagery and physical practice
– This is based on the assertion that the brain stores memories as mental representations that can be accessed through both actual and imagined behaviours
– To ensure maximum functional equivalence between the mental image of performing the skill and the actual skill, Holmes and Collins (2001) proposed a PETTLEP approach to imagery
PETTLEP based imagery
mental image of executing the skill should be identical to the actual physical execution of the skill in relation to the following components:
PETLEP
o Physical
– Relates to the athlete being actively involved in the imagery process by moving/holding the equipment and engaging all the physical sensations experienced during the movement
o Environment
– Athlete needs to consider all aspects of the environment (e.g. sights, sounds, smells, tastes)
o Task
– Task type and level of mastery will influence what aspects of task the athlete will attend to
o Timing
– Refers to the temporal characteristics of the skill being imagined – athlete needs to emphasise the speed and pace of actual skill
o Learning
– As learning of the skill shifts from the cognitive/associative phase to the automaticity phase, the level of imagery must be adapted and reviewed
o Emotion
– Athlete must imagine appropriate emotions to enable a facilitating effect on performance
o Perspective
– Internal vs. External perspective
Training issues associated with imagery
o PETTLEP model suggests time to complete an imaged motor task = actual time to complete physical motor task
Imagery increases:
confidence
performance
reduces anxiety
