imagery and dance - week 11

Question 1

imagery perception for sport vs dance

Answer 1

sport: A mental tool to rehearse skills,
situations and feelings
dance: An integral part of
dance training, indirect/metaphorical in nature
- Train for long hours just like athletes, imagery was a way to help with dancers’ alignment

e.g., The leg is the pencil, and they are drawing the semicircle on the ground

Question 2

imagery in dance - background

Answer 2

Developed as a method to improve dance skills and refine quality of performance
* Affects alignment and performance on the
neurological level, with minimal or no physical action
* Imagery is often used in conjunction with specialized muscle development exercise programs

Question 3

Dance Imagery Definition

Answer 3

“Dance imagery is the deliberate use of the senses to rehearse or envision a particular outcome mentally, in the absence of, or in combination with, overt physical movement. These images may be constructed of real, or metaphorical movements,objects, events or processes.”

Question 4

Imagery Use by Elite Ballet Dancers

Answer 4

• Used an applied model of imagery to examine the use of the five different functions of imagery by professional ballet dancers
• Is the use of the imagery functions related to levels of self-confidence and anxiety prior to and during performance?
• Dancers have high performance anxiety it interferes with their choreography (negatively effects on the dancers) maintain the poise and character
• MGM imagery found to be a significant predictor of self-confidence

Question 5

22-42 years of age dancer use which imagery types

Answer 5

Execution imagery
Metaphorical Imagery
Context Imagery
Body-Related Imagery
Character/Role Imagery
Irrelevant Imagery

Question 6

executional imagery

Answer 6

skills, planning, strategies, scenarios

Question 7

metaphorical imagery

Answer 7

colours, objects not actually present, actions not actually performed e.g. pillow under your arms to have the arms in the correct position, arms stretch and hit either side of the walls in the room, pencil at the end of the toe (from above) –> unique to dance, lightness on the feet (balloons lifting you up at the shoulders to keep to tall)

Question 8

context imagery

Answer 8

places and people (where we are in relation to the other dancers and objects on the stage) its awareness, audience, where is the light hitting, where are the props

Question 9

body-related imagery

Answer 9

feeling, appearance, healing, and injury (rehabilitation)

Question 10

character/role imagery

Answer 10

behaviours and emotions of characters

Question 11

irrelevant imagery

Answer 11

not related to the dance context at all and are deliberate and its implemented due to boredom

Question 12

cognitive (nordin and cummings)

Answer 12

Learning & improvement
* Memorizing
* Planning

Question 13

motivational (nordin and cummings)

Answer 13

• Motivational drive
• Changing thoughts and feelings

Question 14

artistic (nordin and cummings)

Answer 14

• Choreographing
• Enhancing movement quality
• Communicating with audience

Question 15

nordin and cummings findings

Answer 15

Several dancers reported avoiding imagery
before going on stage
– Imagery of skills can make a move too mechanical
– Imagery leads some dancers to attend to tasks that should be done automatically - just let the movement occur without thinking too much about it
* Metaphorical imagery is often necessary for
dancers because it allows a particular
movement to happen more naturally
– Takes the dancer “out of themselves”
- Some of the functions aren’t relevant in the dance domain doesn’t capture the full spectrum of dancers’ images

Question 16

Problems with current imagery measures

Answer 16

• Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ):
  – Valid/reliable when used with athletes
  – Internal reliability issues when used with dancers
  – SIQ does not incorporate metaphorical images
  – Does not include images related to character role or appearance
  – Does not capture the full spectrum of dancers’ images

Question 17

The Dance Imagery Questionnaire (DIQ) Mastery

Answer 17

technique:
“I imagine specific skills (e.g., a pirouette) being performed perfectly.”

role and mvt quality:
“I imagine the forces required for or associated
with a movement.”

goals:
“I imagine working hard to reach my goals in dance.”

mastery:
“I imagine myself performing with my anxiety
under control.”

Question 18

DIQ questionnaire

Answer 18

• frequency measure (1-7 likert scale)
• Dancers of all levels and ages use imagery but mostly adults use it
• Technique imagery used the most often while mastery (motivational, anxiety, self-confidence) is used the least
• Need a baseline to be good at imagery before they can use it to enhance they’re performance
• External or internal is up to the dancer we try not to prescribe but we typically recommend third person for form and technique purposes.

Question 19

Young Dancers’ Use of Imagery

Answer 19

• Qualitatively investigate young dancers’
  imagery use
• Where, When, Why and What young dancers
  are imaging

Question 20

Female dancers between 7-14 years of age used the following imagery types:

Answer 20

Technique Imagery
Metaphorical Imagery
Environmental Imagery
Goal Imagery
Character/Role Imagery
Feedback Imagery

• Different focus groups for different ages because their experiences are different they indicted these various techniques:
  Technique, metaphorical, environmental, goal, character role, feedback (turn your toe a different way… coach and dance teacher and how they verbalize it)
  Youth dance: goal and feedback imagery
  Feedback imagery is unique to dance

Question 21

results from the questionnaire

Answer 21

Why:
– Cognitive (learning/improving, memorizing,
fix/avoid mistakes –> in youth dancers)
- Professional ballet adult dancers don’t focus on fixing and avoiding mistakes
– Motivational (increase self confidence, reduce
anxiety, encouragement)
– Artistic (seek inspiration, portray emotion, take on a character)
Artistic aspect is an adult result
– Enjoyment –> youth dancers

Question 22

purpose of the DIQ- C

Answer 22

To develop and establish the content validity of the DIQ-C in three stages:
1) Definition, item, and scale development
2) Assessment of item clarity and appropriateness via cognitive interviews
3) Assessment of item-content relevance via an expert rating panel

Question 23

DIQ-C (for children)

Answer 23

• Establish content validity
• Relevant to that task and context specific
• 46 items are a lot but dwindled down
• A clear middle scale

Question 24

True or False - Unique to dance imagery literature is the use of metaphorical imagery

Answer 24

TRUE

Question 25

True or false - Dancers use imagery for both cognitive and motivational purposes

Answer 25

TRUE

Question 26

Content Validity

Answer 26

Content Validity
Content validity procedures should be treated as important
categories of construct validation and should be reported
systematically in the same detail as other components of
construct validation.
(Haynes, 1995, p. 245)
©KChandler 2023

Question 26

Content Validity

Answer 26

Content validity procedures should be treated as important categories of construct validation and should be reported systematically in the same detail as other components of
construct validation. (haynes)

Question 27

STAGE ONE OF DIQ-C DEVELOPMENT

Answer 27

• Think-aloud protocol
• Clarity issues, comprehension, the language isn’t proper
• Initial 46-item pool created to represent 7 imagery types

Question 28

STAGE TWO OF DIQ-C - Particpants

Answer 28

Participants were recruited from 6 dance studios in Ontario
* Dancers were 7-14 years old, attended dance class at least twice per week, and had previously used imagery in dance
- they did different styles of dance

Question 29

STAGE TWO OF DIQ-C - Procedures

Answer 29

procedures: Cognitive Interviews, Think-Aloud Protocol, Standardized & Concurrent Probes
45-60 Minutes in Length
there was also a practice exercise:
- Visualize the place where you live and think about how many windows there are in that
place. As you count up the windows, tell me what you’re seeing and thinking about.
(Dietrich & Ehrlenspiel, 2010; McCorry et al., 2013)

Question 30

STAGE TWO OF DIQ-C - Data analysis

Answer 30

coding framework generated based on problems conveyed
by participants
* Responses for each item allocated to one of the following codes:
- Not applicable
- Misinterpreted
- Mispronounced
- Confusion
- Redundant
- Incongruent
- Negative Valence
- No Problems
- E.g., if 12 of 15 people said they were confused then the responses would be coded as confusion then the question would be thrown out or adapted

12 items were retained, 21 items were revised (rewording), 13 items were removed due to either redundancy, wasn’t applicable, hard to comprehend

Question 31

STAGE THREE OF DIQ-C

Answer 31

33 item pool (still a little too long for children)
- Now 4 researchers and 4 dance instructors need to review the questions
- Indicate if its poor, fair, good, very good, or an excellent match

STAGE THREE RESULTS

18 items retained, 3 revised, 8 removed, 4 merged into other questions