1. All Those Quasi-Sensory Or Quasi-Perceptual Experiences of Which

IMAGERY

Richardson (1969) defined imagery as: 1. All those quasi-sensory or quasi-perceptual experiences of which 2. We are all self-consciously aware and which 3. Exist for us in the absence of those stimulus conditions that are know to product their genuine sensory or perceptual counterparts, and which 4. May be expected to have different consequences from their sensory or perceptual counterparts.

Imagery Defined An experience similar to a sensory experience but arising in the absence of the usual external stimulus (Martens, 1982)

History of Imagery  Janet (French) used imagery in psychotherapy in 1898  Freud ultimately abandoned hypnosis in favor of imagery because it was more under the patients conscious control  1920-1960, with the emergence of behaviorism the use of imagery sharply declined  Maltz’s (1960) work in psychocybernetics helped imagery resurface  Numerous psychological therapies now use imagery as a component of their treatment program Michenbaum (1978) proposed three psychological processes to explain the effectiveness of most imagery-based therapies. 1. The feeling of control that the client gains as a result of the monitoring and rehearsing of various images; 2. The modified meaning or changed internal dialog that precedes, attends, and succeeds examples of maladaptive behavior; and 3. The mental rehearsal of alternative responses that leads to the enhancement of coping skills.

How Imagery works from a Physical Skill Perspective  McKay’s Nodal Activation Theory – Activating lower level neural nodes primes higher level nodes used for the actual movement  Hebb’s Cell Assemblies Theory – An assembly of cells in the synapses of the nervous system lowers the threshold needed by future impulses to travel along that nerve  Eccles’ Neuronal Hypothesis of Learning – During imagery slight firings of neural pathways occur establishing a mental blueprint which helps the individual execute that movement at a later time.

McKay, Hebb, & Eccles all feel that imagined events cause some event to occur at the synapses in the nervous system. Imagery probably facilitates the sequence of muscle innervation

 Sackett’s Symbolic Learning Theory and Sage’s Symbolic Perceptual Hypothesis – Mental practice gives perceptual insights into actual movement patterns. These insights improve performance because these imagined general factors transfer to actual motor skill execution.  Sage’s Consolidation Memory Theory – Mental practice activates many of the neural components in the brain that are responsible for actual direction of skill execution.  Hawthorne Effect – McKay (1981) explains improved performance from mental practice partly as a consequence of giving special attention to and expending more time and effort with this group than with those who do not practice mentally.

How Imagery Works from a Psychological Perspective

 Marks (1983) explains: Many emotions are accompanied by imagined scenes. The ability to control or heighten these emotions in imagery is an important part of cognitive behavior modification.  Cautella & McCullough (1978) believe that problem behaviors are subject to learning principles and therapeutic improvement depends upon systematically manipulating constructed imagery of adaptive behaviors.

Three Major Imagery in Sport Reviews Richardson (1967) – 19 of 20 investigations showed improved performance for the imagery group. (Mostly novel tasks and no psychological skills studies) Martens (1982) – 30 of 34 investigations showed improved performance for the imagery group. (3 looked at psychological skills improvement) Feltz and Landers (1983) – 112 of 144 investigations showed improved performance for the imagery group. (84 still used novel tasks) Key Points  Most motor imagery research uses laboratory tasks or sport tasks in a controlled environment  There is far less research on imagery for psychological skill development  Most sport psychological skill research has some methodological limitations but external validity is high  There is very little research on imagery for elite athletes  The most important part of any imagery training program is that the individual must practice it