Imagery ability and the acquisition and retention of movements

In this study, we examined the relationship between imagery ability, as measured by the Movement Imagery Questionnaire (MIQ), and the acquisition, retention, and reacquisition of movements. Based on their MIQ scores, 10 subjects were selected for the following imagery groups: high visual/high kinesthetic (HH), high visual/low kinesthetic (HL), and low visual/low kinesthetic (LL). The subjects learned four movements to a criterion level. Before each trial, subjects kinesthetically imaged the movement about to be produced. Following each acquisition trial, subjects were provided visual feedback. The acquisition phase was followed by a 2-day retention interval, a retention test consisting of three trials on each movement (no feedback provided), and a reacquisition phase. The HH group acquired the movements in the least number of trials, the LL group required the greatest number of trials, and the HL group required an intermediate number of trials. The data for the reacquisition phase showed the same trend. There was only weak evidence for a relationship between imagery ability and the retention of the movements. These findings support the position that high imagery ability facilitates the acquisition, but probably not the short term retention, of movements.     

运动技能水平与躯体感觉输入对运动表象的影响

运动表象质量与运动技能水平有关,运动表象质量随着运动技能水平的提高而上升。器械使用可使人脑产生可塑性改变,使用者会将器械纳入身体图式。然而,两者影响运动表象的神经心理机制还不清楚。本研究采用功能性磁共振成像探析篮球运动员与新手在不同持球条件下表象投篮时脑功能活动的差异。结果表明运动员表象质量较好,镜像神经系统激活高于新手;持球条件下运动员表象质量显著高于不持球条件下,镜像神经系统激活程度显著低于不持球条件下。研究说明持器械可以显著提高运动员的表象质量,器械使用带来镜像神经系统的可塑性变化。     

Development and validation of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire for Children (MIQ-C)

The ability to perform movement imagery has been shown to influence motor performance and learning in sports and rehabilitation. Self-report questionnaires have been developed to assess movement imagery ability in adults, such as the Movement Imagery Questionnaire 3 (MIQ-3); however, there is a dearth of developmentally appropriate measures for use with children. To address this gap, the focus of this research was to develop an imagery ability questionnaire for children. This process involved adaptation of the MIQ-3 via: i) cognitive interviewing with twenty children, ii) validation with 206 children by examining its factor structure via multitrait-multi method confirmatory factor analysis, and iii) examination of test-retest reliability with 23 children. The findings of Study 1 led to changes to the wording of the questionnaire and modifications of the instructions to successfully adapt the MIQ-3 for children aged 7–12 years. The validation undertaken in Study 2 found that a correlated-traits correlated-uniqueness model provided the best fit to the data. Finally, test-retest reliabilities varied from fair (for external visual imagery) to substantial (for kinesthetic imagery). With respect to ease of imaging, no significant gender or age-group differences were noted. However, significant difference were found among the three imagery modalities (p < .001), with external visual imagery rated as easiest to image and kinesthetic imagery rated as the most difficult. Taken together, findings support the use of the MIQ-C for examining movement imagery ability with children.     

Motor imagery vividness and symptom severity in Parkinson's disease

Motor imagery (MI), the mental simulation of movement in the absence of overt motor output, has demonstrated potential as a technique to support rehabilitation of movement in neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Existing evidence suggests that MI is largely preserved in PD, but previous studies have typically examined global measures of MI and have not considered the potential impact of individual differences in symptom presentation on MI. The present study investigated the influence of severity of overall motor symptoms, bradykinesia and tremor on MI vividness scores in 44 individuals with mild to moderate idiopathic PD. Linear mixed effects modelling revealed that imagery modality and the severity of left side bradykinesia significantly influenced MI vividness ratings. Consistent with previous findings, participants rated visual motor imagery (VMI) to be more vivid than kinesthetic motor imagery (KMI). Greater severity of left side bradykinesia (but not right side bradykinesia) predicted increased vividness of KMI, while tremor severity and overall motor symptom severity did not predict vividness of MI. The specificity of the effect of bradykinesia to the left side may reflect greater premorbid vividness for the dominant (right) side or increased attention to more effortful movements on the left side of the body resulting in more vivid motor imagery.     

Visual versus kinesthetic mental imagery: Efficacy for the retention and transfer of a closed motor skill in young children

The main purposes of this study were (a) to compare the effects of mental imagery combined with physical practise and specific physical practise on the retention and transfer of a closed motor skill in young children; (b) to determine the mental imagery (visual vs. kinesthetic), which is the most efficient for retention and transfer of a closed motor skill; and (c) to verify the relationship between movement image vividness and motor performance. As for the secondary purpose, it was to compare the effects of gender on motor learning. Participants (n = 96) were selected from 3 primary schools. These participants were divided into 6 groups and submitted to different experimental conditions. The experimental task required the participants to throw, with the nondominant hand (left hand), a ball toward a target composed of 3 concentric circles. The results demonstrated that performance obtained by the mental imagery (visual or kinesthetic) combined with physical practise group was, during the retention phase, equivalent to that produced by the specific physical practise group but significantly superior during the transfer of closed motor skill. These results showed the potential benefits of mental imagery as a retention strategy intended for motor skills and performance enhancement. Such results could be explained by the similarity of 3 principal functional evidences shared by mental and physical practise: behavioural, central, and peripheral (as suggested by Holmes & Collins, 2001). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).     

Inter-individual neural differences in movement imagery abilities

ObjectivesBuilding on mounting evidence distinguishing the neurological basis of different movement imagery abilities (visual versus kinesthetic), this study compared brain activity (i.e., blood flow changes) through functional magnetic resonance imaging elicited by movement imagery in participants self-reporting good and poor imagery abilities with the Movement Imagery Questionnaire-3. Participants also completed the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire-2. Method: Thirty-seven females (good imagery ability = 18; poor imagery ability = 19) were randomly presented with four experimental conditions (i.e., Kinesthetic, Internal Perspective, External Perspective and Rest) counterbalanced for condition, during three separate 11-min functional brain scans. Results: Kinesthetic and visual (internal/external) subscale mean differences of the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire-2 favored good imagers and high Movement Imagery Questionnaire-3 inter-scale correlations evidenced convergent validity. As in prior published work, kinesthetic, internal, and external visual imagery elicited distinct patterns of brain activation relative to rest. Overall, the patterns of brain activity in the good and poor imager groups were remarkably similar, indicating that they both generally relied on a similar brain network during movement imagery. Conclusions: Contrary to processing efficiency hypotheses (i.e., neural efficiency hypothesis) we report that during kinesthetic imagery and external visual imagery only, good imagers actually activated a greater number of spatially distinct cortical sites than did poor imagers. Furthermore, research is needed to fully characterize the neural signature of movement imagery in good and poor imagers. Such research is critical to the appropriate creation and proper application of neuroscience-inspired movement imagery-based learning interventions in healthy and clinical populations.     

Kinaesthetic imagery ability moderates the effect of an AO+MI intervention on golf putt performance: A pilot study

BackgroundPrevious research has established that motor imagery (MI) and action observation (AO) independently enhance the performance and learning of motor skills. Recent studies have demonstrated that combining AO and MI (AO + MI) elicits increased activity in motor regions of the brain and enhances performance more than either AO or MI alone. Kinesthetic imagery (KI) ability refers to the ease with which one can sense their own body and imagine how a movement feels during a task (Malouin et al., 2007). KI ability may be of particular importance when engaging with AO + MI as the provision of an external visual stimulus through AO renders the visual component of MI redundant.ObjectiveThe current study aims to add to the emerging body of behavioural evidence demonstrating the performance benefits of AO + MI by exploring the effect of an AO + MI intervention on golf putting performance, as well as exploring the role that KI ability represents in AO + MI effectiveness.MethodRight-handed male golfers (N = 44) of varying skill level performed twenty 15-foot putts before and after a 3.5 min AO + MI intervention (AO + MI group; mean handicap = 7.5, SD = 4.3) or a similarly timed passive reading task (Control group; mean handicap = 11.5, SD = 5.4). Using the MIQ-3 questionnaire, participants in both experimental groups were classified according to kinesthetic imagery ability where: a mean score ≥6 were classified as good imagers. Performance accuracy was measured using mean radial error (MRE), precision was quantified via bivariate error (BVE) and putter kinematics were recorded by SAM Puttlab.ResultsResults from a series of ANCOVAs indicate that good kinesthetic imagers who received the AO + MI intervention were significantly more precise (BVRE) on the putting task than good kinesthetic imagers in the Control group (p = 0.041, d = 0.678). Good kinesthetic imagers in the intervention group also significantly outperformed good kinesthetic imagers in the control group on a measure of speed control (SD of error scores along the axis of progression) in golf putting (p = 0.041).ConclusionsOur results suggest that the presence of AO with MI increases the relevance of kinesthetic cues, that good kinesthetic imagers are able to utilise for subsequent performance benefits during the putting task. We discuss the increased importance of kinesthetic awareness/feel following the intervention as an explanation for such improvements in performance.     

The relationship between competitive anxiety and imagery use

Abstract

Imagery has been proposed to be an effective strategy for controlling levels of competitive anxiety, but little b known about how imagery functions to achieve this. This study explored the relationship between imagery use. imagery ability. competitive anxiety and performance. Fifty-seven Junior North American Roller Skating Championship competitors completed the revised Movement Imagery Questionnaire (MIQ-R), the Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ), and the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory—2 (CSAI-2). Results from stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed visual imagery ability and motivational arousal imagery to be predictors of cognitive state anxiety. Visual imagery ability also predicted somatic state anxiety. while motivational mastery imagery was a predictor of self-confidence. With respect to the relationship between imagery use and imagery ability, high imagery ability was associated with higher imagery use. Finally, self-confidence and kinesthetic imagery ability scores correctly classified a majority of the subjects as medalists versus non-medalists. These results suggest that imagery can be used to help control competitive anxiety levels and enhance self-confidence.     

The Influence of Motor Imagery on Postural Sway: Differential Effects of Type of Body Movement and Person Perspective

The present study examined the differential effects of kinesthetic imagery (first person perspective) and visual imagery (third person perspective) on postural sway during quiet standing. Based on an embodied cognition perspective, the authors predicted that kinesthetic imagery would lead to activations in movement-relevant motor systems to a greater degree than visual imagery. This prediction was tested among 30 participants who imagined various motor activities from different visual perspectives while standing on a strain gauge plate. The results showed that kinesthetic imagery of lower body movements, but not of upper body movements, had clear effects on postural parameters (sway path length and frequency contents of sway). Visual imagery, in contrast, had no reliable effects on postural activity. We also found that postural effects were not affected by the vividness of imagery. The results suggest that during kinesthetic motor imagery participants partially simulated (re-activated) the imagined movements, leading to unintentional postural adjustments. These findings are consistent with an embodied cognition perspective on motor imagery.     

Imagery ability classification: Commentary on «Kinaesthetic imagery ability moderates the effect of an AO+MI intervention on golf putt performance: A pilot study» by McNeill et al. (2020)

McNeill et al. (2020) recently published a study that first aimed to assess the effect of a combination of motor imagery (MI) and action observation (AO) on golf putt performance and then to determine if the evolution of this performance could be moderated by participants’ kinesthetic imagery ability. To assess golfers’ MI ability, the authors used the third version of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire. Participants notably self-estimated their kinesthetic MI ability by using a Likert-type scale, with scores ranging from 1 “very difficult to feel” to 7 “very easy to feel”. Athletes were categorized as either “poor” or “good” kinesthetic imagers, with mean scores of 4.93 and 6.63, respectively, in the intervention groups. Although a similar categorization procedure had previously been used in the literature for “good imagers”, the mean scores for “poor” imagers were much higher than those noted in previous studies evaluating the effect of MI ability on motor accuracy. Moreover, the low number of participants in the intervention group (n = 22) meant that participants were considered “poor” imagers even though their mean scores corresponded to “quite easy to feel” kinesthetic images of movements. This could notably explain the lack of differences between “poor” and “good” imagers in terms of putting performance in the intervention group. Despite these methodological limitations, the results of McNeill et al.‘s study show promising evidence for the efficacy of an AO plus MI intervention in relation to putting performance and should lead to further investigations. We suggest that research in the area of motor imagery ability include larger samples to explore, in individuals with very low imagery ability scores, the effects of the combination of AO and MI on motor performance.     

The measurement of imagery ability

When variations in imagery ability are used to predict task performance, distinct and consistent relationships do not tend to emerge. A selective review of studies is undertaken to outline some basic reasons why individual difference measures of imagery are often so unsuccessful. Relevant studies concerning the learning and performance of motor skills are examined in some detail. It is concluded that the major problem in these studies is the types of imagery tests that have been employed; these tests have not adequately measured imagery ability. A recently developed instrument, the Movement Imagery Questionnaire, which has been designed to assess individual differences in visual and kinesthetic imagery of movement is discussed.     

Size perception by vision and kinesthesia

When two sizes, one perceived by vision and the other by kinesthesia, are apparently equal, the physical relationship between them varies: The sizes may be equal, or the visual size may be larger than the kinesthetic size, or vice versa. In this study, the method of cross-modal matching and the method of magnitude production were used to explore the relationship between apparently equal sizes (5–40 cm) perceived by vision and by kinesthesia. The sizes were linear or circular, and the mode of standard presentation was visual, kinesthetic, or verbal. The size and the direction of the intermodal mismatch varied with the size of the standard. It was also found that an apparent length of movement varied with the direction of movement. In all conditions, the relationship between apparently equal visual and kinesthetic sizes was well approximated by a power function.     

Effects of Applying the PETTLEP Model on Vividness and Ease of Imaging Movement

This study investigated the effects of applying elements of the PETTLEP model on vividness and ease of imaging movement. Forty participants (M age = 23.47 years, SD = 4.11) completed the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire when using PETTLEP imagery or traditional imagery. Results revealed significantly higher ease and vividness ratings for internal visual imagery (IVI) and kinesthetic imagery (KI) during the PETTLEP imagery condition compared to the more traditional imagery. No significant difference between conditions for external visual imagery emerged. Findings imply that incorporating PETTLEP elements during imagery enables greater ease and vividness of movement when using IVI and KI.     

Tool characteristics in imagery of tool actions

Are tool characteristics represented in imagined tool actions? In two experiments participants imagined and executed coloring rectangles with a thick and a thin pen. In Experiment 2, an additional execution condition without visual feedback of coloring allowed us to dissociate between the relevance of kinesthetic and visual feedback. Pen thickness influenced coloring durations in all conditions, indicating that characteristics of a simple tool are represented during imagery. Imagination was shorter than execution, indicating that imagination may be less detailed than execution. Execution without visual feedback was even shorter than imagination, indicating that vision is more important than kinesthesis for differences between imagination and execution, and that either imagining the movement, inhibiting movement execution or imagining the progress of the action is effortful during imagery. In conclusion, characteristics of simple tools are represented in imagined tool actions but the representation of tools’ effects may not always be adequate.     

Individual Differences in Divergent Thinking as a Function of Variations in Sensory Status

Recent neuropsychological data have suggested that visual imagery and visual stimulus processing may share some common cortical processing areas. Because imagery involves the recreation of sensory images, it could be the case that the quality of the sensory inputs may determine the usefulness of imagery in problem solving. This study investigated whether a relation exists between sensory status and divergent thinking ability. A sample of 1,461 participants was tested for visual acuity, color discrimination ability, stereopsis, and pure tone hearing ability. Two measures of divergent thinking involving alternate uses of familiar objects also were taken. Individuals with moderate deficits in visual acuity and stereopsis (which are the abilities that will most profoundly affect relevant aspects of the images for these divergent thinking tasks) performed significantly worse. Performance of those with moderate color discrimination or auditory deficits (both irrelevant to manipulating the images) was indistinguishable from those without such deficits. Thus poor visual acuity and stereopsis may reduce success in divergent thinking tasks because the effectiveness of imagery in achieving novel solutions is reduced when stored images are lacking in details.     

Imagery Interference Diminishes in Older Adults: Age-Related Differences in the Magnitude of the Perky Effect

Studies have documented the negative effects of mental imagery on perception (also known as the Perky effect) in younger adults, but imagery-interference effects in older adults have never been assessed. Two experiments examined this issue directly. Experiment 1 demonstrated that visual mental images diminish visual acuity in younger adults (mean age = 19.0) but not older adults (mean age = 73.6). Experiment 2 obtained parallel results, showing that visual imagery interfered with performance on a visual detection task in younger (mean age = 18.7) but not older adults (mean age = 66.7). Processes underlying age-related differences in imagery-interference effects are discussed and implications of these results for changes in cognitive performance in older adults are considered.     

Category-specific naming and modality-specific imagery

Some attempts to explain category-specific disorders have stressed how different modality knowledge bases (i.e., visual knowledge vs motoric/functional knowledge) may underlie the distinction between living and nonliving things. This study examined 60 normal subjects for the relationship between picture naming in four subcategories (animals, fruit/vegetables, praxic and nonpraxic objects) and imagery vividness in seven modalities. Participants made more nonliving than living errors; and females made more nonliving errors than males. There was a significant correlation between naming of animals and fruits/vegetables and visual imagery vividness; however, this association was also significant for praxic and nonpraxic object naming. There was no evidence of associations between kinesthetic imagery and praxic object naming or gustatory/olfactory imagery and fruit/vegetable naming. These findings accord with the notion of a general association between visual imagery and picture naming, but provide no support for more specific links between modality-specific imagery vividness and naming in different categories.     

Psychophysiological responding as a function of age: The importance of matching

Few studies in the past which have employed psychophysiological measures have controlled for age. We have studied the effects of age on the heart rate, hand surface temperature, cephalic vasomotor response, and frontal electromyographic activity (EMG) of 73 normal individuals who varied in age from 18 to 68 years and were evenly divided into younger, middle, and older age groups. Comparisons were made between groups across eight conditions — baseline, relax body, warm hand, relax facial muscles, mental arithmetic, positive imagery, negative imagery, and cold pressor. Results indicated a direct linear relationship between age and electromyographic activity during relax facial muscles and mental arithmetic conditions. There was also a linear relationship between age and hand surface temperature during stressor conditions. Most important, significant interactions were found for both frontal EMG and heart rate measures with age. Post hoc analyses revealed differences on the frontal EMG levels between younger and older age groups during negative imagery, warm hand, and cold pressor conditions. Heart rate differences were found during positive imagery between the younger age group and the medium age group and during cold pressor between the younger age group and both the medium and the older groups. The implications of these findings are discussed.This research was supported in part by NINCDS Grant NS-15235.     

Differentiating visual and kinesthetic imagery in mental practice.

Through two experiments, the study sought to emphasize the usefulness of the visual and kinesthetic imagery in mental practice. In Experiment 1, it was hypothesized that when the task to be learned through mental practice necessitates the reproduction of a form by drawing, the visual image, which provides a wide span of apprehension, is more suitable than the kinesthetic image. On the other hand, the kinesthetic image that supplies inputs from the muscles' positions and movements should be more appropriate for the acquisition of the duration of the drawing. In Experiment 2, it was hypothesized that the task, transformed into a motor task necessitating minute coordination of the two hands, would benefit more from kinesthetic imagery. To have optimal control over what was actually experienced during mental practice, the participants' imagery skills were measured. The participants also benefited from prior imagery training. The results demonstrate that when using mental practice to initially acquire a task, visual imagery is better for tasks that emphasize form while kinesthetic imagery is better for those tasks that emphasize timing or minute coordination of the two hands.     

Effects of mental imagery styles on shoulder and hip rotations during preparation of pirouettes

To analyze individual behavior in spatial navigation especially for pirouette preparations (complete whole-body rotations), the authors studied horizontal shoulder-hip interactions under 2 constraints: postural (right and left supporting legs [SL]) and spatial (clockwise [CW] and counterclockwise [CCW]). They performed kinematic analysis at the start and end of the shoulder-hip horizontal rotations (run-up) with regard to imagery of motor actions. On the basis of the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire, they classified 8 female expert ballet dancers and 7 untrained female participants according to their movement imagery style (kinesthetic and visual). At the run-up's end, the shoulders initiated the turn independently of SL but differently depending on training: CW for dancers and CCW for untrained participants (their commonly used direction). Kinesthetic and mixed imagery styles prevailed in dancers, whereas simply a mixed style appeared among untrained participants. Thus, dance training enhances the imagery of kinesthetic sensation and influences the choice of spatial direction, facilitating the body-space interaction.