Mental Imagery: Can a Figment of Imagination Help Performance?

Mental Imagery: Can a Figment of Imagination Help Performance?

"It all comes from the mind. I've seen the most incredible success stories...because a person had a dream and it was so powerful no one could touch it. He'd feel it, believe it, think about it all day and night. That would inspire him to do things necessary to get the results he wanted (2)." -Arnold Schwarzenegger

For the past few weeks, the world has been glued to their television screens, mesmerized by the breathtaking accomplishments of the 2002 Olympic athletes. As an avid watcher of ice skating events, I couldn’t help but wonder what athletes like the bronze medallist Micelle Kwan and the gold medallist Sarah Hughes were thinking prior to their final skating performances. Before the final skating event, both skaters physically practiced their performances. I noticed that in addition to physically preparing themselves by repeatedly running through their performances, Sarah and Michelle closed their eyes and listened to music before they skated. Did mental imagery help either of the athletes prepare and successfully execute their presentations? In other words, what are the effects of mental imagery on the performance of athletes such as Michelle Kwan and Sarah Hughes? Does it make a difference on performance if mental imagery of the desired outcome is absent or present?

What is mental imagery? In The Effects of Mental Imagery on Athletic Performance, Anne Plessinger describes mental imagery as the imagining of the execution of an action without actually performing the action. Plessinger also explains that mental imagery not only includes visual senses, but also auditory, olfactory and kinesthetic senses (4). Studies have demonstrated that mental imagery prior to athletic performance leads to better results than the execution of the action alone. Plessinger describes an experiment that consisted of a control group and an imagery group who were told to complete specific golf skills. It was concluded that the imagery group performed better because they had higher goals and expectations of themselves (4). Perhaps the mental preparation helped the imagery group’s brains acquire the right skills needed. Also, other studies have shown specific physiological differences (breathing, heart rate...etc.) with the addition of mental imagery before performance (1).

Does this mean that mental imagery is linked to motor performance? Would athletes achieve the same or different results if they mentally prepare themselves or not? To answer these questions, I looked at the neurological aspect of mental imagery and motor preparation.