Journal of Sports and Motor Development and Learning
Scientific Journal

The Relationship Between Motor Imagery Ability and Mental Representation Structure in Basketball Players

Document Type : Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license

Authors

Mahboubeh Sheikhzadeh 1
Robabeh Rostami 2
Davoud Fazeli 3

1 Department of Sport Sciences, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran .

2 Department of Sport Sciences, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.

3 Department of Sport Sciences , Faculty of Education and Psychology, Shiraz University , Shiraz, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22059/jsmdl.2023.350270.1685
Abstract
Introduction: Motor imagery is one of the cognitive aspects of the tasks which is investigated as a factor affecting performance in many situations. Also, another cognitive dimension of tasks that researchers believe to play an important role in motor control and performance is mental representation. This study aimed to determine the relationship between motor imagery ability and mental representation structure in basketball free throw.
Methods: The design of this research was correlational and a convenient method of sampling was used. In this study, the Motor Imagery Questionnaire-Revised and Mental Representation Software were used as tools. The motor imagery ability of 60 female basketball players was measured and 10 participants with the highest (mean age: 16.3±2.05 years) and 10 participants with the lowest (mean age: 20.3±4.9 years) imagery ability were selected. Then, their mental representation was measured using mental representation software. The relationship between motor imagery ability and mental representation was analyzed using correlational analysis.
Results: The results showed that the group with the highest motor imagery ability had a more structured mental representation which was more similar to that of criterion mental representation. Also, the results showed that there was a positive relationship between imagery and mental representation structure scores in both groups.
Conclusion: These results were interpreted using the perceptual-cognitive approach. Also, these results were considered a piece of evidence for the top-down process of imagery. Achieving these results indicate that psychological skills training accompanied by technical skills training will have a critical contribution for the athletes to success in sports.

Keywords

Basketball
Imagery ability
Mental Representation
Edwards, W. H. (2010). Motor learning and control: From theory to practice, Cengage Learning.
Bonassi, G., Lagravinese, G., Bisio, A., Ruggeri, P., Pelosin, E., Bove, M., & Avanzino, L. (2020). Consolidation and retention of motor skill after motor imagery training. Neuropsychologia, 143, 107472.
Niknasab, F., Zareli, M., Fakorean, A., & Sharbatzadeh, R. (2021). Comparison of the effectiveness of mindfulness and Mental Imagery training on Cortisol levels, Anxiety, and Self-Confidence in Officer Students. Journal of Motor Learning and Movement, 13(2), 149-161.(In persian)
Hall, C. R., Mack, D. E., Paivio, A., & Hausenblas, H. A. (1998). Imagery use by athletes:               development of the Sport Imagery Questionnaire. International Journal of Sport Psychology.
Munroe-Chandler, K. J., Hall, C. R., Fishburne, G. J., Murphy, L., & Hall, N. D. (2012). Effects of a cognitive specific imagery intervention on the soccer skill performance of young athletes: Age group comparisons. Psychology of sport and exercise, 13(3), 324-331.
Simonsmeier, B. A., Frank, C., Gubelmann, H., & Schneider, M. (2018). The effects of motor imagery training on performance and mental representation of 7-to 15-year-old gymnasts of different levels of expertise. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 7(2), 155.
Gregg, M. and C. Hall (2018). "Imagery as a skill: Longitudinal analysis of changes in motivational imagery." Imagination, Cognition and Personality 37(4): 448-457.
Rodgers, W., Hall, C., & Buckolz, E. (1991). The effect of an imagery training program on imagery  ability, imagery use, and figure skating performance. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 3(2), 109-125.
Holmes, P., & Calmels, C. (2008). A neuroscientific review of imagery and observation use in sport. Journal of motor behavior, 40(5), 433-445.
Frank, C., Land, W. M., Popp, C., & Schack, T. (2014). Mental representation and mental practice: experimental investigation on the functional links between motor memory and motor imagery. PloS one, 9(4), e95175.
Driskell, J. E., Copper, C., & Moran, A. (1994). Does mental practice enhance performance?. Journal of applied psychology, 79(4), 481.
Ryan, E. D., & Simons, J. (1983). What is learned in mental practice of motor skills: A test of the cognitive-motor hypothesis. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 5(4), 419-426.
Schack, T. (2012). "Measuring mental representations." Handbook of measurement in sport and                  exercise psychology: 203-214.
Schack, T. (2020). Mental Representation in Action: A Cognitive Architecture Approach. Handbook of Sport Psychology, 513-534.
Morgan, A. (2014). Representations gone mental. Synthese, 191(2), 213-244.
657-661.
Schmidt, R. A. (1975). A schema theory of discrete motor skill learning. Psychological review, 82(4), 225.
Schack, T. (2004). "Knowledge and performance in action." Journal of Knowledge Management.          Schack, T., & Frank, C. (2021). Mental representation and the cognitive architecture of skilled            action. Review of Philosophy and Psychology, 12(3), 527-546.
Frank, C., Land, W. M., & Schack, T. (2013). Mental representation and learning: the influence of practice on the development of mental representation structure in complex action. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 14(3), 353-361.
Fazeli, D., Taheri, H., & Saberi Kakhki, A. (2017). Random versus blocked practice to enhance mental representation in golf putting. Perceptual and motor skills, 124(3), 674-688.
Moradi, N., & Fazeli, D. (2017). Investigation of effect of routine introduction, imagery and mixed methods on performance and mental representation of volleyball overhand float-serve. Sport Psychology Studies (ie, mutaleat ravanshenasi varzeshi), 6(20), 149-168. (In persian)
Fazeli, D., & Moradi, N. (2019). The Effect of Different Methods of Practice a Pre-Performance Routine on Mental Representation and Performance Levels of Volleyball Overhand Float-Serve. Sport Psychology Studies (ie, mutaleat ravanshenasi varzeshi), 8(29), 88-104.(In persian)
Sohrabi, M., Farsi, A. R., & Fuladian, J. (2010). Validation of the IRANIAN translation of the movement imagery questionnaire-revised.
England, A., Brusseau, T., Burns, R., Koester, D., Newton, M., Thiese, M., & Chase, B. (2019). The cognitive structure of the basketball free throw in adolescent physical education students. Motor control, 23(4), 472-484.
Fazeli, D., Rostami, R., & Nazemzadegan, G. (2022). Effect of Motor Imagery and Action Observation on Mental Representation and Movement Accuracy of Basketball free Throw. Sport Psychology Studies (ie, mutaleat ravanshenasi varzeshi), 10(38), 23-42.(In persian)
Santos, J. M., & Embrechts, M. (2009, September). On the use of the adjusted rand index as a metric for evaluating supervised classification. In International conference on artificial neural networks (pp. 175-184). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Kim, T., Park, H., & Schack, T. (2019). A functional link between mental representation in long-term memory and cognitive performance in working memory. Advances in cognitive Psychology, 15(1), 11.
Kosslyn, S. M. (1980). Image and mind. Harvard University Press.
Kosslyn, S. M., & Pylyshyn, Z. (1994). Image and brain: The resolution of the imagery debate. Nature, 372(6503), 289-289.
Kosslyn, S. M., & Thompson, W. L. (2003). When is early visual cortex activated during visual mental imagery?. Psychological bulletin, 129(5), 723.
Fazeli, D., Abdollahi, M. H., & Kooroshfard, N. (2020). Effect of Practice Arrangement on Mental Representation of Basketball Free Throw. Sport Psychology Studies (ie, mutaleat ravanshenasi varzeshi), 9(32), 141-160.(In persian)
Bläsing B, Tenenbaum G, Schack T. The cognitive structure of movements in classical dance. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 2009;10(3):350-60
Schack, T., and D. Hackfort. (2007). An action theory approach to applied sport psychology. In Handbook ofsport psychology, ed. G. Tenenbaum and R.C. Eklund, 3rd ed., 332–351. Hoboken: Wiley
Schack, T., & Mechsner, F. (2006). Representation of motor skills in human long-term memory. Neuroscience letters, 391(3), 77-81.
Schack, T. (2004). The cognitive architecture of complex movement. International journal of sport and exercise psychology, 2(4), 403-438.
Weigelt, M., Ahlmeyer, T., Lex, H., & Schack, T. (2011). The cognitive representation of a throwing technique in judo experts–technological ways for individual skill diagnostics in high-performance sports. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 12(3), 231-235.
Velentzas, K., Heinen, T., Tenenbaum, G., & Schack, T. (2010). Functional mental representation of volleyball routines in German youth female national players. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 22(4), 474-485.
Fathizadeh, A., Sohrabi, M., Saberi Kakhaki, A., (2022). Effect of Imagining the Strategy of Play               and  Imagining the Motor Skill on Youths' Sport Performance in Karate. Journal of Sports and              Motor  Development and Learning. (In persian) 
 

  • Receive Date 23 October 2022
  • Revise Date 10 March 2023
  • Accept Date 10 March 2023

Home

Publication Ethics

Guide for Authors

Submit Manuscript

Contact Us