evidence in psychology? Or does it merely reflect some “New Age”, pseudo-scientific
mysticism?
In attempting to answer these challenging questions, the present chapter will explore a
variety of intriguing issues at three different levels: practical, methodological and
theoretical. For example, if mental imagery does improve athletic performance, is it
possible that athletes could practise their skills in their heads without leaving their
armchairs? Or are the alleged benefits of systematic mental rehearsal too small to be of
any practical significance to sport performers? Turning to methodological issues, how
can we measure people’s mental images? After all, they are among the most private and
ephemeral of all our psychological experiences. At a theoretical level, many fascinating
questions have emerged in this field. For example, what happens in our brains when we
imagine something? Also, what psychological mechanisms could account for the effects
of mental rehearsal on skilled performance? More generally, can research on imagery
processes in athletes provide us with any valuable insights into how the mind works? For
example, could it be that imagery is not something that we “have” in our minds but
something that we “do” with our brains? Perhaps the best way to address these questions
is to explore the main psychological theories, findings and issues in research on mental
imagery in sport performers. In order to achieve this objective, the present chapter is
organised as follows.
In the first section, I shall investigate the nature and types of mental imagery and also
explain what the term “mental practice” means in sport psychology. The next section will
review the main findings, theories and issues arising from research on mental practice in
sport. The third part of the chapter will consider briefly the measurement of mental
imagery skills in sport. After that, I shall describe what researchers have learned about
the ways in which athletes use mental imagery in various athletic situations. Next, I shall
sketch some new directions for research on imagery in athletes. Finally, a few ideas for
possible research projects in this field will be provided.
What is mental imagery?Historically, the term “mental imagery” has been used in two ways (Wraga and Kosslyn,
2002). On the one hand, it designates the content of one’s imagination—namely, the
subjective experience of “seeing with the mind’s eye”, for example. On the other hand,
imagery refers to “an internal representation that gives rise to the experience of
perception in the absence of the appropriate sensory input” (p. 466). It is this latter
understanding of the term that guides the present chapter.
One of the most remarkable features of the mind is its capacity to mimic or simulate
experiences. Psychologists use the term mental imagery to describe this cognitive (or
knowledge-seeking) process which we use every day in order to represent things (e.g.,
people, places, experiences, situations) in working memory in the absence of appropriate
sensory input (Moran, 2002a). For example, if you close your eyes, you should be able to
imagine a set of traffic lights changing from green to red (a visual image), the sound of an
ambulance siren (an auditory image) or maybe even the muscular feelings evoked by
running up steep stairs (a kinaesthetic image). Theoretically, imagery involves perception
without sensation. Specifically, whereas perception occurs when we interpret sensory
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