experiences. Fifth, Cumming and Hall (2002b) raise the intriguing proposition that the
theory of deliberate practice (see Chapter 6) can be explored in athletes using research on
imagery processes. This idea, which is based on Hall’s (2001) speculation that mental
and physical practice are equivalent in certain ways, could be a profitable avenue for
future research. Finally, not enough studies have been conducted on the issue of how top-
level athletes use mental imagery in learning and performing complex sport skills.
Let us now turn to the issue of whether or not imagery research has any implications
for the pursuit, in mainstream cognitive psychology, of how the mind works. In a recent
paper, Moran (2002a) considered several ways in which research on mental imagery in
athletes can enrich mainstream cognitive psychology. Up to now, however, cognitive
psychology has devoted little attention to the world of athletic performance (although
Frederick Bartlett used tennis and cricket examples when explaining his theory of
schemata in the early 1930s). Nevertheless, imagery research in sport may help to enrich
cognitive theory in several ways. First, it can provide a natural laboratory for the study of
neglected topics such as kinaesthetic and meta-imagery processes. Second, it offers a
sample of expert participants (top-class athletes) and a range of imagery tests (Hall, 1998)
which may help researchers to make progress in understanding individual differences in
cognitive processes. Interestingly, Kosslyn et al. (2001) observed that the issue of why
people differ so much in imagery abilities remains largely unresolved. Finally, research
on athletes could facilitate our understanding of the neural substrates of imagery. To
explain, recent studies (Behrmann, 2000; Kosslyn et al., 2001) show that people with
vivid imagery show significantly increased blood flow in the occipital region when
visualising. Does this pattern also emerge when functional brain-mapping techniques are
applied to athletes skilled in the use of imagery? What neural activation is elicited by
kinaesthetic imagery processes in sport performers? These are just some of the cognitive
issues raised by research on imagery processes in athletes.
Ideas for research projects on imagery in athletesHere are six suggestions for possible research projects on the topic of mental imagery in
sport and exercise psychology.
1 It would be interesting to explore the relationship between imagery perspective (i.e., the
viewpoint that a person takes during imagery—namely, either a first-person or a third-
person perspective) and the performance of a closed skill such as a tennis serve. To
illustrate the difference between these rival perspectives, consider two different ways
of visualising the serve. For this skill, an “external” imagery would involve watching
oneself serving from the perspective of an outside observer (e.g., as if one were
looking at someone else performing this skill on television). Conversely, an internal
perspective would entail the simulation of what one would actually experience if one
were physically serving the ball. According to Mahoney and Avener (1977), task
performance should improve when participants adopt an internal (or first-person)
rather than an external (or third-person) imagery perspective. On the other hand,
Hardy and Callow (1999) found that the adoption of an external visual imagery
perspective was superior to that of an internal perspective when learning skills in
which correct “form” is important (e.g., karate, gymnastics). It would be useful to
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