Content uploaded by Gernot Horstmann
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Gernot Horstmann
Content may be subject to copyright.
Does Mental Practice Work Like Physical Practice without Information Feedback
Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport
Abstract
66
... Research has shown that mental practice leads to higher performance for motor tasks when compared to no practice at all. Nevertheless, several studies have shown that physical practice is superior to mental practice ( Richardson, 1967a( Richardson, , 1967bFeltz & Landers, 1983 ;Denis, 1985 ;Grouios, 1992 ;Driskell, et al ., 1994 ;Wulf, Horstmann, & Choi, 1995 ;Millard, Mahoney, & Wardrop, 2001 ). Although the research related to the superiority of physical practice compared to mental practice is well established, ambiguity exists about the real eff ects of mental practice for motor learning in novices. ...
... The fi ndings indicated there was no signifi cant diff erence in performance for any of the measures using only mental practice. This fi nding does not agree with previous fi ndings in the current literature or any theory about the contribution of mental practice to motor learning ( Richardson, 1967a( Richardson, , 1967bFeltz & Landers, 1983 ;Denis, 1985 ;Grouios, 1992 ;Driskell, et al ., 1994 ;Wulf, et al ., 1995 ;Millard, et al ., 2001, Morris, Spittle, & Watt, 2005. However, it was unclear in previous studies if there was any control of the amount of physical practice by the mental practice groups ( Stebbins, 1968 ;Ryan & Simons, 1981 ;Zecker, 1982 ;Hird, et al ., 1991 ;Grouios, 1992 ;Blair, et al ., 1993 ;Overdorf, et al ., 2004 ;Brouziyne & Molinaro, 2005 ;Cahn, 2008 ;Tousaint & Blandin, 2010 ). ...
... This fi nding reinforces the positive eff ect of mental practice when combined with physical practice. While some studies have shown combined practice to be as eff ective as physical practice ( Richardson, 1967a ;Mackay, 1981 ;Hirai & Gobbi, 1990 ;Wulf, et al ., 1995 ), others showed combined practice to be even better than physical practice alone ( Maring, 1990 ;Brouziyne & Molinaro, 2005 ). This implies that there are benefi ts related to mental practice during skill learning, such as paying attention to important aspects of skill which strengthen when combined with physical practice ( Corbin, 1972 ). ...
The effects of mental practice in novices were investigated. University students (N = 60) performed a serial aiming task, distributed in 5 groups of 12: mental practice, physical practice, mental-physical practice (first mental then physical practice), physical-mental practice (first physical then mental practice), and a control group that only performed the tests. Participants transported three tennis balls among six containers in a pre-established sequence in a target time. In the acquisition phase and retention test (24 hr. later), the task was the same; in the transfer test, 5 min. after the acquisition phase, sequence and time changed. Six trials were performed in the acquisition phase, and each test consisted of 9 trials. The performance measures were absolute error, constant error, and variable error; a t test and a two-way ANOVA were used to compare the acquisition phase and tests, respectively. Physical practice and both groups of combined conditions presented better performance in tests than the mental practice and control groups. Mental practice without motor experience in the task did not improve motor learning. Prior physical performance is desirable before conducting mental practice.
... O posicionamento da prática mental em relação à prática física é outra variável estudada e também tem sido tradicionalmente testada com prática física e combinação de prática (CAHN, 2008;HIRD et al., 1991;MACKAY, 1981;MILLARD et al., 2001;RICHARDSON, 1967a;STEBBINS, 1968;WULF et al., 1995). Este tema de investigação está vinculado aos resultados de pesquisa que investigaram o próprio efeito da prática mental e combinação de prática. ...
... Em alguns estudos a prática combinada foi estruturada alternando as sessões de tentativas de prática física e mental (MACKAY, 1981;MARING, 1990;WULF et al., 1995). Os resultados mostraram em todos os estudos que tanto a prática física quanto a prática combinada levaram à aprendizagem da habilidade praticada. ...
... Além disso, distribuições variadas de tempo de prática utilizadas nos grupos de prática combinada não foram relevantes para a aprendizagem motora. Este resultado não corrobora os achados que apontaram superioridade da prática combinada e prática física sobre a prática mental (MACKAY, 1981;MARING, 1990;STEBBINS, 1968;WULF et al., 1995). ...
A prática mental parece contribuir no processo de aprendizagem motora, mas ainda não estão claros os efeitos do posicionamento e da quantidade de prática mental em relação à prática física, sendo este o objetivo do presente estudo. Setenta e dois universitários de ambos os sexos e novatos na tarefa foram distribuídos em seis grupos de prática combinada (física e mental) para a aprendizagem do arremesso do dardo de salão. Na fase de aquisição, os sujeitos realizaram 50 tentativas de prática física e 18, 90 ou 180 tentativas de prática mental (conforme cada grupo) antes ou após a prática física. Dez minutos após a fase de aquisição foram realizados os testes de retenção e transferência. Não foi observada diferença significante entre os grupos nos testes. Os resultados indicaram que a quantidade e o posicionamento da prática mental não influenciaram a aprendizagem do arremesso do dardo de salão.
... No geral, esses estudos confi rmaram o efeito da interferência contextual, com exceção do estudo de SHEA e TITZER (1993). A manipulação de parâmetros também foi testada com o tempo (SEKIYA et al., 1994;WULF & LEE, 1993). Não houve coerência nos resultados encontrados. ...
... Outros estudos também investigaram esta questão (ex. LAI, SHEA, WULF & WRIGHT, 2000;SEKIYA & MAGILL, 2000;SEKIYA et al., 1994;SHEA, LAI, WRIGHT, IMMINK & BLACK, 2001;WULF & LEE, 1993). No geral os resultados indicam que a prática aleatória auxilia, principalmente, a aprendizagem de parâmetros (LAGE et al., 2007). ...
Practice is considered the most important factor in motor learning and consequently practice schedule is the most investigated factor in the area. There are two different types of practice: mental and physical. Physical practice is divided in fractionated, distributed and variable. Although the studies investigated different types of practice organization separately, in teaching or training situations all of them interact in practice scheduling. This review is organized in a similar way but at the final it was analyzed the possibilities of interactions.
... Gowen and Poliakoff, 2012), or 96 performed by different groups of participants (Rens et al., 2020). Moreover, depending on the 97 experimental design, authors may consider controlling for differences between physical and 98 mental practice such as differences in feedback (Ingram et al., 2019;Wulf et al., 1995). It is 99 therefore recommended that authors carefully consider their choices relating to control 100 conditions/groups, and include discussion of why the controls used are appropriate in their 101 manuscripts. ...
Researchers from multiple disciplines have studied the simulation of actions through motor imagery, action observation, or their combination. Procedures used in these studies vary considerably between research groups, and no standardized approach to reporting experimental protocols has been proposed. This has led to under-reporting of critical details, impairing the assessment, replication, synthesis, and potential clinical translation of effects. We provide an overview of issues related to the reporting of information in action simulation studies, and discuss the benefits of standardized reporting. We propose a series of checklists that identify key details of research protocols to include when reporting action simulation studies. Each checklist comprises A) essential methodological details, B) essential details that are relevant to a specific mode of action simulation, and C) further points that may be useful on a case-by-case basis. We anticipate that the use of these guidelines will improve the understanding, reproduction, and synthesis of studies using action simulation, and enhance the translation of research using motor imagery and action observation to applied and clinical settings.
... The smaller possibility of adjustments, when compared to a physical practice, comes from the lower reference for trial-to-trial for correction. During mental practice, the subject receives no information about the movement, through the natural consequence of movement (intrinsic feedback), or additional information about the movement (augmented feedback) (Wulf et al., 1995). The lack of information about the movement may impact the reference for correction (Figure 2), which consequently impacts the adjustments made trial-to-trial (Gentili et al., 2010). ...
Learning about the relative timing dimension of a motor skill is enhanced by factors that promote higher response stability between trials. Conversely, learning the absolute timing dimension is favored by lower trial-to-trial stability. The mental practice may increase response stability during acquisition since there is a low possibility of adjustments made between trials. Thus, this study aimed to test the hypothesis that some factors that increase response stability during the acquisition phase contribute to an enhanced relative timing dimension learning. Our hypothesis is that mental practice shows less relative timing error than the absence of practice. A sequential key-pressing task was practiced with two goals: learn (1) relative timing dimension and (2) absolute timing dimension. Participants were assigned to one of three groups: Physical, Mental, or No practice. The Physical group showed greater learning of both dimensions than the other two groups. The Mental group showed greater learning of relative timing dimension than the No practice group. The results suggest that mental practice produces increased stability, which in turn promotes learning of the relative timing dimension.
... The smaller possibility of adjustments, when compared to physical practice, comes from the lower reference for trial-to-trial for correction. During mental practice, the subject receives no information about the movement, be through natural consequence of movement (intrinsic feedback) or through additional information about the movement (augmented feedback) (Wulf et al., 1995). The lack of information about the movement may impact the reference for correction (Figure 2), which consequently impacts the adjustments made trial-to-trial (Gentili et al., 2010). ...
Learning about the relative timing dimension of a motor skill is enhanced by factors that promote higher response stability between trials. Conversely, learning the absolute timing dimension is favored by lower trial-to-trial stability. Mental practice may increase response stability during acquisition, since there is low possibility of adjustments made between trials. Thus, the aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that some factors that increase response stability during acquisition phase contributes to an enhanced relative timing dimension learning. Our hypothesis is that mental practice shows less relative timing error than absence of practice. A sequential key-pressing task was practiced with two goals: learn (1) relative timing dimension and (2) absolute timing dimension. Participants were assigned to one of three groups: Physical, Mental or No practice. The Physical group showed greater learning of both dimensions, than the other two groups. The Mental group showed greater learning of relative timing dimension than the No practice group. The results suggest that mental practice produces increased stability, which in turn promotes learning of the relative timing dimension.
... Practice conditions with explicit movement are usually known as physical practice, while those that do not include movement are called mental practice (Gomes et al., 2014;Millard, Mahoney, & Wardrop, 2001;Wulf, Horstmann, & Choi, 1995). Studies often see physical practice as superior to mental practice, while the latter, to a lesser extent, leads to better performance and learning than conditions with no practice (Toth, Neill, Hayes, Moran, & Campbell, 2020). ...
Parallel to processes of memory consolidation, forgetting is a functional mechanism that allows the maintenance of relevant information or learning in memory. Practice condition can affect the forgetting rate, favoring or not memory consolidation. Physical practice has been shown to be effective in decreasing forgetting, but the role of mental practice is not known yet. Thus, in this study we aimed to investigate the role of mental practice in the forgetting rate of a motor skill. Twenty-four participants with mean age of 26.13 years (± 3.04) of both genders were divided in three groups: (a) mental practice group (MG), physical practice group (PG), which practiced the handstand skill either mentally or physically, respectively, and (c) control group (CG), that did not practice the skill. Results showed no difference between the forgetting rate of the MG and PG groups. Also, they had smaller forgetting rates than the CG. Thus, it is suggested that mental practice is as effective as physical practice to decrease the forgetting rate of motor skills, favoring the maintenance of the movement representation in memory. Possibly, physical and mental practice conditions share mechanisms that slow down forgetting processes.
... Assim, por exemplo, a realização de três horas semanais de prática em três dias diferentes, com uma hora de duração cada, certamente beneficiará a aprendizagem das habilidades do padel em comparação à utilização das mesmas três horas de prática em uma única sessão semanal. Já sobre a prática mental, evidências têm apontado que a sua utilização, a partir da recapitulação cognitiva da habilidade por meio da imaginação, pode trazer benefícios para a aprendizagem, em conjunto com a utilização da prática física (Wulf, Horstmann & Choi, 1995). Por último, apesar de a efetividade dos treinamentos no mundo real ser muitas vezes considerada superior mediante situações de prática individual ao invés de coletiva, estudos têm demonstrado que situações onde os aprendizes praticam em duplas resultam em aumento da eficiência da aprendizagem em comparação à prática individual, além de, obviamente, minimizar custos (Shea, Wulf & Whitacre, 1999;Shebilske, Regian, Arthur & Jordan, 1992). ...
Apesar de recente e ainda com um número pequeno de praticantes comparado a outros esportes como o futebol, o voleibol, ou mesmo o tênis, o padel é apontado como um esporte acessível a distintos públicos-alvo. Embora pareça um esporte de raquete simples e fácil a primeira vista, não é difícil perceber, com um olhar mais atento e criterioso, que o padel é um jogo complexo, com diferentes elementos influenciando conjuntamente os seus resultados. Cabe aos profissionais da área a elaboração de experiências que otimizem a aprendizagem dos praticantes, iniciantes e experts, equilibrando aspectos motores, técnicos e táticos que são determinantes no jogo. O presente capítulo tem como objetivo fornecer subsídios teóricos, a partir dos conhecimentos advindos das pesquisas em Aprendizagem Motora, para a intervenção profissional no contexto do padel.
مطالعه حاضر به منظور بررسی اثر مدلهای مختلف تصویرسازی ذهنی بر تعادل پویای سالمندان شهر اهواز انجام شد. در این مطالعه نیمه تجربی از بین کلیه سالمندان 60 تا 80 ساله این شهر، 75 نفر به صورت در دسترس و هدفمند انتخاب و بطور تصادفی در 5 گروه 15 نفری تمرین بدنی، تصویرسازی ذهنی پتلپ، تصویرسازی ذهنی سنتی، ترکیب تمرین بدنی و تصویرسازی ذهنی پتلپ و ترکیب تمرین بدنی و تصویرسازی ذهنی سنتی قرار گرفتند. مطالعه شامل تکلیف تعادل پویا (بلند شدن و راه رفتن زماندار) بود. پروتکل تمرینی، 3 جلسه درهفته به مدت 6 هفته صورت گرفت و سپس پس آزمون به عمل آمد. آزمون یادداری 2 هفته پس از آخرین جلسة تمرینی گرفته شد. بعد از بررسی نرمال بودن دادهها، برابری واریانسها و همسانی ماتریس کواریانس دادههای اندازهگیری، دادهها به روش آماری تحلیل واریانس درون گروهی با اندازهگیری تکراری، تحلیل واریانس یکراهه و آزمون تعقیبی توکی تحلیل شد. نتایج حاکی از پیشرفت معنادار هر یک از گروهها در مراحل آزمون بود (001/0 p=). همچنین نتایج حاکی از تفاوت معنیدار بین گروهها در مراحل اکتساب (001/0 p=) و یادداری (001/0 p=) بود. علاوه بر این، نتایج حاکی از برتری گروه ترکیب تمرین بدنی و تصویرسازی ذهنی پتلپ طی هر دو مرحله اکتساب (95/10 M=) و یادداری (98/10 M=) بود. با توجه به یافتههای این پژوهش، نقش تصویرسازی ذهنی مدل پتلپ به همراه تمرین بدنی بیش از پیش مورد توجه قرار گرفته و تأکید براستفاده از آن توصیه میشود.
Practice is considered the most important factor in motor learning and consequently practice schedule is the most investigated factor in the area. There are two different types of practice: mental and physical. Physical practice is divided in fractionated, distributed and variable. Although the studies investigated different types of practice organization separately, in teaching or training situations all of them interact in practice scheduling. This review is organized in a similar way but at the final it was analyzed the possibilities of interactions.
Female high school students (N = 120) performed the task of hitting a solid whiffle golf ball with a paddle at a target in an open or closed environment. Subjects practiced under mental, physical, or physical-mental conditions for three successive days, were tested on a fourth day, and took a retention test immediately, a day later, a week later, or a month later. Accuracy scores were recorded in blocks of 10 trials during acquisition and in blocks of 5 trials during testing and retention. Mental practice required mentally hitting 40 balls, physical practice actually hitting 40 balls, and combined practice alternated actually hitting 10 with mentally hitting 10 until 40 balls were hit. All practice conditions led to improvement in accuracy but the combined treatment was most effective, the physical next, and the mental treatment least effective in terms of over-all accuracy. All groups showed retention of accuracy regardless of the duration of retention interval. While evidence was produced for a differential effect of combined practice on skill performed in open and closed environments, the rapid improvement, during early learning, of accuracy in the skill performed in the closed environment makes firm comparisons unwise. Suggestions for further research which will clarify the relationship between type of practice and type of environment are included.
Recent changes in pretheoretical orientation toward problems of human memory have brought with them a concern with retrieval processes, and a number of early versions of theories of retrieval have been constructed. This paper describes and evaluates explanations offered by these theories to account for the effect of extralist cuing, facilitation of recall of list items by non-list items. Experiments designed to test the currently most popular theory of retrieval, the generation-recognition theory, yielded results incompatible not only with generation-recognition models, but most other theories as well: under certain conditions subjects consistently failed to recognize many recallable list words. Several tentative explanations of this phenomenon of recognition failure were subsumed under the encoding specificity principle according to which the memory trace of an event and hence the properties of effective retrieval cue are determined by the specific encoding operations performed by the system on the input stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Relative frequency of knowledge of results (KR) is the proportion of KR presentations to the total number of practice trials. Three experiments are reported in which the effects of variations in acquisition KR relative frequency were examined. Experiment 1 showed that a markedly reduced KR relative frequency during practice was as effective for learning as measured by various retention tests, compared with a 100% KR practice condition. In Experiments 2 and 3, when the scheduling of KR was manipulated so that the number of KR trials was systematically lowered across practice, a reduced average relative frequency enhanced learning as measured by a delayed no-KR retention test (Experiment 2) and a retention test in which KR was provided (Experiment 3). Results are inconsistent with predictions from an acquisition-test specificity hypothesis and conventional motor learning theories and thus suggest a revision in the principles governing the role of KR for motor learning. Empirical support is provided for the KR guidance hypothesis (A. W. Salmoni et al; see record
1984-22348-001) and for various encoding-retrieval operations associated with spaced retrieval practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examines some critical definitional and experimental-design problems that underlie the principles of knowledge of results (KR) and learning, the KR literature, and how newer principles of KR lead to notions of how KR works in human motor-learning situations. KR is defined as augmented feedback, where the KR is additional to those sources of feedback that are naturally received when a response is made. Transfer tests, usually under no-KR conditions, are essential for unraveling the temporary effects of KR manipulations from their relatively permanent learning effects. When this is considered, the literature reveals findings that produce reasonable agreement, although there are a number of inconsistencies in studies examining the same variables. When learning vs performance effects of KR are separated, a number of contradictions occur; new principles that emerge include the notion that KR acts as guidance, that it is motivating or energizing, and that it has a role in the formation of associations. It is suggested that KR may guide an S to the proper target behavior, with other processes (e.g., simple repetition) being the critical determinants of learning. (4 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
In earlier studies, reducing the relative frequency of knowledge of results (KR) enhanced retention of single movements. In the experiments here we asked whether this variable also enhances memory for classes of actions governed by generalized motor programs. Acquisition conditions involved practicing three versions of a sequential timing task. All three versions had the same temporal structure (or phasing), but the overall durations were different. KR was presented on either 100% or 67% of the trials for two groups. In Experiment 1, reduced relative KR frequency, spread equally across all task versions, enhanced accuracy of the learned relative timing structure as measured on a transfer test with a novel movement duration. Experiment 2 showed that retention of a medium-duration version was more accurate for subjects who never received KR about it in acquisition, as compared with subjects who always did. The data support the view that reduced KR frequency enhances acquisition of the relative-timing structure underlying memory for a class of actions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Reviews research examining the role played by variables that mediate the effectiveness of mental practice. A meta-analysis was performed of 21 studies that met the criteria of having both an adequate control and a mental practice alone group. The 44 separate effect sizes resulted in an overall average effect size of .68, indicating that there is a significant benefit to performance of using mental practice over no practice. A series of General Linear Models revealed that the use of internal imagery produced a larger average effect size than the use of external imagery, and that mental practice sessions of less than 1 min or between 10 and 15 min in length produced a larger average effect size than sessions of 3–5 min in length. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Three groups of subjects learned a high-relief finger maze, each group was later given a different set of instructions regarding rehearsal, and then each group relearned the maze. In the interval, some subjects attempted to recall the pattern of the maze, others tried to draw the maze, and the third group was asked not to draw or think about the maze. The verbal reports taken included the modes of attack used. Symbolic rehearsal was found to have a beneficial influence upon retention, and drawing was more effective than thinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)