The Ideomotor approach to action control: Implications for skilled performance

Ideomotor approaches to motor control focus on the cognitive mechanisms underlying voluntary action selection. Ideomotor theory states that actions are cognitively represented in terms of their anticipated sensory consequences (response effects) and that there are bidirectional associations between movements and ensuing response effects. Accordingly, the anticipation of response effects may serve as a mental cue to activate the corresponding movement. The aim of the present paper is to describe the general principles of ideomotor theory and to review recent empirical work that supports this theory. Specifically, we describe studies on the role of response effects for the selection and initiation of simple actions and for learning and performing action sequences. Finally, we discuss potential implications of these results for sport psychology, in particular with reference to the role of motor imagery in mental practice.