Effect of Mental Practice on the Development of a Certain Motor Skill

The effect of mental practice was compared with that of physical practice in the development of a motor skill, the Pacific Coast one-hand foul shot. One hundred and forty-four high school boys were equated into physical and mental practice groups on the basis of arm strength, intelligence, and varsity, junior varsity, or novice experience. Mental practice was found to be nearly as effective as physical practice under the conditions of the experiment. PHYSICAL EDUCATORS and coaches are becoming increasingly aware of the potential importance of the mental aspects of motor learning. To date, this awareness seems to be based more on intuition than on research evidence. For example, an extensive examination of literature disclosed only a few pieces of research that were designed primarily to investigate the effect of mental practice on the learning of motor skill. Wilbur E. Twining (11) made an observation in 1949 that is still true. In spite of the rapid advancement in the scientific approach to physical education, there is little in the literature to indicate just how much motor learning is physical and how much mental. There is little doubt that knowledge of mental activity required for efficient motor learning would aid physical educators in an understanding of teaching techniques. But the variable of mental activity is one which is difficult to isolate and measure. At best it can be roughly compared to its given counterpart in physical activity. The very sparseness of references to this concept in the literature serves all the more to emphasize the importance of this gap in our knowledge. In addition to the study by Twining, studies by the following are pertinent to the investigation: Vandell, Davis, and Clugston (12), Trussell (10), Perry (6), Harby (3), Flanagan (2), G. Rubin-Rabson (8), and Shaw (9). Although limited in number and scope, these studies provide sufficient evidence that “mental practice,” or mind rehearsal of motor skill may produce enough improvement to warrant further and more intensive investigation of its potential effect.