Minas, S. C. (1978). Mental practice of a complex perceptual-motor skill. Journal of Human Movement Studies, 4, 102-107.

The acquisition of a sequential component of a complex motor skill was compared under four conditions: mental imagery plus feedback, mental imagery, physical practice, and no practice. It was found that both mental practice conditions facilitated learning. The most effective condition was mental practice plus feedback. The feedback was generated by imagining while looking at the actual setting.

Implication. Mentally practicing an activity while actually looking at the situation in which it will be performed appears to have an enhancing effect upon the rate of learning over mental practice alone. This would seem to indicate that when mental imagery is performed as part of a learning strategy it might be helpful to imagine while looking at the situation in which the trial will be performed.

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