Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, Neuroplasticity & Motor Behavior Lab, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, USA.
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA.
J Mot Behav. 2024;56(5):519-532. doi: 10.1080/00222895.2024.2350721. Epub 2024 May 12.
When one directs their attention to an intended effect (external focus of attention, EFOA), motor performance is generally better than when one directs their attention to their own body movements (internal focus of attention, IFOA). However, the effect of attentional focus is unclear when a skill is practiced through motor imagery (MI) in the absence of physical trials. Participants ( = 30, = 22.33 yrs, = 2.69) in the present study completed three physical trials of a reciprocal aiming task before and (24-h) after MI practice. During MI practice, the EFOA ( = 15) and IFOA ( = 15) groups mentally practiced the task with no physical practice with EFOA-MI or IFOA-MI, respectively, for three consecutive days. Our results showed that both groups significantly improved in accuracy ( = 6.49, = .017), supporting the benefit of MI in motor skill acquisition. However, a significant effect of attentional focus was not observed ( = 0.445, = 0.51). We discussed two potential explanations: EFOA/IFOA requires physical trials to affect performance, or individuals must use both EFOA and IFOA in the process of creating imagery of the environment and movements, which may obscure the effect of EFOA and IFOA.
当人们将注意力集中在预期效果上（外部注意焦点，EFOA）时，运动表现通常会优于将注意力集中在自身身体动作上（内部注意焦点，IFOA）。然而，当技能通过运动意象（MI）进行练习而没有物理试验时，注意力焦点的效果尚不清楚。本研究中的参与者（n=30，年龄=22.33 岁，均数差=2.69）在进行 MI 练习之前和之后（24 小时）完成了三次往返瞄准任务的物理试验。在 MI 练习期间，EFOA（n=15）和 IFOA（n=15）组分别通过 EFOA-MI 或 IFOA-MI 进行无物理练习的心理练习，连续三天进行。我们的结果表明，两组的准确性都显著提高（=6.49，p=0.017），支持 MI 在运动技能习得中的益处。然而，并未观察到注意力焦点的显著效果（=0.445，p=0.51）。我们讨论了两种可能的解释：EFOA/IFOA 需要物理试验才能影响表现，或者个体在创建环境和动作意象的过程中必须同时使用 EFOA 和 IFOA，这可能会掩盖 EFOA 和 IFOA 的效果。
