Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan 20123, Italy; IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, Milan 20162, Italy.
Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan 20123, Italy.
Acta Psychol (Amst). 2024 Aug;248:104366. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2024.104366. Epub 2024 Jun 22.
The study aimed to examine the effect of mental imagery on sports performance. Specifically, it was tested whether imagining flying (i.e., air travel) increases jumping performance in a group of female volleyball players.
The study included 46 female young athletes (mean age = 15.23 years; standard deviation = 2.4) divided into two groups: the experimental group viewed a three-dimensional video that simulated a flying experience, while the control group watched neutral footage. The jump performance of both groups was measured before and after viewing the videos, using the Vertec Like® instrument to assess jump height. Participants were assessed for their flow disposition, mental imagery skills, and image vividness.
Comparing pre-post jump performance scores, the experimental group showed a significant improvement over the control group, with a medium-large effect size (d = 0.634). There was no significant association between flow disposition, mental imagery skills, image vividness, and pre-post jumping performance differences (respectively: β = -0.107, p = .484; β = -0.008, p = .957; β = 0.024, p = .913).
These findings suggest that the experience of imagining flying, enhanced with an immersive video, has a positive effect on jumping performance in a one-session study with young female volleyball players. This effect does not appear to be associated with pre-existing characteristics or the vividness of the image itself.
本研究旨在探讨心理意象对运动表现的影响。具体来说，研究检验了在一组女性排球运动员中，想象飞行（即空中旅行）是否会提高跳跃表现。
研究包括 46 名年轻女性运动员（平均年龄=15.23 岁；标准差=2.4），分为实验组和对照组。实验组观看了一段模拟飞行体验的三维视频，而对照组观看了中性视频。使用 Vertec Like®仪器评估跳跃高度，测量两组在观看视频前后的跳跃表现。参与者的流畅状态、心理意象技能和意象生动度进行了评估。
比较跳跃前后的表现得分，实验组比对照组有显著提高，具有中等至较大的效应量（d=0.634）。流畅状态、心理意象技能和意象生动度与跳跃前后的表现差异之间没有显著关联（分别为：β=-0.107，p=.484；β=-0.008，p=.957；β=0.024，p=.913）。
这些发现表明，在一项针对年轻女性排球运动员的单次研究中，增强沉浸式视频的飞行想象体验对跳跃表现有积极影响。这种影响似乎与预先存在的特征或意象本身的生动度无关。
