Mental Preparation Strategies. Review and Critique. and Motor Performance: A. The Relationship Between. Robert S. Weinberg

Transcription

1 Quest, 1982,33(2), The Relationship Between Mental Preparation Strategies and Motor Performance: A Review and Critique Robert S. Weinberg This paper reviews the mental practice literature as well as more current research on the effect of specific mental preparation strategies on skilled performance. A synopsis of the mental practice literature indicated that mental practice was generally effective in enhancing performance. For maximum effectiveness, mental practice should be used in conjunction with physical practice and should not be thought of as a replacement for physical practice. The degree of effectiveness of mental practice is dependent on a number of variables, such as conceptualizing ability, previous experience, task type, and length of practice session. Recently, researchers have begun to study the effect of specific mental preparation on motor performance. Some of the more popular techniques include imagery, selfefficacy statements, attentional focus, preparatory arousal, and relaxation. In addition, several recent techniques such as stress innoculation training and visuomotor behavior rehearsal use a combination of the techniques. Although preliminary empirical research is encouraging, more controlled outcome studies are necessary to determine the effectiveness of these techniques in enhancing skilled performance. The role and effect of cognitive processes on athletic performance recently has been acknowledged. Numerous studies have provided experimental, correlational, and anecdotal evidence that patterns of thought can influence athletic performance (e.g., Corbin, 1972; Richardson, 1967a, 1967b; Shelton & Mahoney, 1978; Suinn, 1972a, 1972b, 1976). In addition, many athletes in a About the Author Robe* Weinberg is with the Department of Physical Education at North Texas State University, Denton, Texas. variety of sports refer to the importance of mental preparation in their athletic performance. Anecdotal reports seem to indicate, however, that physical educators have frequently limited their teaching methodologies to the use of physical practice techniques. One potential reason for this resides in the belief that motor skills are acquired, developed, and refined through physical practice, drills, and training. Although physical practice is indeed imperative in order to acquire a high level of physical skill, evidence suggests that physical proficiency might be considerably enhanced

2 196 WEINBERG by the inclusion of various mental preparation techniques (Oxendine, 1968; Singer, 1975). Nideffer (1976a) suggests that "one of the reasons why psychological preparation of athletes has not been emphasized is due to the failure of psychological thinking itself to provide a theoretical framework in this field-one that allows us to consistently understand, predict and control the various mental factors which determine the outcome of competitive situations" (p.5). In addition, Singer (1972) states that the traditional emphasis upon physical practice with a neglect of the associated mental processes does not seem to take full advantage of human intellectual ability. Too frequently learners seem to go through the motion rather mechanically without much thought of kinesthetic awareness of the essential movement responses. Thus, if physical educators are interested in their students and athletes reaching their potential, some form of mental preparation would appear necessary. A problem arises for teachers who attempt to employ mental practice in their teaching methodologies, however. Specifically, Richardson (1967a) states that the majority of mental practice studies have focused upon mental practice in relation to the acquisition, development, and retention of physical skill rather than on identifying the best type of mental practice. This does not provide teachers with much information about the best mental preparation strategy for their sport. Therefore, this paper reviews the vast literature on mental practice, discusses the recent literature on the effect of specific mental preparation strategies on motor performance, and offers some implications for the teaching of physical skills. An abundance of research in the physical education literature has com- pared the effectiveness of physical and mental practice in acquiring or developing motor skills. For example, Richardson (1967a, 1967b) reports on over 25 studies explicitly concerned with the effects of mental practice on performance. He defines mental practice as "the symbolic rehearsal of a physical activity in the absence of any gross muscular movements" (B967a, p. 95). Although mental practice has been the term most frequently used in the literature, this topic has been investigated under a variety of names such as imaginary rehearsal, symbolic rehearsal, implicit practice, mental rehearsal, and conceptualizing practice. In fact, Singer (1972) notes that mental practice methods have included the following techniques: (a) having the subject read a description of the task, (b) memorization of descriptions and thinking through them at regular intervals, (c) viewing a demonstration or film of the proper execution of a skill, (d) having the teacher read a description to the students, and (e) having subjects imagine themselves correctly performing the skill. For the sake of clarity, the term mental practice will be employed in this section to represent all of the above mental strategies, because the research studies do not distinguish between lhese various techniques. In reviewing the literature on mental practice, Richardson (1967a) notes that most studies used the following basic methodology: In most studies a comparison has been made between the initial physical performance of each group and its final performance. Changes in perfbrn~ance levcl rcsulting from the type of intervening activity are typically expressed in terms of percentage gains and losses. In the Physical Practice group (PP) the inlervcning activity consists of physical practice of the skill to be acquired. In the Mental Practice group (MP) the intervening linie is occupied in sitting or standing ant1 rehcars-

3 MENTAL PREPARATION 197 ing the skill in imagination.... The members of the No Practice group (NP) are usually given clear instructions not to practice the skill in any way nor to think about it during the interval. Another type of control is to require the members of the NP group to attend the same number of practice sessions as the PP and MP groups but to occupy their time in some activity irrelevant to the task. (p. 96) Early Research in Mental Practice The origins of mental practice research can be traced back to the early writings of Washburn (1916). Although no empirical data had been collected at that time, she contended that movements of slight magnitude occur when one simply imagines oneself performing an activity. Furthermore, Washburn suggested that the muscular activity produced by imagining a movement is basically the same as those produced by the actual movement itself except that imaginary sensations are of a less magnitude. The first empirical research to validate the notion that actual muscular activity does indeed occur when one imagines performing a physical skill was conducted by Jacobson (1932). Jacobson used electromyography to show that muscular activity occurs during imagining and this activity was even of a greater intensity for individuals with movement experience. Although Jacobson's work did not directly address the issue as to whether mental practice can improve motor performance, it did provide important information about the relationship between practicing a skill mentally and the concomitant muscular activity produced by this thought process. One of the first research efforts specifically designed to test the effect of MP versus physical practice was conducted by Sackett (1934, 1935), who employed tasks more "ideational or symbolic" in nature (e.g., mirror tracing, maze tracing, card sorting) rather than tasks emphasizing the motor aspects of skilled performance. For example, in one study subjects learned a finger maze with the criterion of performing two errorless repetitions. Subjects in the PP group were instructed to draw the maze as often as possible from memory and, in particular, to draw five reproductions of the maze each night. The MP subjects were told to think about the maze as often as possible and to mentally rehearse it five times each night although they were not allowed to physically draw it. Finally, the NP subjects were instructed not to think about or physically draw the maze. Retention was assessed a week later and results indicated that the PP group facilitated performance to a greater extent than the MP group although MP was beneficial to both performance and retention. Eggleston (1936) also conducted a study investigating the relative effects of MP, PP, and NP. Male and female subjects (N=20 per group) performed on either a card sorting or digit substitution task. Results indicated that both the MP and PP groups exhibited significant gains in performance. When comparing between groups, however, only the PP group performed significantly better than the NP group although no significant differences were found between the MP and PP groups. Eggleston concluded that PP is slightly superior to MP, but that MP can be an effective tool in learning new skills. Perry (1939) compared the effectiveness of PP and MP in the learning of five different tasks (e.g., tapping, card sorting, peg board, mirror drawing, and digit substitution) which emphasized the cognitive aspects of learning as opposed to the motor aspects. Results indicated that PP was significantly better than MP for all five tasks and that MP was significantly better than NP for all tasks except tapping. Finally, PP was signifi-

4 WEINBERG cantly better than MP for card sorting, mirror tracing, and digit substitution. Perry stated that MP was indeed an effective tool in enhancing performance on tasks predominantly cognitive in nature. Thus the early research on mental practice provided some initial evidence that merely thinking about a subsequent performance will help facilitate the actual performance. In addition, the work of Jacobson (1932, 1938), Shaw (1938), and Freeman (1933) demonstrated that concomitant muscular activity was produced when one imagines oneself performing a specific movement. This research had only indirect impact for the physical educator, however, because almost all the studies employed tasks that Sackett (1935) termed "ideational or symbolic" in nature. In essence, the tasks emphasized the kognitive as opposed to the percepthl-motor aspects of skill acquisition. There was a paucity of research at this-time that used tasks requiring predominately motor skills such as hand-eye coordination, speed, strength, manual dexterity, or endurance. But at least the work of these early researchers provided a springboard and foundation for the systematic study of the effects of mental practice on the learning and performance of motor skills. Recent Research in Mental Practice: After 1940 One of the first studies specifically designed to isolate the effects of mental practice on the learning of a motor skill was conducted by Vandell, Davis, and Clugston (1943). Subjects were males chosen from junior high school, senior high school, and college. Each of these three groups was divided into the following three conditions: (a) PP, in which subjects practiced for 20 days; (b) MP, in which subjects physically practiced on the 1st and 20th days and mentally practiced on days 2 through 19; (c) NP, in which subjects physically practiced on days 1 and 20 but had no practice days 2 through 19. Subjects in these three conditions were equated on intelligence, chronological age, motor ability, and physique. The two tasks employed were dart-throwing and free throw shooting. Results indicated that both the PP and MP groups displayed increases in performance although no statistical tests were conducted to support this contention. The authors concluded that MP is beneficial to performance, and this study provided the impetus for future studies investigating the effect of MP on motor performance. Twinning (1949) conducted a study designed to examine the effect of MP and PP when learning a ring-tossing task emphasizing accuracy. Subjects were divided into three groups and tested by throwing 210 rings on days 1 and 22. The PP groups practiced by throwing 70 rings on each day between the test days. The MP group practiced mentally throwing the rings for 15 minutes each day but were not allowed any actual practice. Finally, the NP group had no mental or physical practice between the test days. Results showed that both the MP and PP groups performed better than the NP group. In addition, Twinning suggested that after about 5 minutes of mental practice, subjects could not adequately concentrate on the task, indicating that there may be an optimal amount of time in which MP is most effective. Although physical educators have acknowledged the fact that there is an optimal length of time in which to physically practice a skill, Twinning's work was the first to suggest an optimal time might exist for mentally practicing a skill. Harby's (Note 1) preliminary work also suggests an optimal length of time for MP sessions, although his results are

5 MENTAL PREPARATION 199 not conclusive. In addition, Richardson (1967a, 1967b) has intimated that too long a time for MP may be detrimental, but few studies in the literature directly test this contention. One notable exception is a study conducted by Schick (Note 2) in which college women performed a variety of volleyball skills. Results indicated that a 3-minute MP session was more effective in enhancing performance than a I-minute session. Thus, MP appears to be most effective within a certain length of time, and physical educators should keep this in mind when implementing MP procedures. Furthermore, the optimal length of time for MP may depend on the nature of the task as well as the nature of the individual; further research is necessary in this area. Finally, not only is the length of the MP sessions an important variable, but the amount of sessions in which one uses MP may also exert a great influence on performance. As with the length of each MP session, is there an optimal number of practice sessions necessary to ensure a high level of performance? Unfortunately, researchers have ignored this issue when comparing MP effects as the number of MP sessions employed has ranged from one day to several weeks. This has potentially confounded the literature, and thus, further research is necessary which controls for this variable. Clark (1960) investigated the effects of mental and physical practice on the performance of basketball free-throw shooting. An important contribution of this study was the use of different ability groups to determine if skill level in a task is an important variable. The three ability groups were (a) varsity basketball players, (b) junior varsity basketball players, and (c) novices. Subjects were equated on intelligence, arm strength, and basketball-playing experience and were divided into MP and PP groups. After 14 days of practice, both groups showed highly significant gains in foulshooting ability. In addition, he found that the novice and junior varsity groups exhibited greater percentage gains in performance in the MP condition than the varsity group. Contrary to Clark's results, Start (1962) found that those rated high on games ability exhibited a significant improvement in their performance on a basketball task after 5 minutes of MP for 9 days, whereas those rated as average or poor on games ability displayed no significant improvement. In support of these findings, Whitley (1962) found that performers of higher ability (as measured by the Iowa-Brace test) used MP more effectively than individuals scoring low in motor ability. A later study by Start and Richardson (1964), however, revealed nonsignificant correlations between percent gains on a single gymnastic skill and motor ability. Although the literature appears equivocal on the issue of whether individuals of high or low ability benefit most from MP, some related research indicates that a minimum amount of experience on the task is necessary for MP to be effective (e.g., Corbin, 1967; Phipps, 1968; Schramm, 1967). For example, in his initial study Corbin instructed subjects to perform a novel task in which they had no prior experience. Results produced no significant gains in performance for the MP group. In a follow-up study, subjects were given PP before receiving MP and in this case the MP subjects displayed significant improvements in performance. In sum, it appears that MP can facilitate performance in both the early or latter stages of learning although subjects need to have some minimal amount of physical practice before MP can be effective, especially in a complex skill. Most of the previously reported studies were interested in either the effects of MP alone or the comparison of

6 200 WEINBERG MP and PP. A number of researchers, however, have also studied the effect of combining MP and PP on skilled performance. For example, Egstrom (1964) investigated the effects of different combinations of MP and PP on selected physical performance tests. All subjects were given performance tests on the lst, 7th, and 13th days. The PP and MP groups practiced exclusively physically or mentally while the NP group received no practice. A fourth group alternated PP and MP every day, a fifth group received PP on the first 5 practice days and MP on the last 5, and last, a sixth group received MP on the first 5 days and PP on the last 5. Results indicated that the group alternating MP and PP exhibited the highest performance gains although they were not significantly higher than the PP group. Richardson (1967a) has reported four other studies which employed various combinations of MP and PP. Riley and Start (1960) found that the group which alternated MP and PP performed the best. The group which received 6 days of PP followed by 6 days of MP was next followed by the group which had MP first followed by PP. In Whitley's (1962) study, each group practiced 20 minutes for 12 days. The group which alternated 5 minutes PP, 5 minutes MP, 5 minutes PP, 5 minutes MP improved the most, followed by the group which alternated 10 minutes PP with 10 minutes MP. The group employing PP was next followed by the MP group. Trussell (1952), using a juggling task, reported that the group employing a 5-minute session on each of the 6 days followed by 14 days of PP exhibited the greatest improvement with the PP group next best. A third group employed a 5-minute MP session for 14 days followed by 6 days of PP was next, followed by the MP group and the NP group. Thus, it appears that some combination of MP and PP is superior to just PP, which is in turn superior to MP. Especially in situations that are physically fatiguing or where PP is not viable, MP can be a valuable tool in enhancing I performance. Furthermore, the literature tends to indicate that MP interspersed between PP sessions produces 1 the greatest gains in performance. Physical educators should build in some time in their lesson plans and practice sessions for some type of MP because this will not only enhance performance, but it will also allow the learner to physically rest and have more energy to continue the performance. A variable which would seem important in the effective use of MP is an individual's ability to image or conceptualize him or herself performing the task. Logically, individuals who can construct clear, vivid, controllable im- 1 ages would most benefit by the use of mental practice. Whitley (1962) con-! ducted the first study designed to test the I effect of imaging ability on perfor- B mance. His measure of imagery ability $ had subjects view for 2 minutes a ran-! dom arrangement of 12 objects of 2 F square trays. Subjects then had to recall P B the objects and try to place them into the i correct quadrant. The number of accurately recorded objects was taken as a measure of imaging ability. Results indicated a significant correlation (.63) between test scores and actual performance of a ball-throwing task for the MP group. Start and Richardson (1964) investigated the hypothesis that the more controlled and vivid an image, the better the performance when using MP for a 1; simple gymnastic skill. Results revealed 1 that subjects with vivid, controlled images displayed the greatest gain in per-?: formance, with subjects having controlled, nonvivid images next. Subjects with uncontrolled, unvivid images were third and subjects having uncontrolled, vivid images were last. In a recent study, White, Ashton, and Lewis, (1979) found no significant correlation between per- i i

7 MENTAL PREPARATION 201 formance improvement scores of subjects using MP and the total scores on Sheehan's (1967) adaptation of Betts' imagery scale. Another parameter of imagery which has received increased attention is that of its "orientation" (Mahoney, 1979). A distinction has been made between what has been termed "internal" imagery and "external" imagery. Mahoney defines external imagery as occurring when a person views him or herself from the perspective of an external observer (much like in a movie). Internal imagery requires an approximation of the reallife phenomenology such that the person actually feels those sensations which might be expected while participating in the actual situation. In addition, internal imagery involves seeing or feeling something from the performer's own perspective. This type of imagery has also been termed "kinesthetic" imagery. The idea that internal and external imagery are physiologically distinct was first supported by Jacobson (1930, 1931, 1938) and Shaw (1938,1940), who found that greater muscle activity occurs during internal imagery than during external imagery. These results have received further support by more recent investigations (e.g., Lang, 1977) demonstrating that subjects trained in "response propositions" (similar to internal imagery) exhibited higher levels of physiological arousal during imaging than subjects instructed to respond perceptually. Furthermore, Davidson and Schwartz (1977) found that subjects who engaged in kinesthetic imagery displayed greater somatic arousal and less visual activity than subjects who employed external imagery. If kinesthetic feedback is important to the effectiveness of mental practice (Corbin, 1972), then internal imagery should produce higher levels of performance than external imagery because it is accompanied by higher levels of muscular activity. A couple of recent investigations are relevant to this issue. The relationship of imagery perspective and athletic performance has been examined by Mahoney and Avener (1977). In an exploratory study with Olympic gymnasts, they found that the successful finalists who qualified for the team employed predominately internal as opposed to external imagery. Because this investigation was correlational in nature, however, no cause-effect statements could be advanced. In a recent investigation, Epstein (1980) further examined the relationship of imagery perspective and performance using dartthrowing as the dependent measure. Results indicated no significant differences in performance of subjects under internal vs. external imagery instructions. In addition, only a slight relationship existed between natural imaginal style (the style subjects usually prefer to use) and motor performance, with internal imagers exhibiting a slight positive relationship and external imagers displaying a slight negative relationship. Epstein states that it was difficult to classify individuals as either exclusively internal or external imagers, because an individual's images varied greatly both within and between images. The notion that imaginal style is dynamic and often multimodial is supported by the work of Sheehan (1967) and Short (1953). Thus, given the fact that image perspective is dynamic and changes rapidly, it is not surprising that virtually any relationship was found between imaginal style and performance. In summary, the results of the two investigations presented here, as well as a recent investigation by Epstein and Mahoney (Note 3), indicate that internal imagery tends to be related positively to motor performance whereas external imagery relates negatively to performance. For practical purposes, it appears that the physical educator should attempt to have the athlete get a clear, vivid, and

8 202 WEINBERG controllable image from an internal perspective because this seems to produce the best performance. Future research is still necessary to provide more definitive conclusions about the relationship between imagery perspective and performance. Before implementing ME' procedures, the physical educator must recognize that methodological problems may well limit the generalizability of the research findings. Several problems most frequently found in the MP literature will be briefly discussed, although the list is not meant to be exhaustive. Experirl~enfal Procedtrres. One problem inherent in MP research is the difficulty of determining what subjects are really thinking when given MP instructions. Furthermore, no manipulation checks have been employed in the control groups to guarantee that these subjects have not been practicing mentally. As Richardson notes, "although instructions provide a clear over-all impression of the MP task they do not provide any control over the frequericy with which the subject can mentally rehearse this sltill" (1967b, p. 268). This becomes all increasingly greater problem tlic longer the period of time in which skill is supposed to be mentally rehearsed. Thus, it is difficult to determine if the effects of an experiment are clue to the MP pel- sc, or rather, if they arc a function of the amount of MP (i.c., did subjects practice more or less than they werc instructed to). Mofil~rrfio~l. Most MP experiments werc not adequately tlesigned to control for the effects of experimenter bias ant1 other related factors ~~ffccting the motivation of subjects..l~rsl the mere fact of giving some groups special attention (i.e., the Hawthorne cl'kct) in the form of MP in and of itself can cause im- provements in performance when compared to control groups, who are given nothing. Current psychological methodology requires the use of attentionplacebo control groups. These groups are given the same attention as the experimental groups, as well as a treatment which would appear to the subject to enhance their performance. This eliminates expectancy effects which result from the fact that if a subject thinks a specific treatment will work, then it will. In the MB literature, performance increments could have been the result OF expecting to do better as opposed to the specific effects of MP. Futul-c researchers should carefully design experiments to take into consideration these motivational factors. Sltbjecf ur7d Tush- C'I~~rnc~/rri.slits. As mentioned previously, individual differences variables (e.g., skill level, imag- ing ability, prcvio~~s cxpc~.iericc) can greatly affect the effectiveness of MP; greater attention shor~lti be givcn to the control and systematic manipulation of these variables in future cxlxrimcnts. In addition, the nature of the task has been shown to interact with MI', with varying results being obtainccl on simple versus complex skills and symbolic vcrsus mo- tor skills. Not only have ;I variety oi' tasks been comparccl, but few rcscarclters havc provided I-cliahility tlat;~ cancer.- rling tlrc task. This is cau:;e l'or some concern, and Siltuse stilclies ~~ceil to provide I-cliabiliiy data on tlic choscn motor- Lash. A I'inal concern revolves arouncl the fact that PA' 011 ccr-tain tasks provitlcs immediate hnowlcdgc ol' rcsulis which has both informational and ~notivation value. To control for this, Inslts that havc more ambiguous performance oulcolnes 01- ti1;1t arc ~iovcl shoulcl Oc ~~setl (i.e., sliit I-otor, st;~hilonl~tc~-). ltilpli~olio~~s. for (lro P/rv.sic.rrl Effi/c.crior Although much of the I-esearclr on the

9 MENTAL PR effectiveness of mental practice in enhancing performance is equivocal, certain consistencies do persist throughout the literature. 1. MP combined and alternated with PP is more effective than either PP or MP alone. In addition, PP is superior to MP. MP should not replace PP, but rather, it can be used as a valuable addition to PP. 2. MP is especially effective during the early stage of learning or during the later stage, although individuals apparently must achieve a minimum proficiency level before MP can be effective. It appears that a novice is unable to concentrate on the appropriate movement responses. 3. There may be an optimal time for the length of the MP interval, with a couple of studies indicating that concentration tends to deteriorate after 5 minutes. 4. When imagining themselves performing a skill, individuals should try to use an internal perspective and actually feel themselves going through the movement. In addition, an image should be clear, vivid, and controllable for maximum effectiveness. 5. Mental practice is associated with muscular responses in the muscles that would actually perform the movement and this provides the neural facilitation for enhanced performance. Specific Mental Preparation Strategies The previous review of the mental practice literature and research in the psychological literature (e.g., Bandura, 1977; Weiner, 1974) has provided experimental evidence corroborating the hypothesis that thoughts and cognitions can influence subsequent performance. One mental preparation strategy that coaches have espoused over the years is having an athlete "psych-up'' for an up- coming opponent or event. The implicit assumption made by coaches and physical educators has been that psyching-up will lead to maximum performance. This assumption has probably been based on such things as television shows and movies that show a coach delivering a dramatic, emotional speech to the team just before the game and the team going out, playing great, and of course, winning. A popular example has the legendary Notre Dame football coach,.knute Rockne, making an emotional appeal to his players at halftime of a big game to "win one for the Gipper," referring to George Gipp, an All-American for Notre Dame who was dying in the hospital with a fatal illness. Other coaches have employed some rather "esoteric" psyching-up procedures such as biting the head off a frog to show how much they wanted to win, or having a team stand around and kick a chicken until it was dead to make the team more aggressive and mad. I do not recommend or condone the use of these techniques; they are discussed only to demonstrate the lengths that some coaches will go in order to put their athletes in what they believe is the proper state of mind prior to performance. Although many coaches use some form of psyching-up procedures, little empirical research has been done on the effects of psyching-up on performance as well as the specific psych-up techniques athletes use in preparing for performance. For example, if a coach tells an athlete to psych-up, what does that mean to the athlete? Do different individuals psych-up differently? Is one psych-up technique better than another? These are some of the important questions that need to be addressed before the psych-up performance relationship can be elucidated. The next section of the paper will attempt to shine some light on these important questions. The first study specifically designed to

10 204 WEINBERG investigate the effects and content of psyching-up strategies on motor performance was conducted by Shelton and Mahoney (1978). Weightlifters were instructed to either psych-up or to count backwards before performing on a hand dynamometer strength task. Results indicated that those lifters told to psychup showed dramatic increases in performance, whereas control subjects actually showed decrements in performance. Weinberg, Gould, and Jackson (1980) extended these findings by examining the effects that psyching-up had on the performance of three different motor tasks. Male and female subjects were instructed to psych-up for 30 seconds just prior to performance. They were told that psyching-up meant any type of mental preparation which they believed would enhance their performance. Results indicated that psyching-up facilitated performance on an isokinetic leg-strength task; this replicated Shelton and Mahoney's findings and extended them to a dynamic strength task. No effects were found for the stabilometer balance and speed-of-arm-movement tasks, however. Therefore, the effects of psyching-up appear to be task specific, being especially effective for strength tasks. These results make sense when one considers previous related research which indicates that optimal arousal levels for maximum performance are task dependent (Martens, 1974). More specifically, it has been hypothesized that tasks requiring predominantly strength and endurance are performed best at high levels of arousal (Oxendine, 1970). Thus, if it is assumed that psyching-up raises an individual's level of arousal, then it would seem logical that psyching-up would be most effective in enhancing performance of strength tasks. Data concerning the relationship between psyching-up and arousal will be presented later in this article. Although it is interesting to determine if psyching-up enhances performances, it is also important to determine what specific types of psych-up techniques individuals employ. Therefore, Weinberg et al. (1980) administered an open-ended question asking subjects to describe what type of psych-up technique they used. Two independent raters classified the responses and interrater reliability was established at 92%. The psychingup strategies fell into five categories and were characterized by the following statements: (a) attentional focus, "I just tried to concentrate on the task and eliminate all irrelevant information"; (2) self-efficacy statements, "I told myself I could do it"; (c) imagery, "I pictured myself in perfect balance"; (d) preparatory arousal, "I tried to get mad, aroused, and psyched-up"; (e) relaxation, "I just tried to relax all of my muscles and think about something else. " In the above study, however, it was not possible to assess whether one specific psych-up strategy best facilitated performance because a number of subjects reported employing more than one psych-up strategy. Therefore, a followup study was conducted by Gould, Weinberg, and Jackson (1980) to determine if different psych-up strategies produce differential performance effects on a leg-strength task. Two experiments were conducted, one using a betweensubjects design and the other a withinsubjects design. Results from both experiments indicated that preparatory arousal and imagery produced the best performance. No consistent changes in cognitive states were found between experiments, however. Specifically, subjects in the preparatory arousal condition exhibited the highest levels of arousal, effort, and confidence in the within-subjects experiment, but no differences between treatments were found in the second experiment. This lack of

11 MENTAL PREPARATION 205 consistency may reflect the difficulty of assessing higher-order cognitive processes via self-report assessment procedures (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977) and the disadvantages of within-subject designs (Poulton, 1975). Further research is necessary to examine the role of arousal and other cognitive states in mediating the psych-up performance relationship. Although our experiments have demonstrated that preparatory arousal and imagery were the most effective strategies for enhancing strength performance, some related research has also shown the effectiveness of other mental preparation strategies. For example, the importance of having the proper attentional focus in athletic performance has been emphasized by Nideffer (1976a, 1976b). He argues that to teach and communicate effectively, the physical educator and/or coach must be able to define the attentional'demands of a particular situation in order to help them point out specific mental errors the athlete may be making. Along these lines Nideffer defines attention on two dimensions, width and direction. Width of attention falls on a continuum from broad to narrow and can be conceptualized in terms of how much information an individual must attend to within a given period of time. Direction of attention can also be viewed on a continuum and refers to whether individuals are attending to their own thoughts and feelings (internal) or to things going on around them (external). Because an athlete's attention falls somewhere along the width and direction continuums, at a given point in time one may be described as having either a broad internal, broad external, narrow internal, or narrow external focus of attention. Nideffer suggests that individuals have different attentional styles (as measured by the Test of Attention and Interpersonal Style; Nideffer, 1976b) and that specific sports require certain styles or a certain amount of flexibility (ability to rapidly shift attentional focus). For example, a golfer might generally require a narrow external focus on the ball, whereas a quarterback going back to pass might require a broad external focus to survey the defensive backfield and pick out primary and secondary receivers. Similarly, weight lifters or discus throwers might employ a narrow internal focus as they direct their thoughts towards successfully completing their skill. Nideffer points out that mental mistakes often occur when an athlete attends to the inappropriate attentional cues. The tendency to attend to irrelevant cues is often accentuated in highly stressful competitive situations. Specifically, increases in anxiety tend to cause individuals to narrow their attention as well as lose flexibility. For example, a reserve quarterback finally gets into a game after an injury to the starting quarterback. Of course, he is amious because it is his chance to prove himself. As he drops back to pass the increased anxiety causes him to focus only on his prime receiver. He then throws the ball but it is intercepted by a defensive back whom he "never saw." This is because the anxiety narrowed his focus of attention such that he omitted some relevant cues (i.e., positioning of the defensive backs). Nideffer argues that most mental mistakes can be traced back to an inappropriate focus of attention. Consequently, coaches and physical educators need to be sensitive to both the attentional demands of their sports as well as the attentional styles of their individual athletes. In addition, reducing the anxiety inherent in many learning and competitive situations will help the athlete focus on the relevant cues in the environment. For example, learners performing a new skill are often watched by others. This causes increased anxiety, because these individuals do not want to "look

12 like a klutz" in front of friends. Thus, they start to worry about failing, preventing them from attending to the relevant task demands. Placing the learners in a situation where social evaluation is minimal will allow these individuals a better opportunity to focus on the task itself, instead of on the consequences of their behavior. Another mental preparation strategy identified in our original study was selfefficacy statements. In essence, this involves individuals talking to themselves in an attempt to build up their confidence and convince themselves that they can succeed. Although both coaches and athletes have emphasized the important role that confidence plays in athletic performance, sport psychologists have only recently begun to systematically study the topig. This recent interest has been sparked by Bandura's (1977) theory of self-efficacy, which asserts that behavioral change is mediated by a common mechanism, selfefficacy, which is defined as the strength of one's conviction that he or she can successfully execute a behavior required to produce a certain outcome.' Assuming that an individual is capable of a response and that appropriate incentives are available for performance, then selfefficacy theory asserts that actual performance will be predicted by the individual's belief in personal competence. For example, Mahoney and Avener (1977) found that gymnasts who reported experiencing occasional doubts about their own ability just prior to performance (e.g., "I hope I don't mess up") tended to perform more poorly 'Bandura uses self-efficacy to denote a situationally specific variable, whereas selfconfidence is often used as a trait measure in the personality literature. In the present paper, however, both self-efficacy and confidence are used interchangeably as a situationally specific measure. than gymnasts exhibiting higher levels of confidence (e.g., "I can do it"). Feltz, Landers, and Raeder (1979) conducted the first study specifically designed to test self-efficacy theory in a sport setting. Results indicated that the individuals with stronger expectations of personal efficacy exhibited the best performance on a springboard diving task. Weinberg, Gould, and Jackson (1979) conducted the first study investigating the relationship between self-efficacy and competitive motor performance. Subjects competed face-to-face on a leg endurance task against a confederate who was portrayed as being either a varsity track athlete (low self-efficacy condition) or having a knee injury (high self-efficacy condition). Results supported self-efficacy predictions, with the high self-efficacy subjects extending their legs significantly longer than tow self-efficacy subjects. Furthermore, after failing on the first trial high selfefficacy subjects exhibited an increase in a performance whereas low self-efficacy subjects displayed a decrement in performance. Weinberg, Yukelson, and Jackson (1980) replicated these findings in a back-to-back competitive situation and in addition found that stating public versus private efficacy expectations did not affect performance. In the previous investigations, efficacy expectations were manipulated by structuring the environment to create either feelings of high or low-efficacy. Bandura (1977), however, views self-efficacy as a situationally specific trait measure although efficacy expectations can be altered via information from the environment about performance accoinplishments, modeling, verbal persuasion, or arousal. Thus Weinberg, Gould, Yukelson, and Jackson (in press) recently conducted a study examining the interaction of preexisting self-efficacy (i.e., subjects exhibiting an initial high or low level of efficacy) and manipulated

13 MENTAL PREPARATION 207 self-efficacy (i.e., the environment is manipulated to create either high or low feelings of efficacy) in a competitive motor performance situation. Results again supported our previous investigations indicating the importance of efficacy expectations as determinants of performance. More importantly, it was found that an individual's preexisting feelings of efficacy can be modified by performance accomplishments in specific situations. In essence. this means that the coach or physical educator can alter an athlete's level of confidence by the kind of information provided or by structuring the environment to create positive expectations of success. Confidence, however, is a mediator of performance only when prerequisite athletic skills are present and thus it should not be viewed as an alternative to skill development. Although little empirical research is available in the sport literature assessing the' effectiveness of different intervention strategies, the following have been suggested by Mahoney (1979) for augmenting the selfefficacy expectations of athletes. 1. Response induction aids: Devices which may reduce the perceived discrepancy between athletes' current and desired performance. 2. Modeling: Having athletes observe another individual successfully executing the skill. 3. Self-efficacy statements: Having athletes practice saying positive statements to themselves prior to performance. 4. Imagery: Having athletes imagine themselves performing the desired response. 5. Verbal persuasion: Reassuring and encouraging athletes that they are capable of performing the desired response. 6. Performance accomplishments: Structuring the environment to create a successful experience. One important consideration for teachers and coaches who attempt to use one of these strategies is the discrepancy between the athletes' present and desired performance. To build confidence, athletes should only be asked to make slight improvements or set short-term, realistic goals. Unrealistic expectations on the part of the teacher can destroy athletes" confidence and result in performance decrements. Consequently, the teacher needs to be sensitive to the performance capabilities of athletes as well as help them build belief in their own capabilities. This represents a major contribution that the teacher can make to the development of athletes. A mental preparation strategy receiving much attention in recent years and used by subjects in our initial psychingup experiment is relaxation. Recently, coaches have become increasingly aware of the stress created by competitive athletics. More importantly, they are realizing that increased levels of anxiety may be detrimental to performance by causing increased flexibility. Therefore, techniques designed to reduce anxiety to help athletes function at their optimal level of anxiety are increasingly being incorporated into regular training regimens. A detailed analysis of the many types of relaxation techniques available is beyond the scope of the present paper, but rather a brief description of some of the more popular techniques will be offered. Perhaps the most well known of the relaxation techniques is Jacobson's (1938) Progressive Relaxation. Jacobson proposed that muscular tension and anxiety are incompatible physiological states and that in order to relax, one must learn to distinguish between tension and relaxation. Therefore, his technique emphasizes teaching subjects to progressively tense and relax all major muscle groups in the body, thereby sensitizing them to proprioceptive feedback from

14 YBERG these muscles. Drawing from the work of Jacobson, Wolpe (1969) developed the technique of Systematic Desensitization. Although this technique involves progressive relaxation, it is different in that the individual is presented with a hierarchy of anxiety-producing stimuli. After mastering a given anxiety situation, the individual attempts a more difficult one until the anxiety-producing situation is no longer threatening. For example, in tennis the hierarchy for players who double fault under pressure might include: (a) practice sessions, (b) the few minutes prior to competition, (c) serving the ball when way ahead, (d) serving the ball during a crucial game, (e) serving with set point against them. A technique that has become popular in recent years is biofeedback. This type of training involves receiving physiological feedback (e.g., skin temperature, muscle tension, blood pressure) via a visual or auditory signal concerning the individual's present state of tension. This helps athletes recognize the presence of tension, observe the cause of tension, and develop techniques to reduce the tension. The major drawback with biofeedback from a practical point of view is the cost of and access to the instrumentation necessary to provide this kind of physiological feedback. Benson (1975) has incorporated the work on transcendental meditation into a simple yet effective relaxation technique. According to Benson, just four components are necessary for relaxation: (a) a quiet environment, (b) a passive attitude, (c) a mental device, one similar to a "mantra'' and involving the repetition of a one-syllable word such as "one," and (d) a comfortable position. Benson states that this technique should be practiced twice a day for 20 minutes at a time. The aim of this technique, as well as all the other previously mentioned relaxation techniques, is to achieve the relaxation response. This in- volves a decrease in sympathetic nervous system activity as characterized by lowered blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate, oxygen consumption, and muscle tension. Although these relaxation techniques produce physiological changes, performance results have been equivocal, with some studies reporting positive performance changes (e.g., Bell, 1976; Bennett, 1978; Titley, 1976) and others reporting none (e.g., Bennett & Stothert, 1980; Williams, 1978). More research is necessary to determine the effectiveness of these relaxation techniques in enhancing performance. In particular, future studies need to control for variables such as length of the training sessions, type of task (i.e., strength, speed, endurance, precision), and expectancy effects before more solid conclusions can be advanced. These relaxation techniques do appear to offer a mechanism for helping those athletes who exhibit a high level of precompetitive stress, however. One final note on the scope of relaxation techniques seems appropriate. Although the above techniques have as their primary focus a reduction in anxiety, a number of recent cognitivebased relaxation techniques are cbmbining relaxation procedures and cognitive-coping strategies to reduce anxiety and elicit better performance. For example, Meichenbaum (1977) has developed a stress innoculation training package which involves four phases: 1. Educational Phase-This provides individuals with a conceptual framework for understanding the nature of their response to stressful events. 2. Rehearsal Phase-This provides individuals with a variety of coping techniques they could employ at each of the various phases of the coping process. In essence, individuals are taught to relax, to develop positive coping self-statements to replace the negative selfstatements when a stressful situation is