Yannick Blandin - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Yannick Blandin

Research paper thumbnail of Magnifying visual target information and the role of eye movements in motor sequence learning

Acta Psychologica, 2016

An experiment investigated the influence of eye movements on learning a simple motor sequence tas... more An experiment investigated the influence of eye movements on learning a simple motor sequence task when the visual display was magnified. The task was to reproduce a 1300 ms spatial-temporal pattern of elbow flexions and extensions. The spatial-temporal pattern was displayed in front of the participants. Participants were randomly assigned to four groups differing on eye movements (free to use their eyes/instructed to fixate) and the visual display (small/magnified). All participants had to perform a pre-test, an acquisition phase, a delayed retention test, and a transfer test. The results indicated that participants in each practice condition increased their performance during acquisition. The participants who were permitted to use their eyes in the magnified visual display outperformed those who were instructed to fixate on the magnified visual display. When a small visual display was used, the instruction to fixate induced no performance decrements compared to participants who were permitted to use their eyes during acquisition. The findings demonstrated that a spatial-temporal pattern can be learned without eye movements, but being permitting to use eye movements facilitates the response production when the visual angle is increased.

Research paper thumbnail of On the cognitive processes underlying contextual interference: Contributions of practice schedule, task similarity and amount of practice

Human Movement Science, Dec 1, 2010

Research paper thumbnail of Benefits of observing pointlight displays in postoperative rehabilitation of the total knee prosthesis

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Oct 27, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Imagery ability classification: Commentary on «Kinaesthetic imagery ability moderates the effect of an AO+MI intervention on golf putt performance: A pilot study» by McNeill et al. (2020)

Psychology of Sport and Exercise, Nov 1, 2021

Abstract McNeill et al. (2020) recently published a study that first aimed to assess the effect o... more Abstract McNeill et al. (2020) recently published a study that first aimed to assess the effect of a combination of motor imagery (MI) and action observation (AO) on golf putt performance and then to determine if the evolution of this performance could be moderated by participants’ kinesthetic imagery ability. To assess golfers’ MI ability, the authors used the third version of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire. Participants notably self-estimated their kinesthetic MI ability by using a Likert-type scale, with scores ranging from 1 “very difficult to feel” to 7 “very easy to feel”. Athletes were categorized as either “poor” or “good” kinesthetic imagers, with mean scores of 4.93 and 6.63, respectively, in the intervention groups. Although a similar categorization procedure had previously been used in the literature for “good imagers”, the mean scores for “poor” imagers were much higher than those noted in previous studies evaluating the effect of MI ability on motor accuracy. Moreover, the low number of participants in the intervention group (n = 22) meant that participants were considered “poor” imagers even though their mean scores corresponded to “quite easy to feel” kinesthetic images of movements. This could notably explain the lack of differences between “poor” and “good” imagers in terms of putting performance in the intervention group. Despite these methodological limitations, the results of McNeill et al.‘s study show promising evidence for the efficacy of an AO plus MI intervention in relation to putting performance and should lead to further investigations. We suggest that research in the area of motor imagery ability include larger samples to explore, in individuals with very low imagery ability scores, the effects of the combination of AO and MI on motor performance.

Research paper thumbnail of L'apprentissage par observation d'habiletés motrices : un processus d'apprentissage spécifique ?

Annee Psychologique, 2002

Résumé Le recours à la démonstration est fréquemment utilisé pour l'apprentissage d'habil... more Résumé Le recours à la démonstration est fréquemment utilisé pour l'apprentissage d'habiletés motrices. Toutefois, les mécanismes responsables de l'apprentissage par observation ainsi que les facteurs déterminants restent relativement méconnus. L'objectif est de recenser les travaux sur ce sujet, afin d'établir des comparaisons entre les théories de l'apprentissage moteur et de l'apprentissage par observation. Un examen des conditions les plus susceptibles de favoriser l'apprentissage par observation indique que celles-ci sont relativement semblables à celles influençant l'apprentissage par pratique physique. Il est donc suggéré que les processus responsables de ces deux types d'apprentissage soient similaires. Mots-clés : apprentissage par observation, apprentissage moteur, processus cognitifs.

Research paper thumbnail of Evaluative Threat Increases Effort Expenditure in a Cycling Exercise: An Exploratory Study

Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, Aug 1, 2020

Research shows that negative or threatening emotional stimuli can foster movement velocity and fo... more Research shows that negative or threatening emotional stimuli can foster movement velocity and force. However, less is known about how evaluative threat may influence movement parameters in endurance exercise. Based on social self-preservation theory, the authors predicted that evaluative threat would facilitate effort expenditure in physical exercise. In an exploratory study, 27 young men completed a bogus intelligence test and received either low-intelligence-quotient feedback (evaluative threat) or no feedback (control). Next, they were asked to pedal on a stationary bicycle for 30 min at a constant cadence. After 10 min (calibration period), the cadence display was hidden. Findings show that participants under evaluative threat increased cadence more than control participants during the subsequent 20-min critical period. These findings underline the potential importance of unrelated evaluative threat on physical performance.

Research paper thumbnail of The influence of eye-movements on the development of a movement sequence representation during observational and physical practice

Research paper thumbnail of Stereotypes affect the link between action perception and language

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Aug 29, 2022

Research paper thumbnail of Learning Decision-Making in Rugby: The Role of Video Feedback

Staps, 2016

Many studies have been done on the role of video feedback (VFB) on the acquisition of motor skill... more Many studies have been done on the role of video feedback (VFB) on the acquisition of motor skills, but most have been limited to closed skills. In rugby, tactical choices are determining elements for performance but the relevance of these choices is difficult to assess by players. Whether in a game or in training, players find it hard to assess the value of their choices, which depend, among other things, on the value of their opponents and partners. In this context, VFB can be a way for players to learn decision-making by making them aware of the most important indicators. The research presented in this paper compared three different methods of Internet image-sharing on decision-making. These provided STAPS (Sciences et techniques des activites physiques et sportives – Physical and Sports Sciences and Techniques) students with delayed feedback on their motor skills. The effects of these three methods on decision-making were assessed during actual game situations. Results led to a discussion on the different VFB presentation methods and highlighted the effectiveness of images linked to verbal peer correction, especially when these images were combined with comments by experts.

Research paper thumbnail of The Added Value of Point-Light Display Observation in Total Knee Arthroplasty Rehabilitation Program: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

Medicina

Background and Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the potential benefit of the observa... more Background and Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the potential benefit of the observation of rehabilitation-related point-light display in addition to a conventional 3-week rehabilitation program, the objective being to improve functional capacity in patients having undergone total knee arthroplasty. Materials and Methods: Patients randomized in the control group had conventional rehabilitation treatment with two sessions per day 5 days a week of physical therapy (90 min), whereas patients in the experimental group had a program of conventional rehabilitation combined with a point-light display observation two times per day (5 min) and 3 days a week. Results: The patients of both groups had improved their performances by the end of the program, and the pre- and post-test improvement were superior for the experimental group over the control group concerning the total WOMAC score (p = 0.04), the functional WOMAC score (p = 0.03), and correct recognition of point-light disp...

Research paper thumbnail of PLAViMoP database: A new continuously assessed and collaborative 3D point-light display dataset

Behavior Research Methods

It was more than 45 years ago that Gunnar Johansson invented the point-light display technique. T... more It was more than 45 years ago that Gunnar Johansson invented the point-light display technique. This showed for the first time that kinematics is crucial for action recognition, and that humans are very sensitive to their conspecifics' movements. As a result, many of today's researchers use point-light displays to better understand the mechanisms behind this recognition ability. In this paper, we propose PLAViMoP, a new database of 3D point-light displays representing everyday human actions (global and fine-motor control movements), sports movements, facial expressions, interactions, and robotic movements. Access to the database is free, at https://plavimop.prd.fr/en/motions . Moreover, it incorporates a search engine to facilitate action retrieval. In this paper, we describe the construction, functioning, and assessment of the PLAViMoP database. Each sequence was analyzed according to four parameters: type of movement, movement label, sex of the actor, and age of the actor. We provide both the mean scores for each assessment of each point-light display, and the comparisons between the different categories of sequences. Our results are discussed in the light of the literature and the suitability of our stimuli for research and applications.

Research paper thumbnail of Effet de l'expertise sportive dans le contrôle des mouvements après une pratique intensive dans une tâche de pointage manuel

Les Cahiers de l'INSEP, 2003

Robin C., Toussaint L., Blandin Y., Vinter A. Effet de l'expertise sportive dans le contrôle ... more Robin C., Toussaint L., Blandin Y., Vinter A. Effet de l'expertise sportive dans le contrôle des mouvements après une pratique intensive dans une tâche de pointage manuel. In: Les Cahiers de l'INSEP, n°34, 2003. Expertise et sport de haut niveau. pp. 347-351

Research paper thumbnail of La cinématique humaine, une caractéristique essentielle du lien action-langage

Research paper thumbnail of Conditions d'apprentissage moteur et représentations sensori-motrices : des mouvements discrets aus séquences motrices

Ce travail de these repose sur l'analyse des processus impliques dans l'apprentissage de ... more Ce travail de these repose sur l'analyse des processus impliques dans l'apprentissage de nouveaux comportements moteurs, et sur l'etude de nos capacites a adapter notre comportement a de nouvelles situations. Nous avons realise une serie de trois experiences ou ont ete utilises des dispositifs experimentaux permettant une analyse de mouvements discrets et continus. L'objectif principal qui a motive ce travail etait d'evaluer : 1) les variables d'apprentissage susceptibles d'influencer l'acquisition d'un geste discret et/ou continu (Experiences 1 et 2), et 2) la nature des representations sensori-motrices dans l'apprentissage de sequences motrices (Experience 3). Les donnees obtenues dans la premiere etude (Experiences 1 et 2) revelent que la condition de pratique et/ou le niveau de similarite entre les tâches a apprendre sont susceptibles de moduler les processus intra- et/ou inter-tâches mis en jeu par l'apprenant au cours de la phase de ...

Research paper thumbnail of Evolution du rôle des informations sensorielles en fonction de la quantité de pratique en imagerie et des contraintes de tâche

Research paper thumbnail of Rôle de la pratique motrice dans le lien action-langage

Research paper thumbnail of Relationship between imagery modality and dominant sensory modality of the task

Research paper thumbnail of TWIN-GRU: Twin Stream GRU Network for Action Recognition from RGB Video

Human Action Recognition (HAR) is an important task for numerous computer vision applications. Re... more Human Action Recognition (HAR) is an important task for numerous computer vision applications. Recently, deep learning approaches have shown proficiency in recognizing actions in RGB video. However, existing models rely mainly on global appearance and could potentially under perform in real world applications, such as sport events and clinical applications. Refereeing to domain knowledge in how human perceive action, we hypothesis that observing the dynamic of a 2D human body joints representation extracted from RGB video frames is sufficient to recognize an action in video. Moreover, body joints contain structural information with a strong spatial (intra-frame) and temporal (inter-frame) correlation between adjacent joints. In this paper, we propose a psychology-inspired twin stream Gated Recurrent Unit network for action recognition based on the dynamic of 2D human body joints in RGB videos. The proposed model achieves a classification accuracy of 89,97% in a subject-specific expe...

Research paper thumbnail of PLAViMoP : une nouvelle plateforme de visualisation et de modification de séquences animées aux services de l'apprentissage et la rééducation

Research paper thumbnail of Imagery ability classification: Commentary on «Kinaesthetic imagery ability moderates the effect of an AO+MI intervention on golf putt performance: A pilot study» by McNeill et al. (2020)

Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 2021

Abstract McNeill et al. (2020) recently published a study that first aimed to assess the effect o... more Abstract McNeill et al. (2020) recently published a study that first aimed to assess the effect of a combination of motor imagery (MI) and action observation (AO) on golf putt performance and then to determine if the evolution of this performance could be moderated by participants’ kinesthetic imagery ability. To assess golfers’ MI ability, the authors used the third version of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire. Participants notably self-estimated their kinesthetic MI ability by using a Likert-type scale, with scores ranging from 1 “very difficult to feel” to 7 “very easy to feel”. Athletes were categorized as either “poor” or “good” kinesthetic imagers, with mean scores of 4.93 and 6.63, respectively, in the intervention groups. Although a similar categorization procedure had previously been used in the literature for “good imagers”, the mean scores for “poor” imagers were much higher than those noted in previous studies evaluating the effect of MI ability on motor accuracy. Moreover, the low number of participants in the intervention group (n = 22) meant that participants were considered “poor” imagers even though their mean scores corresponded to “quite easy to feel” kinesthetic images of movements. This could notably explain the lack of differences between “poor” and “good” imagers in terms of putting performance in the intervention group. Despite these methodological limitations, the results of McNeill et al.‘s study show promising evidence for the efficacy of an AO plus MI intervention in relation to putting performance and should lead to further investigations. We suggest that research in the area of motor imagery ability include larger samples to explore, in individuals with very low imagery ability scores, the effects of the combination of AO and MI on motor performance.

Research paper thumbnail of Magnifying visual target information and the role of eye movements in motor sequence learning

Acta Psychologica, 2016

An experiment investigated the influence of eye movements on learning a simple motor sequence tas... more An experiment investigated the influence of eye movements on learning a simple motor sequence task when the visual display was magnified. The task was to reproduce a 1300 ms spatial-temporal pattern of elbow flexions and extensions. The spatial-temporal pattern was displayed in front of the participants. Participants were randomly assigned to four groups differing on eye movements (free to use their eyes/instructed to fixate) and the visual display (small/magnified). All participants had to perform a pre-test, an acquisition phase, a delayed retention test, and a transfer test. The results indicated that participants in each practice condition increased their performance during acquisition. The participants who were permitted to use their eyes in the magnified visual display outperformed those who were instructed to fixate on the magnified visual display. When a small visual display was used, the instruction to fixate induced no performance decrements compared to participants who were permitted to use their eyes during acquisition. The findings demonstrated that a spatial-temporal pattern can be learned without eye movements, but being permitting to use eye movements facilitates the response production when the visual angle is increased.

Research paper thumbnail of On the cognitive processes underlying contextual interference: Contributions of practice schedule, task similarity and amount of practice

Human Movement Science, Dec 1, 2010

Research paper thumbnail of Benefits of observing pointlight displays in postoperative rehabilitation of the total knee prosthesis

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Oct 27, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Imagery ability classification: Commentary on «Kinaesthetic imagery ability moderates the effect of an AO+MI intervention on golf putt performance: A pilot study» by McNeill et al. (2020)

Psychology of Sport and Exercise, Nov 1, 2021

Abstract McNeill et al. (2020) recently published a study that first aimed to assess the effect o... more Abstract McNeill et al. (2020) recently published a study that first aimed to assess the effect of a combination of motor imagery (MI) and action observation (AO) on golf putt performance and then to determine if the evolution of this performance could be moderated by participants’ kinesthetic imagery ability. To assess golfers’ MI ability, the authors used the third version of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire. Participants notably self-estimated their kinesthetic MI ability by using a Likert-type scale, with scores ranging from 1 “very difficult to feel” to 7 “very easy to feel”. Athletes were categorized as either “poor” or “good” kinesthetic imagers, with mean scores of 4.93 and 6.63, respectively, in the intervention groups. Although a similar categorization procedure had previously been used in the literature for “good imagers”, the mean scores for “poor” imagers were much higher than those noted in previous studies evaluating the effect of MI ability on motor accuracy. Moreover, the low number of participants in the intervention group (n = 22) meant that participants were considered “poor” imagers even though their mean scores corresponded to “quite easy to feel” kinesthetic images of movements. This could notably explain the lack of differences between “poor” and “good” imagers in terms of putting performance in the intervention group. Despite these methodological limitations, the results of McNeill et al.‘s study show promising evidence for the efficacy of an AO plus MI intervention in relation to putting performance and should lead to further investigations. We suggest that research in the area of motor imagery ability include larger samples to explore, in individuals with very low imagery ability scores, the effects of the combination of AO and MI on motor performance.

Research paper thumbnail of L'apprentissage par observation d'habiletés motrices : un processus d'apprentissage spécifique ?

Annee Psychologique, 2002

Résumé Le recours à la démonstration est fréquemment utilisé pour l'apprentissage d'habil... more Résumé Le recours à la démonstration est fréquemment utilisé pour l'apprentissage d'habiletés motrices. Toutefois, les mécanismes responsables de l'apprentissage par observation ainsi que les facteurs déterminants restent relativement méconnus. L'objectif est de recenser les travaux sur ce sujet, afin d'établir des comparaisons entre les théories de l'apprentissage moteur et de l'apprentissage par observation. Un examen des conditions les plus susceptibles de favoriser l'apprentissage par observation indique que celles-ci sont relativement semblables à celles influençant l'apprentissage par pratique physique. Il est donc suggéré que les processus responsables de ces deux types d'apprentissage soient similaires. Mots-clés : apprentissage par observation, apprentissage moteur, processus cognitifs.

Research paper thumbnail of Evaluative Threat Increases Effort Expenditure in a Cycling Exercise: An Exploratory Study

Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, Aug 1, 2020

Research shows that negative or threatening emotional stimuli can foster movement velocity and fo... more Research shows that negative or threatening emotional stimuli can foster movement velocity and force. However, less is known about how evaluative threat may influence movement parameters in endurance exercise. Based on social self-preservation theory, the authors predicted that evaluative threat would facilitate effort expenditure in physical exercise. In an exploratory study, 27 young men completed a bogus intelligence test and received either low-intelligence-quotient feedback (evaluative threat) or no feedback (control). Next, they were asked to pedal on a stationary bicycle for 30 min at a constant cadence. After 10 min (calibration period), the cadence display was hidden. Findings show that participants under evaluative threat increased cadence more than control participants during the subsequent 20-min critical period. These findings underline the potential importance of unrelated evaluative threat on physical performance.

Research paper thumbnail of The influence of eye-movements on the development of a movement sequence representation during observational and physical practice

Research paper thumbnail of Stereotypes affect the link between action perception and language

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Aug 29, 2022

Research paper thumbnail of Learning Decision-Making in Rugby: The Role of Video Feedback

Staps, 2016

Many studies have been done on the role of video feedback (VFB) on the acquisition of motor skill... more Many studies have been done on the role of video feedback (VFB) on the acquisition of motor skills, but most have been limited to closed skills. In rugby, tactical choices are determining elements for performance but the relevance of these choices is difficult to assess by players. Whether in a game or in training, players find it hard to assess the value of their choices, which depend, among other things, on the value of their opponents and partners. In this context, VFB can be a way for players to learn decision-making by making them aware of the most important indicators. The research presented in this paper compared three different methods of Internet image-sharing on decision-making. These provided STAPS (Sciences et techniques des activites physiques et sportives – Physical and Sports Sciences and Techniques) students with delayed feedback on their motor skills. The effects of these three methods on decision-making were assessed during actual game situations. Results led to a discussion on the different VFB presentation methods and highlighted the effectiveness of images linked to verbal peer correction, especially when these images were combined with comments by experts.

Research paper thumbnail of The Added Value of Point-Light Display Observation in Total Knee Arthroplasty Rehabilitation Program: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

Medicina

Background and Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the potential benefit of the observa... more Background and Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the potential benefit of the observation of rehabilitation-related point-light display in addition to a conventional 3-week rehabilitation program, the objective being to improve functional capacity in patients having undergone total knee arthroplasty. Materials and Methods: Patients randomized in the control group had conventional rehabilitation treatment with two sessions per day 5 days a week of physical therapy (90 min), whereas patients in the experimental group had a program of conventional rehabilitation combined with a point-light display observation two times per day (5 min) and 3 days a week. Results: The patients of both groups had improved their performances by the end of the program, and the pre- and post-test improvement were superior for the experimental group over the control group concerning the total WOMAC score (p = 0.04), the functional WOMAC score (p = 0.03), and correct recognition of point-light disp...

Research paper thumbnail of PLAViMoP database: A new continuously assessed and collaborative 3D point-light display dataset

Behavior Research Methods

It was more than 45 years ago that Gunnar Johansson invented the point-light display technique. T... more It was more than 45 years ago that Gunnar Johansson invented the point-light display technique. This showed for the first time that kinematics is crucial for action recognition, and that humans are very sensitive to their conspecifics' movements. As a result, many of today's researchers use point-light displays to better understand the mechanisms behind this recognition ability. In this paper, we propose PLAViMoP, a new database of 3D point-light displays representing everyday human actions (global and fine-motor control movements), sports movements, facial expressions, interactions, and robotic movements. Access to the database is free, at https://plavimop.prd.fr/en/motions . Moreover, it incorporates a search engine to facilitate action retrieval. In this paper, we describe the construction, functioning, and assessment of the PLAViMoP database. Each sequence was analyzed according to four parameters: type of movement, movement label, sex of the actor, and age of the actor. We provide both the mean scores for each assessment of each point-light display, and the comparisons between the different categories of sequences. Our results are discussed in the light of the literature and the suitability of our stimuli for research and applications.

Research paper thumbnail of Effet de l'expertise sportive dans le contrôle des mouvements après une pratique intensive dans une tâche de pointage manuel

Les Cahiers de l'INSEP, 2003

Robin C., Toussaint L., Blandin Y., Vinter A. Effet de l'expertise sportive dans le contrôle ... more Robin C., Toussaint L., Blandin Y., Vinter A. Effet de l'expertise sportive dans le contrôle des mouvements après une pratique intensive dans une tâche de pointage manuel. In: Les Cahiers de l'INSEP, n°34, 2003. Expertise et sport de haut niveau. pp. 347-351

Research paper thumbnail of La cinématique humaine, une caractéristique essentielle du lien action-langage

Research paper thumbnail of Conditions d'apprentissage moteur et représentations sensori-motrices : des mouvements discrets aus séquences motrices

Ce travail de these repose sur l'analyse des processus impliques dans l'apprentissage de ... more Ce travail de these repose sur l'analyse des processus impliques dans l'apprentissage de nouveaux comportements moteurs, et sur l'etude de nos capacites a adapter notre comportement a de nouvelles situations. Nous avons realise une serie de trois experiences ou ont ete utilises des dispositifs experimentaux permettant une analyse de mouvements discrets et continus. L'objectif principal qui a motive ce travail etait d'evaluer : 1) les variables d'apprentissage susceptibles d'influencer l'acquisition d'un geste discret et/ou continu (Experiences 1 et 2), et 2) la nature des representations sensori-motrices dans l'apprentissage de sequences motrices (Experience 3). Les donnees obtenues dans la premiere etude (Experiences 1 et 2) revelent que la condition de pratique et/ou le niveau de similarite entre les tâches a apprendre sont susceptibles de moduler les processus intra- et/ou inter-tâches mis en jeu par l'apprenant au cours de la phase de ...

Research paper thumbnail of Evolution du rôle des informations sensorielles en fonction de la quantité de pratique en imagerie et des contraintes de tâche

Research paper thumbnail of Rôle de la pratique motrice dans le lien action-langage

Research paper thumbnail of Relationship between imagery modality and dominant sensory modality of the task

Research paper thumbnail of TWIN-GRU: Twin Stream GRU Network for Action Recognition from RGB Video

Human Action Recognition (HAR) is an important task for numerous computer vision applications. Re... more Human Action Recognition (HAR) is an important task for numerous computer vision applications. Recently, deep learning approaches have shown proficiency in recognizing actions in RGB video. However, existing models rely mainly on global appearance and could potentially under perform in real world applications, such as sport events and clinical applications. Refereeing to domain knowledge in how human perceive action, we hypothesis that observing the dynamic of a 2D human body joints representation extracted from RGB video frames is sufficient to recognize an action in video. Moreover, body joints contain structural information with a strong spatial (intra-frame) and temporal (inter-frame) correlation between adjacent joints. In this paper, we propose a psychology-inspired twin stream Gated Recurrent Unit network for action recognition based on the dynamic of 2D human body joints in RGB videos. The proposed model achieves a classification accuracy of 89,97% in a subject-specific expe...

Research paper thumbnail of PLAViMoP : une nouvelle plateforme de visualisation et de modification de séquences animées aux services de l'apprentissage et la rééducation

Research paper thumbnail of Imagery ability classification: Commentary on «Kinaesthetic imagery ability moderates the effect of an AO+MI intervention on golf putt performance: A pilot study» by McNeill et al. (2020)

Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 2021

Abstract McNeill et al. (2020) recently published a study that first aimed to assess the effect o... more Abstract McNeill et al. (2020) recently published a study that first aimed to assess the effect of a combination of motor imagery (MI) and action observation (AO) on golf putt performance and then to determine if the evolution of this performance could be moderated by participants’ kinesthetic imagery ability. To assess golfers’ MI ability, the authors used the third version of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire. Participants notably self-estimated their kinesthetic MI ability by using a Likert-type scale, with scores ranging from 1 “very difficult to feel” to 7 “very easy to feel”. Athletes were categorized as either “poor” or “good” kinesthetic imagers, with mean scores of 4.93 and 6.63, respectively, in the intervention groups. Although a similar categorization procedure had previously been used in the literature for “good imagers”, the mean scores for “poor” imagers were much higher than those noted in previous studies evaluating the effect of MI ability on motor accuracy. Moreover, the low number of participants in the intervention group (n = 22) meant that participants were considered “poor” imagers even though their mean scores corresponded to “quite easy to feel” kinesthetic images of movements. This could notably explain the lack of differences between “poor” and “good” imagers in terms of putting performance in the intervention group. Despite these methodological limitations, the results of McNeill et al.‘s study show promising evidence for the efficacy of an AO plus MI intervention in relation to putting performance and should lead to further investigations. We suggest that research in the area of motor imagery ability include larger samples to explore, in individuals with very low imagery ability scores, the effects of the combination of AO and MI on motor performance.