Measuring motor imagery: an aggregate index of motor imagery quality (original) (raw)

For over a century, researchers addressed the question of how individual differences in motor imagery (MI) dimensions such as vividness and controllability, as well as the ability to imagine in real-time, can be assessed. Considering that MI is a multi-dimensional construct, we, and other researchers, have measured its underlying processes using a combination of psychometric tests, qualitative procedures, chronometric methods in which MI processes are investigated by comparing the duration required to execute real and imagined actions, and psycho-physiological techniques. Although these approaches have each yielded some interesting results, they have not yet been combined adequately to provide an aggregate index of MI quality. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to propose a rationale for our novel hypothesis that it is possible to calculate an index of MI quality by quantitatively combining these measures. Practically, the MI index is calculated from six specific components tha...