Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity Volume 6, Issue 1

2011

Article 5

The Cognitive and Motivational Functions of Imagery Among Athletic Trainers Eva V. Monsma, University of South Carolina Caroline Trier, Columbia College Melanie E. Perreault, University of South Carolina Brian D. Seiler, University of South Carolina Toni M. Torres-McGehee, University of South Carolina Jane Steinberg, Moore Orthopedic Clinic Sandra E. Short, University of North Dakota

Recommended Citation: Monsma, Eva V.; Trier, Caroline; Perreault, Melanie E.; Seiler, Brian D.; Torres-McGehee, Toni M.; Steinberg, Jane; and Short, Sandra E. (2011) "The Cognitive and Motivational Functions of Imagery Among Athletic Trainers," Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity: Vol. 6: Iss. 1, Article 5. DOI: 10.2202/1932-0191.1064 Available at: http://www.bepress.com/jirspa/vol6/iss1/art5 ©2011 Berkeley Electronic Press. All rights reserved.

The Cognitive and Motivational Functions of Imagery Among Athletic Trainers Eva V. Monsma, Caroline Trier, Melanie E. Perreault, Brian D. Seiler, Toni M. Torres-McGehee, Jane Steinberg, and Sandra E. Short

Abstract Knowledge of imagery is a required competency for athletic trainers (ATs) but research has yet to consider imagery use by ATs despite its relevant application for learning, planning, and controlling emotions in high stakes situations like rehabilitation, competency exams or novel injury situations. Aligned with the Applied Model of Mental Imagery, this study examined the cognitive and motivational functions of imagery used by 59 certified ATs and 34 AT students (N = 93, 19-48 years of age). Participants completed the Sport Imagery Questionnaire modified for the population. Image function and direction were also considered. Imagery training was only reported by 23% of the participants but 50% reported encouraging their athletes to use imagery and 86% believed the skill enhances their duties. Internal consistencies of the five image content subscales ranged from .83 to .68 and inter-scale correlations ranged from .72 to .76. ATs reported using MG-Mastery most frequently followed by CS-Skills CG-Strategies MG-Arousal and MSGoals. Independent t-tests indicated MG-Goals was used more by students than certified ATs, t(91)=2.04, p .05). Correlation Analyses Pearson Correlations were also calculated to look at relationships among subscales and continuous demographic variables (see Table 2). All IUATQ subscales were inter-correlated (p < .01) but not collinear (r > .90). There were significant negative correlations between education and MG-A imagery (-.23, p < .05), MS imagery (-.39, p < .01), and MG-M imagery (-.28, p < .01) indicating as education level increased, motivational imagery use decreased. There was also a significant negative correlation between age and MS imagery (-.28, p < .01). Table 2 Means and SDs for IUATQ subscale use across categorical variable. CS M Gender Male Female Academic Status Student Graduate Education Program Curriculum Internship Job Setting High School College Academic GAs Practicing AT Yes No ACIs Yes No

CG SD

M

M

SD

MG-A SD M

MG-M SD M

4.39 4.20

1.33 4.14 1.22 3.99

1.11 1.10

3.52 3.59

1.31 1.21

3.51 3.89

1.30 1.29

4.37 4.26

1.38 1.31

4.33 4.19

1.10 4.06 1.40 4.05

0.93 1.25

3.92 3.22

1.16 1.22

3.97 3.51

1.25 1.31

4.54 4.04

1.06 1.52

4.36 3.62

1.26 4.05 1.27 3.81

1.12 1.38

3.63 3.06

1.24 1.34

3.81 3.14

1.34 0.63

4.29 3.54

1.35 1.51

4.15 4.29 4.27 4.38

1.05 1.28 1.59 1.33

4.11 4.12 3.87 4.14

0.88 0.98 1.32 1.33

3.22 3.69 3.76 3.35

0.91 1.38 1.49 1.14

3.67 3.75 3.79 3.72

1.11 1.48 1.22 1.21

3.79 4.45 4.32 4.45

1.09 1.33 1.56 1.45

4.06 4.51

1.34 3.92 1.11 4.23

1.23 0.88

3.13 4.11

1.16 1.12

3.51 4.02

1.22 1.34

4.09 4.54

1.54 0.97

4.10 4.36

1.15 4.02 1.31 4.08

0.95 1.18

3.29 3.75

1.07 1.31

3.46 3.91

1.15 1.36

4.29 4.29

1.36 1.32

http://www.bepress.com/jirspa/vol6/iss1/art5 DOI: 10.2202/1932-0191.1064

 

MS SD

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Monsma et al.: Imagery Use Among Athletic Trainers

Perceived Imagery Function Frequency analyses on the IUATQ questions “Why do you use this image?” (where participants indicated skills, strategies, motivation, confidence, anxiety) to determine why ATs are using each image revealed confidence (MG-M) was chosen the most as a reason why ATs and AT students use imagery. Confidence was chosen by more than 25% of participants for 20 items on the survey, and was chosen by more than 50% of participants for seven of the questions. Anxiety (MG-A) was chosen by more than 25% of participants for 12 questions on the survey, and more than 50% for five of the questions. Imagery of goals (MS) was chosen by more than 25% of participants for eight of the questions, followed by strategies and skills (CG and CS, respectively) at six of the questions. There results show that athletic trainers’ reasons for using imagery are most often confidence, followed by anxiety, goals, and skills and strategies. Table 3 shows frequencies for each of the subscale questions. Perceived Imagery Direction Descriptive analyses on the IUATQ questions “Does this image help or hurt your performance?” determined frequencies of responses about whether participants perceived their imagery use as helping or hurting their performance (see Table 3). Overall, ATs chose “helps” as their response. For three questions on the survey, 100% of participants chose “helps” their performance (i.e., I make up new plans or strategies in my head; I image other staff congratulating me on a good performance; I can consistently control the image of a physical skill). For MG-M, MS, and CS constructs, 85% or more participants chose “helps” performance. One question under the CG construct resulted in 25.3% of participants choosing “hurts” performance (I image continuing with my plan even when performing poorly). Several questions under the MG-A construct showed mixed results as relating to performance. While the majority still chose “helps,” three questions showed more than 20% of participants perceiving the image as hurting their performance (i.e., I image the anxiety associated with a major injury; When I image an injury situation, I get emotionally excited; and When I image a life threatening injury, I feel anxious).

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Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity, Vol. 6 [2011], Iss. 1, Art. 5

Table 3. Correlations between IUATQ subscales and continuous variables.

Average CS items Average CG items

Average CS items

Average CG items

Average MS items

Average MGM items

Average MGA items

1.00

0.77**

0.72**

0.72**

0.65**

-0.14

-0.03

-0.13

-0.07

1.00

0.60**

0.74**

0.59**

0.00

0.17

-0.16

0.14

1.00

0.69**

0.59**

-0.28** 0.08

-0.39**

0.00

1.00

0.63**

-0.13

0.15

-0.28**

0.11

1.00

-0.18

-0.03

-0.23*

-0.07

1.00

0.98**

0.68**

0.97**

1.00

0.44**

0.99**

1.00

0.36*

Average MS items Average MGM items Average MGA items Age Years Certified Education Practicing

Age

Years Education Practicing Certified

1.00

*p < .05, **p < .01

http://www.bepress.com/jirspa/vol6/iss1/art5 DOI: 10.2202/1932-0191.1064

 

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Monsma et al.: Imagery Use Among Athletic Trainers

Table 4. Percentages of participants’ perceived imagery function across IUATQ subscales questions. IUATQ CS 8 11 13 18 20 27 CG 1 5 9 16 19 29 20 MS 2 7 10 12 14 25 MG-M 3 21 23 26 28 30 MG-A 4 6 15 17 22 24

Imagery Direction Helps Hurts 100 0 86.3 13.8 94.2 5.8 96.4 3.6 97.6 2.4 96.4 3.6 100 0 97.7 2.3 96.5 3.5 74.7 25.3 98.8 1.2 98.8 1.2 97.6 2.4 98.8 1.2 100 0 89.5 10.5 98.8 1.2 97.6 2.4 96.6 3.4 96.5 3.5 94.1 5.9 90.5 9.5 95.1 4.9 96.5 3.5 96.4 3.6 88.2 11.8 92.8 7.2 76.5 23.5 79.3 20.7 65.1 34.9 85.2 14.8

CS 25 40.8 25.6 42.9 5.7 55.8 7.6 8.2 25.0 5.3 16.3 1.2 5.7 13.6 0 0 9.2 5.8 4.6 9.2 1.2 1.2 0 0 4.6 6.7 2.4 1.2 4.8 6.0 2.6

Imagery Function CG MS MG-M 14.8 6.8 47.7 6.6 11.8 36.8 12.8 4.7 54.7 4.8 23.8 26.2 14.9 4.6 37.9 14.0 3.5 24.4 13.0 32.6 31.5 1.2 37.6 25.9 4.5 33.0 35.2 23.7 26.3 31.6 9.3 2.3 55.8 21.4 0 46.4 14.9 4.6 37.9 22.7 17.0 40.9 2.4 29.3 65.9 1.3 48.7 39.7 27.6 34.5 27.6 12.8 5.8 74.4 5.7 10.3 69.0 6.9 16.1 64.4 1.2 3.5 80.2 2.4 4.8 83.3 8.4 31.3 38.6 2.4 5.9 43.5 6.9 2.3 51.7 20.2 5.6 28.1 8.4 10.8 19.3 13.3 6.0 9.6 4.8 16.9 16.9 6.0 4.8 14.3 16.7 7.7 20.5

MG-A 5.7 3.9 2.3 2.4 36.8 2.3 15.2 27.1 2.3 13.2 16.3 31.0 36.8 5.7 2.4 10.3 1.1 1.2 10.3 3.4 14.0 8.3 21.7 48.2 34.5 39.3 59.0 69.9 56.6 69.0 52.6

N=93. All values are expressed as a percentage. CS=Cognitive Specific skills. CG=Cognitive General strategies. MS=Motivation Specific goals. MG-M=Motivation General Mastery confidence. MG-A=Motivation General Arousal anxiety. The first two columns indicate what percentage of participants responded that each image helped/hurt their performance. Bold face indicates a percentage of hurts over 20. The last columns represent the percentage of people who indicated their reason for using each particular image. Bold face indicates a percentage over 25.

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Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity, Vol. 6 [2011], Iss. 1, Art. 5

DISCUSSION The purpose of this study was to examine imagery use by ATs aligned with the premise that if ATs used imagery themselves, they would be more apt to advise their clients in using this important psychological skill. After all, imagery use is specifically advocated as part of the NATA psychosocial competencies (NATA, 2006). Based on descriptive statistics (Table 1), not only do ATs use imagery for motivational purposes but also for cognitive ones such as learning skills and strategies which were similar to reports from athletes and dancers (Martin et al., 1999; Nordin & Cumming, 2005). Likewise, as found with athletes, ATs reported confidence as the predominate function of their imagery use (Short et al., 2004). While the majority of ATs felt that imagery use made them a better AT, promoting imagery with clients was reported by just over half of the sample (55%) suggesting that some ATs do not realize the spectrum of potential benefits of imagery use. One- third of the participants reported learning about imagery in classes or did not know where they learned about imagery, indicating that the topic is not likely a formal focus in the academic preparation of ATs. Similar to previous studies that modified the original SIQ for dancers, coaches and athletes (Monsma & Overby, 2004; Short, Ross-Stewart, & Monsma, 2006, Short et al., 2005, Short et al., 2004, Weinberg et al., 2003), items were modified to fit the AT context. The new questionnaire was titled the IUATQ demonstrating acceptable internal consistencies (.70) with the exception of CG which was slightly lower (.68). Similar to previous research (Short et al., 2004; Short et al., 2005; Weinberg et al., 2003) the subscales were intercorrelated but not to the level of multicolinearity, indicating that each subscale measured a separate type of imagery content. Overall, results showed that ATs used each construct of the IUATQ with mean values similar to other studies with athletes (Gregg et al., 2005; Short et al., 2004; Short et al., 2005; Weinberg et al., 2003). MG-M imagery was used the most often followed by CS and CG imagery. Similarly, research on coaches’ imagery use showed that MG-M, as well as CS and CG imagery content were used most often (Short et al., 2005). Imagery use by ATs seems to be contingent on several factors. First, older ATs and those with more education reported using less motivation imagery. Motivation content may be more important to less experienced AT students who are in the midst of career preparation which is interesting because previous research has shown that novice athletes use more cognitive imagery than motivation imagery when compared to elite counterparts (Moritz et al., 1996). Surprisingly, cognitive imagery did not show similar correlations with education, contradicting previous assertions that image content involving skills and strategies is used more by those with less experience (Driskell, Copper, & Moran, 1994).

http://www.bepress.com/jirspa/vol6/iss1/art5 DOI: 10.2202/1932-0191.1064

 

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Monsma et al.: Imagery Use Among Athletic Trainers

ATs educated in curriculum-based programs used more MG-A imagery than those educated in internship programs. This finding may be because of the differences in clinical experiences; athletic trainers who worked in internship programs would have received much more hands on experience in high stress situations. It is reasonable to assume that those trained in curriculum programs may resort to imagery for anticipating high stress experiences that they have not experienced in reality. Because internship programs have become obsolete and clinical hours are no longer required for certification, learning how to use imagery effectively particularly for controlling arousal in high stakes situations may be even more important for ATs. Imagery content did not vary across job setting. This result is surprising because previous research (Isaac & Marks, 1994) showed imagery is used in different ways depending on the cognitive and physical demands of the job setting; physical education students were better able to image their own movements while science students were better able to image movements of others. In contrast, the majority of ATs indicated that their imagery use differed on game days versus practice days. It would be worth exploring how their imagery changed in type, frequency, and purpose. Perhaps on game days ATs use more MG-A imagery to prepare themselves for the high stress environment of the game or CG imagery to go over emergency plans. Item-specific frequencies were examined to determine if ATs perceived function was consistent with the item’s factor and if images were being used for multiple functions. Most of the images were perceived by the ATs as being motivational and most often as MG-M (confidence), followed by MG-A (anxiety). Interestingly, participants consistently reported using imagery to affect their confidence on many questions that were not targeted for this function. This pattern also occurred, to a lesser extent, with the anxiety construct. As noted by Short et al. (2004), like athletes, different ATs use the same image for different reasons, and one image can serve several functions at the same time. Future investigations should consider relationships between the various functions of imagery and affect. For example, it is reasonable to assume that like athletes (Vadocz, Hall, & Moritz, 1997) and dancers (Monsma & Overby, 2004) ATs are using imagery to build confidence in difficult situations, control skills such as taping and create strategies of care such as emergency plans or evaluations. Overall, ATs overwhelmingly indicated that their imagery use helps them become a better athletic trainer. This result supports the hypothesis that most images would be perceived as helpful for improving performance. Similar to Weinberg et al. (2003), ATs consistently perceived all MG-M questions to be helpful for improving performance supporting previous studies on allied health professionals. Bucher’s (1993) study on nursing students showed that mental rehearsal plus physical practice produced the best performance of a skill which is in contrast to meta analyses on motor performance tasks indicating that physical

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Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity, Vol. 6 [2011], Iss. 1, Art. 5

practice alone is superior (Driskell, et al., 1994; Feltz & Landers, 1983). Sanders et al. (2004) showed that mental practice was as effective as physical practice in the performance of surgical skills. Likewise, most participants indicated that their imagery use helped them become a better AT which was consistent with our hypotheses; however, only 23% indicated that they had any formal training in imagery use. Together with the changing degree experiences, this finding highlights the importance of teaching imagery as a medium for rehearsing evaluation steps, manual skills and emergency plans especially for rare injuries that may not be experienced in the curriculum-base programs. Not only could doing so help ATs in their own performance, but they may then be more knowledgeable about imagery in their treatment of patients. ATs perceive their imagery as helping their performance, but they may not know the many applications of imagery, or how to use it most effectively. Based on our findings, the subject of imagery appears to be inadequately covered in the curriculum. Only 29 participants (32%) indicated that they learned about imagery in a sport psychology class and 12 (13%) indicated that they learned about imagery in a general psychology class. This study was the first to look at imagery use in the AT population. We have gained some basic knowledge as to what ATs are imaging, why they image, whether imagery helps performance, and whether imagery is related to time in career or work setting. We can conclude that all types of imagery are already being used by ATs (mostly for confidence and rehearsing skills and strategies), and that they image mostly to affect their confidence and anxiety. ATs believe that their imagery use helps them perform better. It appears that the work setting is not related to imagery use, but there are imagery use differences in education level with more educated ATs using less imagery. One limitation to this study was that participants were required to classify each question of the IUATQ into five distinct categories, which was similar to previous research (Abma et al., 2002; Short et al., 2004) using the original and a revised form of the SIQ. By limiting the categories it is possibility that ATs may be using images for other purposes than were represented by the IUATQ. Future studies could explore this further by conducting qualitative studies to discover other types of images used by ATs that were not included in the IUATQ. Future studies should also examine relationships with anxiety, confidence, and performance to determine if imagery is a viable psychological skill for AT interventions. If evidence shows that ATs who do not use imagery are anxious and perform poorly on achievement tests or in mock high stakes client situations, more specific interventions geared at controlling anxiety and enhancing confidence could be designed and integrated perhaps with virtual technology.

http://www.bepress.com/jirspa/vol6/iss1/art5 DOI: 10.2202/1932-0191.1064

 

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Murphy, S., Nordin, S. M., & Cumming, J. (2008). Imagery in sport, exercise and dance. In T. Horn (ed.), Advances in sport and exercise psychology (3rd ed.). Champagne, IL: Human Kinetics. National Athletic Trainers’ Association. (2006). Athletic Training Educational Competencies (4th ed.). Dallas, TX: National Athletic Trainers’ Association. Nordin, S. M., & Cumming, J. (2005). More than meets the eye: Investigating imagery type, direction, and outcome. The Sport Psychologist, 19, 1-17. Overby, L. Y., Hall, C., & Haslam, I. (1997-98). A comparison of imagery used by dance teachers, figure skating coaches, and soccer coaches. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 17(4), 323-337. Paivio, A. (1985). Cognitive and motivational functions of imagery in human performance. Canadian Journal of Applied Sport Sciences, 10, 22S-28S. Sanders, C. W., Sadoski, M. et al. (2004). Comparing the effects of physical practice and mental imagery rehearsal on learning basic surgical skills by medical students. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 191, 1811-1814. Short, S. E., Ross-Stewart, L., & Monsma, E. V. (2006). Onwards with the evolution of imagery research in sport psychology. Athletic Insight: The Online Journal of Sport Psychology, 8(3). Short, S. E., Monsma, E. V., & Short, M. W. (2004). Is what you see really what you get? Athletes’ perceptions of imagery’s functions. The Sport Psychologist, 18, 341-349. Short, S. E., Smiley, M., & Ross-Stewart, L. (2005). The relationship between efficacy beliefs and imagery use in coaches. The Sport Psychologist, 19, 380-394. Speck, B. J. (1990). The effect of guided imagery upon first semester nursing students performing their first injections. Journal of Nursing Education, 29(8), 346-349. Stephens, R. L. (1992). Imagery: a treatment for nursing student anxiety. Journal of Nursing Education, 31(7), 314-319. Vadocz, E.A., Hall, C.R., & Moritz, S.E. (1997). The relationship between competitive anxiety and imagery use. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 9, 241-253. Wanzel, K. R., Anastakis, D. J. et al. (2007). Visual-spatial ability and fMRI cortical activation in surgery residents. The American Journal of Surgery, 193, 507-510. Weinberg, R., Butt, J. et al. (2003). The relationship between the use and effectiveness of imagery: An exploratory investigation. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 15, 26-40.

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