ReviewPsychological research2024
Learning motor actions via imagery-perceptual or motor learning?
Review in Psychological research, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Motor imagery in autism: a systematic review.Frontiers in integrative neuroscience · 2024Pooled it
- 'Substitute' knowledge of results provided through virtual reality enhances motor imagery-based learning.Psychological research · 2026Trial
- Dopamine, motor imagery, and proprioception: a neurochemical probe into the perception-imagery debate.Psychological research · 2025Trial
- Action observation perspective influences the effectiveness of combined action observation and motor imagery training for novices learning an Osoto Gari judo throw.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Perceptual Temporal Structure Supports Rhythm Learning and Enhances Theta Oscillations When Perception and Action Are Dissociated.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- Projecting the new body: How body image evolves during learning to walk with a wearable robot.PNAS nexus · 2026Article
- Bridging cognition and control through passive eye movement integration in motor imagery brain-computer interfaces.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Review
- Perceptual and Motor Processes in Motor Imagery.The European journal of neuroscience · 2025Article
- Even with exposure to errors, motor imagery cannot update internal models.Psychological research · 2025Article
- Motor imagery enhances performance beyond the imagined action.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Ecological Dynamics as an Accurate and Parsimonious Contributor to Applied Practice: A Critical Appraisal.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Review
- Article
- Emergent Aspects of the Integration of Sensory and Motor Functions.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Does model type influence the effectiveness of combined action observation and motor imagery training for novices learning an Ankle Pick takedown?Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Understanding the prevalence of mental imagery, music, and their combined use among athletes and coaches.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- To move without moving: a perspective article on motor imagery.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Imagery and motor learning: a special issue on the neurocognitive mechanisms of imagery and imagery practice of motor actions.Psychological research · 2024Article
- Commentary on Frank et al., (2003): where does learning through motor imagery lie on the perceptual-motor continuum?Psychological research · 2024Review
- Learning via imagery - merging techniques to improve the outcomes: a commentary on Frank et al. (2023).Psychological research · 2024Review
- Enhancing motor imagery practice using synchronous action observation.Psychological research · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
It is well accepted that repeatedly imagining oneself acting without any overt behavior can lead to learning. The prominent theory accounting for why imagery practice is effective, motor simulation theory, posits that imagined action and overt action are functionally equivalent, the exception being activation of the end effector. If, as motor simulation theory states, one can compile the goal, plan, motor program and outcome of an action during imagined action similar to overt action, then learning of novel skills via imagery should proceed in a manner equivalent to that of overt action. While the evidence on motor simulation theory is both plentiful and diverse, it does not explicitly account for differences in neural and behavioural findings between imagined and overt action. In this position paper, we briefly review theoretical accounts to date and present a perceptual-cognitive theory that accounts for often observed outcomes of imagery practice. We suggest that learning by way of imagery reflects perceptual-cognitive scaffolding, and that this 'perceptual' learning transfers into 'motor' learning (or not) depending on various factors. Based on this theory, we characterize consistently reported learning effects that occur with imagery practice, against the background of well-known physical practice effects and show that perceptual-cognitive scaffolding is well-suited to explain what is being learnt during imagery practice.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.