No abstract

The purpose of the present study was to assess the relationship between pre-performance psychological states and expert performance in non-traditional sport competition. Nineteen elite male sport climbers (M=24.6, SD=4.0 years of age) completed the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule before an international rock climbing competition. Climbing performances were video-recorded to calculate movement fluency (entropy) and obtain ascent times. Official route scores were also obtained. Successful climbers reported higher pre-performance levels of somatic anxiety and climbed the most difficult part of the route more slowly than their unsuccessful counterparts. The psychological states preceding elite climbing competition appeared to be an important factor in determining success, even when differences in baseline ability were taken into account.

Investigating emotional imagery, Lang (1977Lang ( , 1979 proposed a dichotomy between stimulus and response propositions. In this study, Lang's model is applied to movement images of lifting of 4.5 and 9 kg weights. Twenty-two male and 17 female students participated in the study. During the imaginary lifting of the weights, the electromyographical activity (EMG) of both biceps brachii muscles were assessed. Imagery ability was measured with the Movement Imagery Questionnaire (MIQ) and another self-report rating scale. When response propositions were emphasized in the script, imaginary weight lifting resulted in greater muscle activity than when stimulus propositions were emphasized. During imagined lifting, EMG activity of the active arm was greater than that of the passive arm. In addition, in the active arm, a significant difference in EMG activity was found between 9 kg and 4.5 kg. It was concluded that Lang's model is also applicable to emotionally neutral movement imagery.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether observing an expert climber would enable inexperienced climbers to perceive and accomplish new possibilities for action and whether this would facilitate their climbing performance. The focus was on what information is obtained during observation of a motor action. Three groups of inexperienced male participants (N = 24) observed either a video model of an expert method of climbing, a video model of a novice method of climbing, or the climbing wall on video without a model. Participants subsequently climbed the wall. This procedure of observation followed by climbing was repeated five times. Analysis showed participants perceived and subsequently utilized information from the videotapes and that this resulted in faster and more fluent climbing (as assessed by the geometric entropy of the body center of gravity). The results are discussed in terms of perceiving and accomplishing opportunities for action or affordances.

In two retroactive interference experiments, we assessed the eþ ect of mentally imagined movement speed on subsequent motor performance. All participants performed a sequential motor action at three speeds during a baseline test and a retention test. During the retention interval of Experiment 1, the participants (n = 50) physically performed the action at a slow speed, physically performed it at a fast speed, imagined it at a slow speed, imagined it at a fast speed, or performed a no-practice control task. In Experiment 2, the participants (n = 24) imagined the movement, overtly vocalized words, or both, all at a slow speed. The results revealed that the speed of the imagined motor action aþ ected the speed of subsequent performance in the retention test and that imagery and physical practice were functionally equivalent. The results are consistent with Lang' s bio-informational theory.