Imagery research: An investigation of three issues

Objective: The objective of the present study was to investigate three issues in imagery research: how imagery perspective preference may relate to imagery ability: the angle of external visual imagery usage: and the order of visual and kinesthetic imagery experience. Methods: One hundred and fifty nine athletes (M age = 19.60, SD = 2.67 years) completed an adapted version of the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire - 2 (Roberts, Callow, Hardy, Markland, & Bringer, 2008). Results: Significant but small correlations between imagery perspective preference and imagery perspective ability were revealed. With reference to angle, athletes reported imaging from a variety of external angles. However, angle of external visual imagery did not relate to differences in imagery ability. In terms of the order of visual and kinesthetic imagery, regardless of visual imagery perspective, athletes' experienced visual and kinesthetic imagery concurrently most often. Conclusions: The results are discussed in terms of the importance of taking imagery preference into account when designing imagery studies. Further, future research directions are proposed in relation to exploring angle of external visual imagery and order of visual and kinesthetic imagery. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.