Here it is ladies and gents. For an easier read you can access the PDF file here: Sports Psychology Applied to Video Games PDF

Running head: SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY APPLIED TO VIDEO GAMES

Visualization and Muscle Memory in Sports Psychology Applied to Video Games

Renelly Morel

Dr. Hirsch

Psychology 4999 – Experimental Psychology

St. Francis College

13 May 2008

Abstract

Several studies have shown that mental training and visualization techniques can improve the performance of students when completing a task. It was concluded under specific circumstances, encouraging students to imagine procedures and concepts can significantly aid in learning a certain activity. RB-730 series response pad, a unique and innovative tool, was used to measure response time of each participant in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (imagery, practice, and control) and were given a series of trials that contained different sequences. The data showed that imagery training, a standard component of many sport psychology interventions, is generally an effective means of improving performance. The results partially support the original hypothesis and showed statistical significance.

Visualization and Muscle Memory in Sports Psychology Applied to Video Games
Sports psychology is a new and growing field in the diverse realm of psychology. It focuses on the enhancement of physical performance through several different types of mental exercises. The process of sports psychology relies on the connection between the body and the mind. In order for an athlete to perform at his or her best, they must not only ensure that their bodies are physically prepared but also their state of minds as well. Being mentally prepared for a competition can make the difference in a win or lose situation when going up against individuals with similar skill level. Having the mental edge can make all the difference in a physical competition.

Brown (2001) defines sports psychology as a scientific study that involves the association between the psychological factors of a sport, exercise or any other physical activity. Sports psychology can also be described as a field within the psychology profession, which recognizes that there is a link between the mind and the body (Brown, 2001). This new and growing field studies the mental process of what occurs when performing a physical activity. The goal of a sports psychologist is to focus an athletes mind during a physical process with the intent of helping the athlete perform to the best of their ability. 

The classification of sports psychology in the sports industry is best defined by Moore (2003). A sports psychologist helps athletes function optimally in a specific sport and in personal goals that might be a distraction from their performance for a team or organization. Another important role of a sports psychologist includes participation in an athlete’s activity in order to observe them. This is very important because based upon the observation, the sports psychologist can record what needs improvement or what potential an athlete has on a specific activity. Also In the field of sports psychology, there are certain ethical codes that are set by the American Psychological Association that guide sports psychologists. The purposes of these rules are to ensure that sports psychologists practice in an ethical and moral manner.

Sports psychology methods include enhancement of motivation, changing attitudes, self awareness, conditioning, imagery, and visualization. For the sake of our study we are going to focus on motivation and mental imagery/visualization.

Baum and Trubo (1999) convey the importance of the mind and body connection in their book The Mental Edge. One of the reasons why athletes freeze, choke or perform poorly is because of what Baum and Trubo call “analysis paralysis” (p.6). This occurs when athletes over analyze what they are about to do. This leads to their minds distracting them from their physical objective, thus causing negative emotions like stress, anxiety and fear.

The power of self talk and how important it is for the process of motivation is another topic within sports psychology that Baum and Trubo discuss. Using negative statements and criticism reminds individuals of their limitations and can have an impact on their confidence and concentration. It can also create fear and anxiety that can get in the way of performance. Replacing negative statements with positive messages can lead to boosts in confidence and can enhance concentration for optimal performance in a physical activity. All it takes is practice in positive messages and eliminating negatives criticism from evaluations of the self.

The authors also give tips on changing an individual’s perception on their actions. These tips are referred to as “perception stretchers” because they extend a persons point of view on how to perform a physical activity in order to improve upon it. (Baum & Trubo, 1999, p.37). The most relevant tips from their perception stretchers include the idea that getting better is more important than winning at a sport or activity and that an individual should practice as they play. It’s better to perform an act and focus on improvement rather than winning. Once an individual improves at something, winning will eventually come along with it. Also practicing the same way the activity is done will enhance learning and will aid in the conditioning of an activity. Another important perception stretcher that ties into motivation that Baum and Trubo (1999) discuss is that limitations are temporary. Being aware that certain blocks or limitations that an individual might have are temporary is important for motivation. Once an athlete realizes that they can get through a road block in training, it makes overcoming it even more realistic in their mind. 

Parker (2000, as cited in Mauro, 2005) defines motivation as two separate sub groups which include intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation pertains to an athlete’s motivation that comes from his/her own sake to perform optimally in a particular sport. This type of motivation comes from within an athlete, from their love for the sport/activity. Parker states that intrinsic motivation is recognized as the preferred method of motivation because it is associated with greater persistence and greater commitment. Extrinsic motivation is expressed when an athlete performs solely for the purpose of an outside reward as their driving force in a sport or any other physical activity.

Parker (2000, as cited in Mauro, 2005) also discusses several different ways in improving motivation levels that include the following:

Avoid prediction the outcome of something that you don’t have control over. This could lower self confidence and create unrealistic events.

The importance of giving praise. Being positive and acknowledging a person strives in an activity is important for motivation and confidence.

The application of positive reinforcement talks. This aids in an athletes ability to think positively and helps them gain drive and confidents.

Mental Imagery. Being able to visualize what one is going to do before one does it is just as important as physically performing the action its self.

One of the most significant and most effective ways of enhancing performance is mental imagery. Mental imagery is also stated in the above list of methods on improving motivation levels. Mental imagery is also referred to as mental practice (Clark, 1960) mental rehearsal, introspective rehearsal, conceptualization (Egstrom, 1964) and covert rehearsal (Corbin, 1967).

One theory on the process of mental practice is that its association to a physical activity may function by activating representations of former physical acts that were previously done (Bourne, Healy, & Wohldmann, 2007). Once the body has preformed an activity it can practice it mentally and improve upon it through visualization. For instance, if an individual has already preformed the act of kicking a soccer ball into a goal, then they can easily visualize it and practice mental training.

Mental imagery combined with training is the ideal way to enhance an athlete’s performance. Not only would they be able to train their bodies but when they have some down time or can not participate in physical training, mental imagery would be the next best thing. This shows how mental practice is important because once an athlete sees themselves performing an act they become more confident when it comes time to perform.

Annett (1995, as cited in, Chandler, Cooper, Sweller, & Tindall-Ford, 2001) describes the different ways that one can perform mental imagery. One way is done in third party as a person is watching the ideal performance done. The other way to practice mental imagery is in first person where an individual places themselves in a situation in which they are performing an activity in the ideal form. Mental practice is also applied to counseling techniques such as introspection. This can be very helpful for a sports psychologist when aiding an athlete to get past certain psychological or behavioral issues that they are having.

Baum and Trubo (1999), who were mentioned earlier in this paper, also describe the process of visualization and how mental rehearsal functions. The authors go into great detail on how the brain functions. The left hemisphere utilizes logic and analysis while right hemisphere of the brain is responsible for the imagination and visual images. As one visualizes, both parts of the brain are working together. The act of visualization can be described as the mind going through steps before the body does it. Baum and Trubo also discuss several studies done on athletes to measure their muscle activity during mental imagery. The results showed that there was activity in the muscles during their visualization sessions. The muscles that showed activity were the ones that the participants visualized using. This showed that there is a link between the muscles in the body and the mind.

While mental imagery plays into motivation, it can also have other benefits as well. Studies conducted by sports psychologists have shown that methods in sports psychology, specifically mental imagery, can be beneficial to athletes who are recovering from injuries that prevent them from performing optimally in a certain physical action. For instance Davis and Sime (2005) preformed a case study on a College baseball player who was struggling to recover from a serious eye injury. Davis and Sime used an internal imagery/video/electroencephalogram (EEG) to train his visual attention and to boost his self confidence. This experiment was done during the off season. During each session on the EEG program, the participant focused on different aspects of batting which included holding a batting stance, hitting a low pitch and holding a baseball bat in his hands. The results showed that during the open season, the college baseball player’s confidence had increase as well as his hitting and fielding performance dramatically improved. This shows the rehabilitative qualities that sports psychology encompasses.

The use of video games in psychological research studies is still new in the research field. With the variety of video games in the market, endless amounts of studies can be done. Recent studies that have been done using video games have mostly focused on aggression and stereotypes. Brenick, Henning, Killen, O’Connor, and Collins (2007) conducted a study in which they surveyed adolescence on how they viewed stereotypes in video games. Brenick et al.’s study utilized 46 female students and 41 male students. The participants in this study were interviewed about their game knowledge, awareness and evaluation of stereotypes, games with negative male stereotypes and negative female stereotypes as well as gender neutral games.  Brenick’s et al. found that males were more likely to accept stereotypes in video games than females which show that gender differences were found for how participants evaluated games.

There also has been other studies done that pertain to learning with the aid of video games. Shaffer, Squire, Halverson and Gee (2004) describe several types of video games that enable player to learn how to solve problems in order to get to the next area of a game. Shaffer et al. also stated that video games allow players to learn by doing. Players on video games such as Full Spectrum Warrior™ have to give orders to two difference squads of soldiers. Players also have to use GPS devices and maintain communications with commanders of the squads in order to advance and defeat enemy squads. A game like this requires military strategy practice and the learning of a virtual environment which varies in size depending on the level in the game. The application of sports psychology to video games seems like a very likely combination since a large part of video games deal with hand and eye coordination, strategy, practice, and other sport activities.

Each genre of video games taps into a different skill of an individual. Racing games, such as Burnout™ [EA Games] and Need for Speed™ [EA Games], require a very sharp reaction time for turns and an understanding of the different types of vehicles, since in these types of games there are different ways of driving such as manual and automatic. First and third person shooters, like Ghost Recon Advance Warfighter™ [Ubisoft] and Call of Duty™ [Activision], require an individual who has a precise aim and a quick shot. Also, first and third person shooters also require the knowledge of using up to 10 or more buttons that do several different things on the game. Another important aspect of this genre of video games is being able to assess a map and execute a plan on shooting games take a lot of mental practice. Simulator games, such as Guitar Hero™ [Activision] and Dance Dance revolution™ [Konami], are a different type of game that has emerged in the industry. Guitar hero™ is a game in which a person uses a controller shaped like a guitar to play. The guitar/controller contains five different colored buttons on the neck and each color represents a different note. The bottom part of the controller contains a switch like button which is used to strum out the notes. The point of guitar hero is to strum along to a song. There are several different difficulty levels and getting to the expert mode takes a lot of practice and conditioning. Dance Dance Revolution™ is a game which is played on a “dance mat”. The dance mat contains four arrows which consist of up, down, left and right. The game requires a person to step on the appropriate arrow when it is indicated on the screen. Guitar Hero™ and Dance Dance Revolution™ both require a sense of rhythm and timing.

In recent years, video game competitions have emerged and are growing at an astounding rate. These competitions are known as e-sports. Most of the e-sports competitions are based under the first and third person shooter genre. These competitions contain teams of four players who play against each other online and at live tournament venues. Many of the teams of four are accompanied by coaches. These coaches have to maintain the positive moral of the team and encourage them when they are doing well, but even more so when they are not doing so well. Coaches also monitor players during competitions by observing them on how they play so that they may have feedback on how they can improve for the future competitions.

Our study will examine the effects of mental practice and visualization on performance enhancement for a specific video game. We want to determine if through mental practice, a standard method of sports psychology, St. Francis College students will be able to perform better on response pads (RB-730 response pads) in comparison to a control group. These response pads function identically to the video game Guitar Hero™.

Method

Participants

Sixty undergraduate college students from St. Francis College were randomly assigned to one of three different conditions (imagery, practice and control). Participants ranged from age 18-38 years (M=20.11, SD=3.30). The sample consisted of 32 males and 28 females.

Apparatus

The materials include the Super Lab software program, which was used to program the sequential trials as well as two RB-730 series response pads which each participant used to record their response times. Two illustrations of the RB-730 series response pads (See Appendix A) were used for the imagery group (see procedure). Word puzzles were distributed to the control group (see Appendix B). All participants received consent forms and demographic forms to fill out (See Appendix C & D). A stopwatch was used to keep track of time. 

Procedure

All participants were greeted on arrival by the experimenters and were asked to be seated in a separate area of the room. Once seated, informed consents and demographic forms were distributed to each participant. These were explained and collected once the participants had signed them. The participants were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions (imagery, practice and control). Each group was given five minutes to complete their assigned task.

For the practice group, the experimenters debriefed the subjects to make sure that everyone understood the instructions that appeared on the computer screen. The instructions were as follow: “press the corresponding colored key on the key pad as quickly as you can. You will be scored for both speed and correct responses”. This group was given five minutes to practice the sequences on the RB-730 response pads. The speeds of the practice sequences were slower than the actual sequences in the experiment. After five minutes of hands on practice, the participants performed the actual sequences on the RB-730 series response pads.

As for the imagery group, the task assigned was similar with the omission of the actual response pad. Subjects were first debriefed for five minutes by the experimenter on their pending tasks. Participants were to imagine entering the right sequences for five minutes using an illustration of the RB-730 series response pad. During the visualization task, each subject imagined pressing a button on the response pad that corresponded with the color of the “X” that appeared on the screen. For five minutes, the participants visualized themselves entering the correct sequences on the response pad. After five minutes of visualizing the sequences, the participants performed the actual sequences on the response pads.

The participants in the control group were briefed for five minutes by the experimenters on their pending tasks. Being the control group, visualization techniques and prior practice on the stimulation pads were unnecessary. Therefore, after the five minutes of briefing, the participants were given word puzzles to complete. After five minutes of being occupied with the word puzzles, they performed the sequences on the stimulation pads.

After completing their assigned tasks, all participants were exposed to the same sequences. The experimental sequences consisted of 3 Trials that were each divided into 2 sections. Trial 1 appeared on the screen in a slow pace of 1500 milliseconds. Trial 2 was longer than Trial 1 and appeared on the screen in a moderate pace of 1000 milliseconds. As for Trial 3, the sequences appeared at a rapid pace of 500 milliseconds.
Results

The experiment consisted of (N=60) participants, 53.3% of the participants were male (n=32) and 46.7% were female (n=28). Ethnicity, age, ranks and hours played on guitar hero were also taken into consideration. Participants were predominately Caucasian (41.7%) compared to the other ethnicities (African American 26.7%, Asian 1.7%, Latino 21.7%, Other 8.3%). The mean age of the participants was 19 years. The rank of the participants varied (38% were freshmen, 18% were sophomores, 20% were juniors and 11.7% were seniors). Out of the 60 participants, 46.7% of them played guitar hero before the experiment. On average, the ones who played before did so for about an hour a week.

The data retrieved in the experiment partially supported the original hypothesis and showed some significance. A series of one way a ANOVA’s was run to examine the effects of the three different levels (imagery, practice, and control) over three separate trials of difficultly on the Super Lab software program using the RB series response pads. The trials were separated into different levels which each contained separate sequences and cues. For example, the first level contained Level 1 sequences 1 cue 1, Level 1 sequences 1 cue 2 and so on. 
Only the first level of difficultly showed that there was any significant effects across the experimental conditions. The 1st level was the slowest out of the three trials. There were two sequences of cues in the first portion of the experiment for level 1(See Table 1). Figure 1 shows that the imagery and experimental group had better response times than that of the control group. The response times of the imagery and experimental group were closely related when compared to the control group.

For levels 2 and 3, in which the stimuli were presented in progressively faster sequences, there were no statistical significances found across the three conditions for any of the stimuli that were presented.

Discussion

After accumulating all of the data, it was concluded that only the first section of the experiment, Trial 1 was statistically significant and applied to our hypothesis. Trial 1 consisted of eight different set of cues that ran at a pace of 1500 milliseconds. This was the slowest of the three Trials. For Trial 1, the practice group differed from the control group in response time. The results showed that the control group was much slower in response. The practice group and the imagery group responded similarly (see Figure 1) for the same Trial.

Trials 2 and 3 on the Super Lab software seem to have been too difficult for the groups. For Trial 2, participants were not consistent in the number of correct and incorrect responses they obtained. Trial 3 contained the most inconsistencies and ran at the fastest pace of the three Trials, 500 milliseconds.

One of the main concerns of the experiment was the amount of time each participant was given for the administration of the condition. Since the subjects were only given 5 minutes for their assigned condition, it might have not been enough time for them to absorb the effects of the condition.

For future exploration of this study, one recommendation is a longer period of time for the Imagery and Practice group to have time to absorb the practice sessions. If there were more time to run each participant, then there might have been more significance in the other trials of the experiment that were more difficult. A week or more would be ideal.

References
Brenick, A., O’Connor, A., Henning, A., Killen, M., & Collins, M. (2007). Social evaluations of stereotypic images in video games: Unfair, legitimate, or ‘just entertainment’? Youth and Society, 38, 395-419.
Baum, K., & Turbo, R. (1999) The mental edge. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group.
Bourne, L.E., Jr., Healy, A.F., & Wohldmann, E. L. (2007). Pushing the limitations of imagination: Mental for learning sequences. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 33, 254-261.
Brown, C.H., Jr. (2001). Clinical cross-training: Compatibility of sport and family systems psychology. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 32, 19-26.
Chandler, P., Sweller, J., Tindall-Ford, S., & Cooper, G. (2001). Learning by imagining. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 7, 68-82.
Clark, L. V. (1960). Effect of mental practice on the development of a certain motor skill. Research Quarterly, 31, 560-569.
Corbin, C. B. (1967). The effect of covert rehearsal on development of a complex motor skill. Journal of General Psychology, 76, 143-150.
Davis, P.A. & Sime, W.E. (2005). Toward a psychophysiology of performance: Sport psychology principles dealing with anxiety. International Journal of Stress and Management, 12, 363-378.
Egstrom, G. H. (1964). Effects of an emphasis on conceptualizing techniques during early learning of a gross motor skill. Research Quarterly, 35, 472-481.
Halverson, R., Shaffer, D.W., Squire, K.R., & Gee, J.P. (2005) Video games and the future of learning. Phi Delta Kappan, 87, 104-111.
Mauro, P. (2005) How mental training can improve your performance. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from http://www.trainingsmartonline.com/triathlon_psychology.php
Moore, Z.E. (2003) Ethical dilemmas in sports psychology: discussion and recommendations for practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 34, 601-610.