Perceived success, auditory feedback, and mental imagery: what best predicts improved efficacy and motor performance?

PURPOSE: Performance enhancement techniques can improve self-efficacy (SE) and task performance. The focus of this study was to determine which techniques could best achieve this with three novel tasks.

METHOD: Participants (n = 98) were counterbalanced across tasks and conditions (48 participants assigned to each condition in each task) and completed two trials of putting (imagery vs. no imagery), throwing (easy vs. difficult), and kicking (verbal feedback vs. no feedback) tasks, and SE and performance scores were recorded.

RESULTS: The results revealed that the auditory feedback condition had the greatest impact as it significantly explained both SE and performance scores, with a greater effect recorded for SE scores. Use of imagery or allocation to the easy-to-score condition did not improve performance or SE scores more than did the control conditions.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings were unexpected as successful past performance is often cited as the main determinant of SE change. Further empirical investigation is required to determine if these findings are repeatable and if they generalize to sporting settings.