Research design and mental practice

Research design is the basis from which study outcomes are obtained. Unfortunately, a multitude of methodological design combinations has historically been used to examine the phenomenon of mental practice relative to motor behaviour. The present paper contends that these varied methodological combinations obscure efforts to produce a solid foundation of mental practice evidence. The paper presents an overview of the implemented mental practice research designs via a methodological components model and illustrates how this model can be used to clarify design issues of past mental practice research, and plan more effective future studies. Analysis of past research demonstrates the need for a balanced emphasis between study design and study outcome, and suggests a more explicit methodological focus in order to promote more effectively designed mental practice studies in the future.