Efficacy of Verbally Describing One’s Own Body Movement in Motor Skill Acquisition

Tsubasa Kawasaki,Masashi Kono,Ryosuke Tozawa

doi:10.3390/brainsci9120356

Abstract

The present study examined whether (a) verbally describing one’s own body movement can be potentially effective for acquiring motor skills, and (b) if the effects are related to motor imagery. The participants in this study were 36 healthy young adults (21.2 ± 0.7 years), randomly assigned into two groups (describing and control). They performed a ball rotation activity, with the describing group being asked by the examiner to verbally describe their own ball rotation, while the control group was asked to read a magazine aloud. The participants’ ball rotation performances were measured before the intervention, then again immediately after, five minutes after, and one day after. In addition, participants’ motor imagery ability (mental chronometry) of their upper extremities was measured. The results showed that the number of successful ball rotations (motor smoothness) and the number of ball drops (motor error) significantly improved in the describing group. Moreover, improvement in motor skills had a significant correlation with motor imagery ability. This suggests that verbally describing an intervention is an effective tool for learning motor skills, and that motor imagery is a potential mechanism for such verbal descriptions.

Highlights

Acquiring motor skills is commonly achieved through the repeated execution of motor skills.recent research has indicated that the process of learning motor skills can be promoted through the use of cognitive strategies, without requiring actual physical movement [1,2]
The present study examined whether verbally describing own body movement demonstrates efficacy in motor skill acquisition when compared to reading aloud
The results showed that based on the number of successful ball rotations for one minute, positive effects were distinctly observed by the describing intervention

Summary

Introduction

Acquiring motor skills is commonly achieved through the repeated execution of motor skills.recent research has indicated that the process of learning motor skills can be promoted through the use of cognitive strategies, without requiring actual physical movement [1,2]. The most common cognitive strategy used is motor imagery training, which is the mental practice of motor skills. The effectiveness of this strategy has been shown in research with individuals with a wide range of physical impairments, such as decreased fine motor skills [3], difficulties with balance and gait following a stroke [4], and complex regional pain syndrome [5,6,7]. Motor imagery training has been regarded as an effective approach for use in clinical settings, as it can be done without using actual physical movements

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