Improving Tactical Learning by Imagination: Effects of Expertise and Time of Testing

Abstract

The imagination effect occurs when learners who imagine a procedure perform better on a subsequent test than learners who study it. The present study explored whether this effect is restricted to short-term learning or whether it also applies when learning is tested after a delay. Forty novices and forty experts learned about a basketball game system and were instructed to either listen and memorize (no-imagination condition) or imagine and memorize (imagination condition) the tactical instructions given orally. The results indicated that experts who imagined the material performed better in both immediate and delayed knowledge tests than experts who simply studied the same material, indicating a robust effect of the imagination in experts. However, the results showed that novices performed well in the immediate knowledge test under the no-imagination condition, but this effect was reversed in the delayed knowledge test, making imagination more beneficial. These findings indicate that the effectiveness of imagination over time depends on the level of expertise of the players.