Home Influence of imagery-based suggestions on performance during the training of professional firefighters
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Influence of imagery-based suggestions on performance during the training of professional firefighters

  • Alexandre Coutté EMAIL logo , Agathe Harle and Laura Dias Da Silva
Published/Copyright: February 7, 2022

Abstract

Objectives

For several decades, a growing number of studies have highlighted that imagery-based suggestions, can efficiently influence motor control and perception. In the present study, we tested whether imagery-based suggestions without hypnotic induction might influence physical resistance performance and effort perception in the context of French firefighters’ usual training.

Methods

A group of 18 male firefighters had to keep the wall-sit posture as long as they could while listening to different scripts. In the first condition, imagery was related to Lightness. In the second one, it was related to Heaviness. In the Control condition, they just had to listen and pay attention to series of two-digit numbers.

Results

Results showed that the participants kept the posture longer in the Lightness condition than in the Heaviness one. Furthermore the effort was perceived as less difficult in the Lightness condition in comparison to the Heaviness and the Control ones. Moreover in the Lightness condition, the higher the participants scored in visual and kinesthetic imagery tasks (MIQ-R), the less they rated the exercise as difficult.

Conclusions

Imagery-based suggestions significantly influenced both physical resistance performance and effort perception without any prior hypnotic induction. Further studies are necessary to better understand the factors that modulate this influence.


Corresponding author: Alexandre Coutté, UFR STAPS, LICAE, Université Paris-Nanterre, Nanterre, France, E-mail:

References

Aon, E. C., McIsaac, T., & Nilsen, D. (2012). Effects of kinesthetic versus visual imagery practice on two technical dance movements: A pilot study. Journal of Dance Medicine and Science, 16, 36–38.Search in Google Scholar

Bányai, E. I. (2018). Active-alert hypnosis: History, research, and applications. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 61(2), 88–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2018.1496318.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Barber, T. X., & Wilson, S. C. (1978). The Barber suggestibility scale and the creative imagination scale: Experimental and clinical applications. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 21, 84–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.1978.10403966.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Blanchfield, A. W., Hardy, J., & Marcora, S. M. (2014). Nonconscious visual cues related to affect and action alter perception of effort and endurance performance. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 967. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00967.Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

Borg, G. (1998). Borg’s perceived exertion and pain scales. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.Search in Google Scholar

Braffman, W., & Kirsch, I. (1999). Imaginative suggestibility and hypnotizability: An empirical analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(3), 578–587. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.77.3.578.Search in Google Scholar

Carli, G., Rendo, C., Sebastiani, L., & Santarcangelo, E. L. (2006). Suggestions of altered balance: Possible equivalence of imagery and perception. The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 54(2), 206–223. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207140500528455.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Delignières, D., Famose, J. P., & Genty, J. (1994). Validation d’une échelle de catégories pour la perception de la difficulté. S.T.a.P:S, 34, 77–88.10.3406/staps.1994.982Search in Google Scholar

Derbyshire, S. W., Whalley, M. G., & Oakley, D. A. (2009). Fibromyalgia pain and its modulation by hypnotic and non-hypnotic suggestion: An fMRI analysis. European Journal of Pain, 13(5), 542–550. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpain.2008.06.010.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Ekkekakis, P. (2017). People have feelings! Exercise psychology in paradigmatic transition. Current Opinion in Psychology, 16, 84–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.03.018.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Ekkekakis, P., & Brand, R. (2019). Affective responses to and automatic affective valuations of physical activity: Fifty years of progress on the seminal question in exercise psychology. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 42, 130–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2018.12.018.Search in Google Scholar

Ekkekakis, P., Hall, E. E., & Petruzzello, S. J. (2008). The relationship between exercise intensity and affective responses demystified: To crack the 40-year-old nut, replace the 40-year-old nutcracker. Annals of Behavioral Medicine: A Publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 35(2), 136–149. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-008-9025-z.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Ekkekakis, P., Parfitt, G., & Petruzzello, S. J. (2011). The pleasure and displeasure people feel when they exercise at different intensities: Decennial update and progress towards a tripartite rationale for exercise intensity prescription. Sports Medicine, 41(8), 641–671. https://doi.org/10.2165/11590680-000000000-00000.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Elkins, G. R., Barabasz, A. F., Council, J. R., & Spiegel, D. (2015). Advancing research and practice: The revised APA Division 30 definition of hypnosis. The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 63(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2014.961870.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Elkins, G., Jensen, M. P., & Patterson, D. R. (2007). Hypnotherapy for the management of chronic pain. The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 55(3), 275–287. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207140701338621.Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A.-G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39, 175–191. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193146.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Gir, E. C., McIsaac, T., & Nilsen, D. (2012). Effects of kinesthetic versus visual imagery practice on two technical dance movements: A pilot study. Journal of Dance Medicine and Science, 16(1), 36–38.10.1177/1089313X1201600105Search in Google Scholar

Golomer, E. M., Gravenhorst, R. M., & Toussaint, Y. (2009). Influence of vision and motor imagery styles on equilibrium control during whole-body rotations. Somatosensory and Motor Research, 26(4), 105–110. https://doi.org/10.3109/08990220903384968.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Grangeon, M., Guillot, A., & Collet, C. (2011). Postural control during visual and kinesthetic motor imagery. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 36(1), 47–56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-011-9145-2.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Green, J. P., Barabasz, A. F., Barrett, D., & Montgomery, G. H. (2005). Forging ahead: The 2003 APA Division 30 definition of hypnosis. The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 53(3), 259–264. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207140590961321.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Guillot, A., Collet, C., Nguyen, V. A., Malouin, F., Richards, C., & Doyon, J. (2009). Brain activity during visual vs. kinesthetic imagery: An fMRI study. Human Brain Mapping, 30, 2157–2172. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.20658.Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

Hall, C. R., & Martin, K. A. (1997). Measuring movement imagery abilities: A revision of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire. Journal of Mental Imagery, 21, 143–154.10.1037/t07979-000Search in Google Scholar

Hartman, M. E., Ekkekakis, P., Dicks, N. D., & Pettitt, R. W. (2019). Dynamics of pleasure-displeasure at the limit of exercise tolerance: Conceptualizing the sense of exertional physical fatigue as an affective response. Journal of Experimental Biology, 222(Pt 3), jeb186585. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.186585.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Hétu, S., Grégoire, M., Saimpont, A., Coll, M. P., Eugène, F., Michon, P. E., & Jackson, P. L. (2013). The neural network of motor imagery: An ALE meta-analysis. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 37(5), 930–949. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.03.017.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Holmes, P. S., & Collins, D. J. (2001). The PETTLEP approach to motor imagery: A functional equivalence model for sport psychologists. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 13(1), 60–83. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200109339004.Search in Google Scholar

Jeannerod, M. (1994). The representing brain: Neural correlates of motor intention and imagery. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 17(2), 187. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00034026.Search in Google Scholar

Jones, L., & Ekkekakis, P. (2019). Affect and prefrontal hemodynamics during exercise under immersive audiovisual stimulation: Improving the experience of exercise for overweight adults. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 8(4), 325–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2019.03.003.Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

Jones, L., Karageorghis, C. I., & Ekkekakis, P. (2014). Can high-intensity exercise be more pleasant?: Attentional dissociation using music and video. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 36(5), 528–541. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.2013-0251.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Kirsch, I. (1994). APA definition and description of hypnosis: Defining hypnosis for the public. Contemporary Hypnosis, 11, 142–143.10.1037/e406602005-015Search in Google Scholar

Kirsch, I., Cardeña, E., Derbyshire, S., Dienes, Z., Heap, M., Kallio, S., … Whalley, M. (2011). Definitions of hypnosis and hynotizability and their relation to suggestion and suggestibility: A consensus statement. Contemporary Hypnosis & Integrative Therapy, 28(2), 107–115.Search in Google Scholar

Kirsch, I., Mazzoni, G., & Montgomery, G. H. (2007). Remembrance of hypnosis past. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 49(3), 171–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2007.10401574.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Kosslyn, S. M., Ganis, G., & Thompson, W. L. (2001). Neural foundations of imagery. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2(9), 635–642. https://doi.org/10.1038/35090055.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Lind, E., Welch, A. S., & Ekkekakis, P. (2009). Do ‘mind over muscle’ strategies work? Examining the effects of attentional association and dissociation on exertional, affective and physiological responses to exercise. Sports Medicine, 39(9), 743–764. https://doi.org/10.2165/11315120-000000000-00000.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Lohse, K. R., & Sherwood, D. E. (2011). Defining the focus of attention: Effects of attention on perceived exertion and fatigue. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 332. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00332.Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

Lorant, J., & Nicolas, A. (2004). Validation de la traduction française du Movement Imagery Questionnaire-Revised (MIQ-R). Movement & Sport Sciences, 3(3), 57–68. https://doi.org/10.3917/sm.053.0057.Search in Google Scholar

Marcora, S. M., Bosio, A., & de Morree, H. M. (2008). Locomotor muscle fatigue increases cardiorespiratory responses and reduces performance during intense cycling exercise independently from metabolic stress. American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 294(3), R874–R883. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00678.2007.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Marcora, S. M., & Staiano, W. (2010). The limit to exercise tolerance in humans: Mind over muscle? European Journal of Applied Physiology, 109(4), 763–770. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1418-6.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Markland, D., Hall, C. R., Duncan, L. R., & Simatovic, J. (2015). The effects of an imagery intervention on implicit and explicit exercise attitudes. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 17, 24–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2014.11.007.Search in Google Scholar

McGeown, W. J., Venneri, A., & Kirsch, I. (2012). Suggested visual hallucination without hypnosis enhances activity in visual areas of the brain. Consciousness and Cognition, 21, 100–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2011.10.015.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

McQuade, K. J., Turner, J. A., & Buchner, D. M. (1988). Physical fitness and chronic low back pain. An analysis of the relationships among fitness, functional limitations, and depression. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 233, 198–204. https://doi.org/10.1097/00003086-198808000-00023.Search in Google Scholar

Milling, L. S., Kirsch, I., Allen, G. J., & Reutenauer, E. L. (2005). The effects of hypnotic and non hypnotic imaginative suggestion on pain. Annals of Behavioral Medicine: A Publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 29(2), 116–127. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324796abm2902_6.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Montgomery, G. H., DuHamel, K. N., & Redd, W. H. (2000). A meta-analysis of hypnotically induced analgesia: How effective is hypnosis? The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 48(2), 138–153. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207140008410045.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Morris, T., Spittle, M., & Watt, A. P. (2005). Imagery in sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.Search in Google Scholar

Moulton, S. T., & Kosslyn, S. M. (2009). Imagining predictions: Mental imagery as mental emulation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 364(1521), 1273–1280. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0314.Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

Mubiri, M. A., Richard, M., & Bioy, A. (2015). Place de l’autohypnose dans la prise en charge de la douleur. Douleurs: Evaluation - Diagnostic - Traitement, 16(3), 116–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.douler.2015.03.003.Search in Google Scholar

Munzert, J., Lorey, B., & Zentgraf, K. (2009). Cognitive motor processes: The role of motor imagery in the study of motor representations. Brain Research Reviews, 60(2), 306–326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresrev.2008.12.024.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Noble, B. J., & Robertson, R. J. (1996). Perceived exertion. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Champaign.Search in Google Scholar

Pageaux, B. (2016). Perception of effort in Exercise Science: Definition, measurement, and perspectives. European Journal of Sport Science, 16(8), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2016.1188992.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Preston, J., & Wegner, D. M. (2009). Elbow grease: When action feels like work. In E. Morsella, J. A. Bargh, & P. M. Gollwitzer (Eds), Oxford handbook of human action. Social cognition and social neuroscience (pp. 569–586). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Razon, S., Mandler, K., Arsal, G., Tokac, U., & Tenenbaum, G. (2014). Effects of imagery on effort perception and cycling endurance. Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity, 9(1), 23–38. https://doi.org/10.1515/jirspa-2013-0011.Search in Google Scholar

Robin, N., Dominique, L., Toussaint, L., Blandin, Y., Guillot, A., & Le Her, M. (2007). Effects of motor imagery training on service return accuracy in tennis: The role of imagery ability. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 5(2), 175–186. https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2007.9671818.Search in Google Scholar

Rodrigues, E. C., Lemos, T., Gouvea, B., Volchan, E., Imbiriba, L. A., & Vargas, C. D. (2010). Kinesthetic motor imagery modulates body sway. Neuroscience, 169(2), 743–750. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2010.04.081.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Ruby, P., & Decety, J. (2001). Effect of subjective perspective taking during simulation of action: A PET investigation of agency. Nature Neuroscience, 4(5), 546–550. https://doi.org/10.1038/87510.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Santarcangelo, E. L. (2014). New views of hypnotizability. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 8, 224. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00224.Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

Santarcangelo, E. L., Cavallaro, E., Mazzoleni, S., Marano, E., Ghelarducci, B., Dario, P., … Sebastiani, L. (2005). Kinematic strategies for lowering of upper limbs during suggestions of heaviness: A real-simulator design. Experimental Brain Research, 162(1), 35–45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-004-2112-x.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Santarcangelo, E. L., Scattina, E., Carli, G., Ghelarducci, B., Orsini, P., & Manzoni, D. (2010). Can imagery become reality? Experimental Brain Research, 206(3), 329–335. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-010-2412-2.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Santarpia, A., Blanchet, A., Mininni, G., Kwiatkoski, F., Lindeman, L., & Lambert, J. F. (2009). The “weight” of the words on the forearms during relaxation. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 34, 105–111. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-009-9081-6.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Scattina, E., Huber, A., Menzocchi, M., Paoletti, G., Carli, G., Manzoni, D., & Santarcangelo, E. L. (2012). Postural effects of imagined leg pain as a function of hypnotizability. Experimental Brain Research, 216(3), 341–348. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-011-2935-1.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Simonsmeier, B. A., Androniea, M., Buecker, S., & Frank, C. (2020). The effects of imagery interventions in sports: A meta-analysis. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 14(1), 186–207. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2020.1780627.Search in Google Scholar

Simonsmeier, B. A., & Buecker, S. (2017). Interrelations of imagery use, imagery ability, and performance in young athletes. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 29(1), 32–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2016.1187686.Search in Google Scholar

Smith, D. (2011). Firefighter fitness: Improving performance and preventing injuries and fatalities. Current Sports Medicine Reports, 10, 167–172. https://doi.org/10.1249/JSR.0b013e31821a9fec.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Spanos, N. P., Perlini, A. H., & Robertson, L. A. (1989). Hypnosis, suggestion, and placebo in the reduction of experimental pain. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 98(3), 285–293. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.98.3.285.Search in Google Scholar

Stanley, D. M., & Cumming, J. (2010). Not just how one feels, but what one images? The effects of imagery use on affective responses to moderate exercise. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 8, 343–359. https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2010.9671957.Search in Google Scholar

Stinear, C. M., Byblow, W. D., Steyvers, M., Levin, O., & Swinnen, S. P. (2006). Kinesthetic, but not visual, motor imagery modulates corticomotor excitability. Experimental Brain Research, 68, 157–164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-005-0078-y.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Tefikow, S., Barth, J., Maichrowitz, S., Beelmann, A., Strauss, B., & Rosendahl, J. (2013). Efficacy of hypnosis in adults undergoing surgery or medical procedures: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Clinical Psychology Review, 33(5), 623–636. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2013.03.005.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Tempest, G. D., & Parfitt, G. (2013). Imagery use and affective responses during exercise: An examination of cerebral hemodynamics using near-infrared spectroscopy. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 35(5), 503–513. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.35.5.503.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Unestahl, L. E. (2018). Alert, eyes-open sport hypnosis. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 61(2), 159–172. https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2018.1491387.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Received: 2021-06-24
Accepted: 2022-01-19
Published Online: 2022-02-07

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 29.11.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/jirspa-2021-0012/html
Scroll to top button