The effect of varying imagery perspective and modality on juggling skill acquisition using Internet-based, modular instruction

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of various imagery perspectives and modalities on juggling skill acquisition using Internet-based modular instruction. The participants for the study (n = 3271) were volunteers who found their way to a self-discoverable website where the experiment was conducted over the course of 16 months. Upon logging into the study, the participants were randomly assigned to one of five groups (control, external visual imagery, internal visual imagery, external kinesthetic imagery, and internal kinesthetic imagery). The testing procedure consisted of an eight step juggling and imagery instruction model which culminated in learning imagery and the most basic juggling pattern, bracketed by pre- (eight) and post-tests (eight) of imagery understanding using the Movement Imagery Questionnaire - Revised (MIQ-R), and followed by a series of eight qualitative prompts.;Participants completing the study self-reported 32 pieces of data. As instruction was completed on the website, participants logged their responses online and they were recorded. The eight-item, seven-level Likert scale MIQ-R was recorded twice, in a pre- and post-test presented to all experimental groups. The final eight qualitative questions were likewise addressed to all participants. The eight step juggling instruction model was also constant, but the imagery instruction and videos varied by group. The control group was told a history of juggling as a placebo. The other groups were exposed to one of four permutations: visual versus kinesthetic wording, and internal versus external wording and videos.;Multivariate analysis revealed no significant increase in the ability of participants to imagine as a result of imagery instruction. ANOVA analysis showed that internal imagery was significantly more effective than external imagery for skill ;Qualitative analysis revealed strong support for imagery as a method for enhancing learning, and some support for internal imagery as preferred over external imagery.;It is recommended that (a) juggling instruction through virtual reality be investigated, (b) online imagery instruction be made more intensive and explored, and (c) future web-based juggling instruction focus on user-control and more fine levels of "chunking".