The ımpact of visual attention and visual memory exercises on athletes’ ımagery skills

Yılmaz E., Şıktar E., Bedir D.

SLOBOZHANSKYI HERALD OF SCIENCE AND SPORT, vol.30, no.3, pp.285-296, 2026 (Scopus)

Abstract

Background and Study Aim. Imagery has increasingly gained attention as a mental training technique in the field of sport psychology. Many Olympic and elite athletes effectively employ imagery training to enhance their performance. Although a substantial body of research has demonstrated the positive effects of imagery training on athletic performance, further research is still needed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of these interventions. In this context, the present study aims to examine the effects of visual attention and visual memory exercises on athletes’ imagery abilities. Materials and methods. A total of 30 athletes participated in this study; 15 were assigned to the experimental group and 15 to the control group. The participants were selected from university team athletes competing in basketball, football, and volleyball. The study was conducted using a quasi-experimental design within the framework of quantitative research methods. Data were collected using the Movement Imagery Questionnaire, the d2 Test of Attention, and the n-back test. A repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to examine time-dependent changes between the experimental and control groups. Results. The findings indicate that the six-week visual attention and visual memory training program did not have a significant effect on athletes’ visual attention skills; however, it led to improvements in their visual memory abilities. Furthermore, analyses conducted in the second phase of the study revealed that, in line with improvements in visual memory, athletes also demonstrated enhanced imagery abilities. Conclusions. The results suggest that the implemented visual memory exercises significantly improved athletes’ visual memory performance, and that this improvement was associated with notable enhancements in both kinesthetic and visual imagery abilities. In contrast, the visual attention exercises did not produce a statistically significant effect on attention performance. Overall, visual memory appears to play a central role in the cognitive foundations of imagery ability. Keywords: Visual attention, visual memory, imagery, n-back, sport psychology.