Current Psychology

, Volume 28, Issue 3, pp 181–186 | Cite as

Using Mental Imagery to Enhance the Effectiveness of Implementation Intentions

  • Bärbel Knäuper
  • Michelle Roseman
  • Philip J. Johnson
  • Lillian H. Krantz
Article
First Online:

Abstract

Past research shows that forming implementation intentions increases the probability of carrying out goals. The present research proposes that mental imagery can strengthen the effects of implementation intentions on goal achievement. Participants were assigned a mundane goal and were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: implementation intentions only or implementation intentions plus mental imagery. Results support the hypothesis that using mental imagery when forming implementation intentions leads to higher rates of goal achievement.

Keywords

Implementation intentions Mental imagery Goal achievement 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Aarts, H., & Dijksterhuis, A. (2000). Habits as knowledge structures: automaticity in goal-directed behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 53–63.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Aarts, H., Dijksterhuis, A., & Midden, C. (1999). To plan or not to plan? Goal achievement or interrupting the performance of mundane behaviors. European Journal of Social Psychology, 29, 971–979.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Beisteiner, R., Höllinger, P., Lindinger, G., Lang, W., & Berthoz, A. (1995). Mental representations of movements. Brain potentials associated with imagination of hand movements, Electroencephalography & Clinical Neurophysiology, 96, 183–193.Google Scholar
  4. Driskell, J. E., Copper, C., & Moran, A. (1994). Does mental practice enhance performance? Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 481–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Ehrsson, H. H., Geyer, S., & Naito, E. (2003). Imagery of voluntary movement of fingers, toes, and tongue activates corresponding body-part-specific motor representations. Journal of Neurophysiology, 90, 3304–3316.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Faude-Koivisto, T., Würz, D., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2008). Implementation intentions: The mental representations and cognitive procedures of IF-THEN planning. In W. Klein & K. Markman (Eds.), The handbook of imagination and mental simulation, pp. 69–86. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
  7. Gollwitzer, P. M. (1993). Goal achievement: The role of intentions. In W. Strobe & M. Hewstone (Eds.), European review of social psychology, Vol. 4, pp. 141–185. Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
  8. Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54, 493–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: a meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Gould, D., & Damarjian, N. (1996). Imagery training for peak performance. In J. L. Van Raalte & B. W. Brewer (Eds.), Exploring sport and exercise psychology, pp. 25–50. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Lang, P. J. (1979). A bio-informational theory of emotional imagery. Psychophysiology, 16, 495–512.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Moran, A. (2004). Sport and exercise psychology: A critical introduction. Hove, East Sussex, UK: Routledge.Google Scholar
  13. Murphy, S., Nordin, S. M., & Cumming, J. (2008). Imagery in sport, exercise and dance. In T. Horn (Ed.), Advances in sport and exercise psychology (3rd ed.), pp. 297–324. Champagne, IL: Human Kinetics.Google Scholar
  14. Neisser, U. (1978). Anticipations, images and introspection. Cognition, 6, 169–174.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Oettingen, G., Hönig, G., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2000). Effective self-regulation of goal attainment. International Journal of Educational Research, 33(7–8), 705–732.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Schacter, D. L., Addis, D. R., & Buckner, R. L. (2008). Episodic simulation of future events: concepts, data, and applications. Annuals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1124, 39–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Sheeran, P. (2002). Intention-behavior relations: A conceptual and empirical review. In W. Strobe & M. Hewstone (Eds.), European review of social psychology, Vol. 12, pp. 1–30. Chichester: Wiley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Taylor, S. E., & Pham, L. B. (1996). Mental simulation, motivation, and action. In P. M. Gollwitzer & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), The psychology of action: Linking cognition and motivation to behavior, pp. 219–235. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
  19. Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2004). Identifying good opportunities to act: implementation intentions and cue discrimination. European Journal of Social Psychology, 34, 407–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009

Authors and Affiliations

  • Bärbel Knäuper
    • 1
    • 2
  • Michelle Roseman
    • 1
  • Philip J. Johnson
    • 1
  • Lillian H. Krantz
    • 1
  1. 1.McGill UniversityMontrealCanada
  2. 2.Department of PsychologyMcGill UniversityMontrealCanada

Personalised recommendations