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Résumé :
This present work examines the functional similarity between mental practice and physical practice with regard to the treatment of specific sensory modalities (visual and/or kinesthetic). Five experiments were performed to assess the influence of imagery modality (experiments 1, 2, 3 and 5) and imagery ability (experiments 1 and 2) on motor performance. These experiments used simple angular configuration reproduction tasks or aiming tasks performed with (experiments 3 and 4) or without (experiments 1, 2 and 5) visual information of ongoing movement. The main results showed that visual and/or kinesthetic imagery modalities did not have the same importance in each of these studies. Visual imagery practice permited a higher increase of motor performance for aiming task (experiment 3) and for simple angular configuration reproduction task performed in front of a mirror (experiment 4). However, when the vision of the limb or of on-going movement was not available (experiments 1 and 5), no positive transfer appeared between visual and kinesthetic modalities. The higher movement accuracy was only observed when participants performed a kinesthetic imagery practice. This one is all the more beneficial as it is related to the facility to mentally simulate an action (« good imagers » versus « bad imagers », experiments 1 and 2). When visual imagery modality was the most suitable information (experiment 3 and 4), a mixed practice was not as efficient as visual imagery. On the other hand, performance accuracy for task that beneficiate of kinesthetic imagery practice (experiments 1, 2 and 5), was similar for mixed and kinesthetic imagery practices. Results are discussed in terms of factors that can induce imagery dominance, possible generalisation of the specificity of learning hypothesis to mental practice and expression of inter-individual differences concerning mental practice.
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