The Use of Imagery
in Teaching
Tommy Boone, PhD,
MPH, FASEP, EPC
Professor and Chair
Department of Exercise Physiolgoy
College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN 55811
MENTAL IMAGE
IS one of the oldest, neglected topics in cognitive science. It is
so mis-understood that psychologists have supported and yet denied it,
even though it has always been with us. Few would argue against one’s
ability to create a mental image. Everyone creates images and, seemingly,
most everyone disagrees on what is a mental image. To think about
what is an image is to ask a log of questions without obvious answers.
No one feels certain about a topic or comfortable speaking about a topic
when there are no answers. Both neglect and speculation provides
little support in the use of mental images that are used to facilitate
learning. Teachers above everyone else should figure out whether
there is something to it. That is, can “we” (meaning, students and
teachers) create mental pictures inside the brain? If so, how do
we define a mental picture and, if it can be defined, what type of information
can the picture provide us? The answers to these questions remain
a challenge for even the best professional.
If images exist, can a teacher
(or student) be taught to recall the image? Is the recall based on
memorization? If it can be recalled at will, can it be modified?
For example, imagine a “tree” and, for most people, a tree comes to mind.
Meaning, they believe they can see a tree. Of course the idea of
seeing lies in the notion that the tree is in the mind. The image
of the tree is not like seeing the actual tree or even a picture of the
tree. Instead, the tree in the mind’s eye is what might be
considered a rough copy of the tree. The tree exists in the image,
yet it is rough around the edges. It takes practice in visualization
to create the finer details that are more obvious with the person who has
learned to create images. The image of the tree is “somewhere”
in the mind of the person imaging the tree. To argue further that
images do exist, picture a “car” but not just any car. Picture a
“Ford Explorer”. Very likely, you either pictured a Ford Explorer
you may have just recently seen or, you may have a Ford Explorer that is
“white”. If so, the “white, Ford Explorer” is probably the image
you created. Now, picture the same car but in “red”. The mind
is functional as is human thought. Mental images exist regardless
of the fact we cannot explain them or define them with specificity.
What is important is that
when a person visualizes, for example, a pine tree, the image is specific
to that of a pine tree. Now, to demonstrate the point somewhat further,
when the same person is requested to visualize a huge mountain, the image
is that of a huge mountain (taken from a stored memory of a mountain in
a book, on TV or having climbed a mountain). There really isn’t much
difference even with sports. Think about tennis, football, and gymnastics.
With the recall of each sport, the mind creates mental pictures consistent
with known (stored) information specific to each sport. This is not
to say that language is not used to define specific thoughts or ideas,
but to emphasize the likelihood that visual thinking is involved as well.
In fact, visual thinking can and does play an important role in recall
or memory of information. Once again, as an example, visualize a
car (any car) and then visualize a truck. In seconds, there is stored
information that can be used to explain the differences between a car and
a truck.
What is also interesting
is that the image can be either two- or three-dimensional. A person
can visualize a truck from the driver’s side (or any side) and see only
superior-inferior and left-to-right. Or, a person can choose to see
through the truck from any view and appreciate that it has depth (the 3rd
dimension). Either memory representation is useful in retrieving
information, and the information itself is subject to the intentional representation
(depending upon the information that is requested). For example,
if the intention is to visualize the shoulder flexors, the process of looking
at and transforming images undergoes three steps:
(1) Image generation
(i.e., mentally picturing the shoulder flexors);
(2) Image inspection (also
called scanning the shoulder flexors); and
(3) Image transformation
(i.e., looking for the specific muscles that flex the shoulder joint).
The process of looking at and
transforming images encourages the retrieval of anatomical facts and important
information about function and related muscles. As an example, mentally
picture the axillary nerve to the deltoid muscles. It is located
dorsal to the proximal end of the humerus. By scanning the brachial
plexus, it is possible to locate the axillary nerve arising from the posterior
cord of the plexus just under the distal end of the clavicle. If
necessary, transform the image by either enlarging it or by rotating it.
Zooming in on the nerve is a simple matter of making the image larger.
Moving back from the image is the essence of making it smaller, perhaps
to see all of the nerves that comprise the plexus. Rotating the image
also allows for information that otherwise might not be intuitively obvious.
Consider your apartment or
home in which you were raised as a young person. Create an image
of the physical structure as though you were standing at the front door.
Notice how essentially everything is part of the image (i.e., whether there
are steps leading up to the front door, the type of door, the size of the
door, the number of windows it may have, and how the windows are framed).
Now, allow your mind’s eye to simply rotate the image that represents the
front door and the front of the dwelling. Rotate the image of the
physical structure that is to your left towards your right. Notice
that you can see the side of the dwelling that was previously to your left
but out of site. The rotation of the image that characterizes the
dwelling is possible in every detail, in every direction, and is truly
an image of multi-dimensions.
To take the example further,
allow yourself to become part of the image by visualizing yourself inside
the living room of the dwelling. Look straight ahead and think about
what you see. Your eyes may close or remain open. Do you see
your father’s favorite chair and/or desk? What is the shape and size
the chair? Is it made of wood? Is there a picture above the
desk or a window? How pieces of furniture are in the room?
How many doors lead from the room and to where? Now, allow your mind
to see the entire inside of the dwelling at once. How many rooms
are there? How many bathrooms and bedrooms are there, and is the
dwelling one or more floors? Answers to these types of questions
correspond essentially 100% with the actual structure and pieces of furniture
throughout it. What is interesting is that the human body and its
various structures can be equally as obvious to the student and/or instructor
who creates specific images that allow also for storage of important anatomical
and/or physiological information.
Instructors and/or students
accustomed to visual thinking will also use the “blink” transformations
in which the first image is allowed to fade (like the living room) and
is replaced by a new, different image in its place (such as the dining
room). This technique is also used in athletics when a coach closes
his/her eyes to see a new image of the skill at a new size, position, or
location in the sequence of the skill. Often the new image encourages
the memory of information that might not be readily available with the
first or even the second image. Thus, the images that are created
by the “blink transformation” process are useful in retrieving facts specific
to a distinct issues and/or concerns. Take the different parts of
the right scapula as an example. Visualize the dorsal view of the
right scapula either positioned on the dorsal thorax of a person or at
some distance in front of your eyes as a separate, stand alone bone.
Notice that the dorsal surface of the image approximates the dorsal view
of the scapula if you were looking at it in an anatomy text. Now,
look at the dorsal spine, beginning at the base of the spine (which is
located about one-third way down from the tip of the superior angle).
Follow the visual path of the spine laterally to the acromion process that
is superior to the glenoid cavity. Now, close your eyes and re-visualize
the scapula by itself, three to four times its normal size, in front of
your eyes and then open your eyes and image the scapula once again.
Look at the superior angle at the top left of the right scapula.
Contrast the osteological site with the inferior angle as the lowest tip
of the scapula. Also, note that the two angles are created by borders.
The superior border of the scapula and the medial border create the superior
angle. The medial border and the lateral border create the inferior
angle.
In a very similar way, once
again try this thought experiment. Consider the door to your office
or apartment (either if fine). On which side is it hinged?
Does your office or apartments have windows? How many windows does
it have? To answer these questions, you very likely, like most people,
imagined your door and windows. Now, image your desk in your office
or your bed in the apartment. Where is it located in the room?
What are the items positioned close to it or on top of it? Answers
to these questions are clearly a function of the images and the stored
information that associates with the images in exactly the same way of
understanding the various osteological sites of the scapula. Therefore,
it seems reasonable that, if the various structures positioned throughout
your office or apartment are remembered by having previous knowledge of
their size and position relative to each other, then the same storage of
information is equally true with the osteological landmarks located on
the scapula. Information about the two (i.e., the office vs. the
scapula) is derived from the images of each which then are subject to scanning
and/or inspection in a manner analogous to the real objects. The
images function in the same way as having the experience of the real objects
in hand and, if necessary, they are scanned, rotated, re-scaled, and otherwise
mentally manipulated (transformed) to retrieve information.
The idea of “scanning” is
especially interesting in accessing information from images. As an
example, aside from the visual and obvious differences in the humerus versus
the femur, students can sequentially access information from less obvious
sources (or images). That is, by scanning the anterior surface of
the humerus from the superior aspect to the inferior aspect, students should
find that they experience an increase in time that is consistent with the
reality of looking at a real humerus throughout its normal length.
In other words, scanning not only allows for specific information (such
as the greater tubercle that is located on the proximal, anterior-lateral
aspect of the humerus), it sets the stage for viewing the image as though
the actual length of the humerus exists in the image itself.
There is also a depth factor
to consider when scanning the medial and lateral lips (borders) of the
bicipital groove. With the correct image, a person can sense the
groove versus the elevated positions of the borders. Of course, by
moving the proximal end of the humerus forward to view the top of the bone,
the groove is more pronounced with an obvious demonstration of the 3rd
dimension (depth). With another blink, the mind’s eye now locates
the anterior distal aspect of the humerus and its relationship with the
ulna (medial) and radius (lateral). The respective medial and lateral
epicondyles are easily visualized, thus allowing for additional anatomical
information specific to points of origin of the anterior forearm flexors
and the muscles that comprise the posterior compartment of the forearm,
respectively.
Vast amounts of information
stored in memory can be accessed with all kinds of images. However,
the key to retrieving the stored information begins first with the storage
process, which is usually in the form of memorization. Specific information
such as “the pectoralis major originates from the proximal anterior two-thirds
of the clavicle, the full length of the sternum, and the costal cartilages
of ribs one through five” begins with the memorization of the visual locations
of each anatomical description. Taken a step further, the pectoralis
major inserts onto the lateral lip of the bicipital groove. A picture
before your mind’s eye allows for an understanding of the role of the muscle
in medial rotation of the humerus, given that the vector is in the direction
of the origin (as it is likely to be the more stable connection than the
insertion). Noting also the superior position of the muscle relative
to its relatively lower and lateral insertion, the muscle can be visualized
to produce shoulder flexion (particularly, the clavicular fibers).
Similarly, given the line of action for the sternal fibers, including the
position of the vector versus the axis of the shoulder joint, the images
portrays the lower fibers as having important influence on shoulder extension
and adduction.
By learning how to develop
concepts (and of course the right answers) from pictures, students can
be encouraged to develop an intellectual interest in the anatomy of motion
and all types of athletic performance. Visualizers have learned to
appreciate the value in visualizing effects, consequences, and possibilities.
Students who are visualizers have an increased opportunity to learn and
to appreciate the quality of movement that is rarely matched by students
who think mainly in words (verbalizers). Visualizers use images as
a form of thinking. Consider the following image of a person who
is standing in front of you. Look through the person’s clothing to
see the chest. Now, image the depth of the chest wall from the front
of the person through the space where the lungs are found to the back of
the thorax. Close your eyes and open then again (using the blink
transformation mentioned earlier). See the same person but this time
in layers of skin, fascia, muscle, and bone dimensions. From the
anterior view of the right side of the chest, image the origin of the serratus
anterior muscle arising from the outer surfaces of ribs 1 through 9.
Notice the serrated (saw-tooth) appearance of the muscle as it takes origin
from the anterior-lateral surfaces of the ribs. With the person’s
body standing directly in front of you, create an image that allows you
to look through the thorax to visualize the anterior surface of the right
scapula just behind the thoracic wall. Specifically, look for the
anterior surface of the medial border of the right scapula from the superior
angle to the inferior angle. This anatomical description is exactly
the insertion of the serratus anterior muscle.
Since muscles typically create
a vector force that exerts an action(s) on a less stable bone, such as
the scapula versus the rib cage, it should be relatively easy to visualize
the movement of the right scapula towards the right side of the thoracic
wall. The movement is referred to as abduction (i.e., movement of
the scapula away from the midline of the body, the spine). However,
since the primary purpose of the serratus anterior is to assist the shoulder
flexors and/or abductors with upward rotation of the scapula, the insertion
should be arranged to exert a force that pulls the inferior end of the
scapula with a greater force than the force of abduction. What is
interesting is that, while all the points of origin exert an abducting
force on the scapula, the points of origin arising specifically from ribs
4 through 9 exert an even more powerful abducting influence since they
collectively insert predominately near the inferior angle of the scapula.
The image of the muscle from the anterior point of origin through the chest
wall to the scapula allows for a better view of how the muscle assists
the middle deltoid, arising from the acromion process, to position the
scapula in upward rotation to thus allow for a greater range of motion
when the deltoid (and the long head of the biceps brachii) contract to
move the humerus away from the side of the body.
If teachers encourage the
use of images in recalling anatomical facts (and even physiological facts),
they encouraging the students to think. When anyone is asked to think
about an image, such as a bicycle versus a car, there are ideas and feelings
that may have been forgotten but remembered when requested to “see” a bicycle
or a car (and thus, the same with the deltoid muscle or the structure of
the heart). Hence, the use of images in kinesiology should help the
students access information and to demonstrate control over important course
material. There is always the possibility that with individually
realized images that new and previously unrealized information becomes
evident. This idea is not new. Psychologists have studied images
for many years. They understand the importance of image formation
and the interconnection with language, learning, and memory. Perhaps,
it is time that exercise physiologists consider the importance of imagery
and how it can play an important role in cognitive function, athletic performance,
and memory.
As a final example, consider
that the teacher is interested in presenting the role of the cardiorespiratory
system in the uptake and delivery of oxygen to the muscles. The teacher
could instruct the students to create an image of the lungs and their relationship,
first, to the atmosphere and, second, the heart. Naturally, as previously
stated, a certain fundamental knowledge is important prior to and during
the creation of the images to re-enforce terminology, relationships, and
function. From the air that surrounds the body, an inspired volume
of about 500 ml fills the lungs with oxygen. After adjustment that
accounts for water vapor, visualize the lungs full of oxygen at a partial
pressure of 100 mmHg in contrast to the oxygen in the mixed venous blood
of 40 mmHg. The pressure gradient of 60 mmHg creates movement of
oxygen from the lungs into the pulmonary capillaries to associate with
hemoglobin (Hb) to form oxyhemoglobin. At the lung pressure of 100
mmHg and an average of 15 grams of Hb per 100 milliliters (ml) of blood,
20 ml of oxygen can be transported per 100 ml of blood.
The heart pumps the blood
saturated with oxygen to all the tissues of the body, especially to the
muscles. Imagine the flow of the blood from the lungs to the left
atrium into the left ventricle. During the contraction of the ventricles,
called ventricular systole, the blood is placed under pressure which is
ultimately the pressure that drives the blood from the heart into the vascular
system. The major vascular structures from the heart to the muscles
of the left arm (as an example) include the images of the aorta (connected
to the left ventricle), ascending aorta (the continuation of the major
artery from the heart to the arteries of the head, upper body, and the
upper limbs), brachiocephalic trunk, subclavian artery (the major arteries
that contribute to the axillary artery in the armpit), and the brachial
artery (the primary artery of the arm, the brachium) that divides into
the radial and ulnar arteries. Close your eyes and visualize the arteries
just outlined with a variety of smaller arteries arising from each that
service related regional muscles. Image the arteries full of oxygen
making its way into the progressively smaller arterioles that have adjusted
their size (lumen) by vasodilation to ensure that an ample volume of blood
enters the capillaries. The larger lumen size of the arterioles also
allows for a reduction in the effort of the left ventricle, thus lowering
what is referred to as systemic vascular resistance (or afterload).
With the low resistance to
the blood flow through the arteries and capillaries and the tissues’ need
for oxygen, defined by a low partial pressure of 40 mmHg at rest and much
lower during exercise, oxygen separates from Hb and moves from the capillaries
to the individual muscle fibers. Once oxygen is inside the muscle
fibers, it is used to ensure that the energy development processes of the
cells continue to match the tissues’ need for energy in the form of adenosine
triphosphate (ATP). Hence, oxygen becomes the final electron receptor
in the electron transport system of the mitochondria. The steps result
in the formation of ATP, the energy currency of the muscle fiber, that
fuels (allows) for muscle contraction. The point here is that the
images allow for the recall of facts and discourse. It should be
obvious that the steps in muscle contraction can easily be remembered with
a little concerted effort to translate the excitation-coupling process
as three or four connected images. The time has come for exercise
physiologists to take the knowledge that has revolutionized our field and
integrate their thinking within the context of image. It will transform
the way students learn.
In summary, the myriad forms
of transformation change occurring with images encourages the probing of
each for the stored meaning and information that can be used to take tests,
to organize a stress test protocol, or to lecture. Images, when correctly
perceived, are therefore, literally, the breakthrough point with remembering
facts at a 3-dimensional level. As Thoreau advised, "...if one advances
confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life
which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common
hours." It is logical that the same is true for success in learning
exercise physiology.
Copyright
©1997-2001 American Society of Exercise Physiologists. All Rights
Reserved.
ASEP
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