Does mental practice still enhance performance? A 24 year follow-up and meta-analytic replication and extension
Toth and colleagues replicated the method of the 1994 mental practice meta-analysis on 37 studies published between 1995 and 2018, examining nine moderating factors. Their abstract reports a small positive effect of mental practice on performance, moderation by practice duration, task type and imagery type, and the conclusion that mental practice has an enduring positive influence on performance.
Toth and colleagues replicated the method of the 1994 mental practice meta-analysis on 37 studies published between 1995 and 2018, examining nine moderating factors. Their abstract reports a small positive effect of mental practice on performance, moderation by practice duration, task type and imagery type, and the conclusion that mental practice has an enduring positive influence on performance.
Written from the abstract summary via a university repository record and Crossref, 2026-11-02.
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Toth, A. J., McNeill, E., Hayes, K., Moran, A. P., & Campbell, M. (2020). Does mental practice still enhance performance? A 24 year follow-up and meta-analytic replication and extension. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 48, 101672. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2020.101672 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2020.101672