Definition
In contrast to an actual physical rehearsal, such as playing the piano, driving a golf ball, or flying a plane, mental rehearsal is the imaginative practice of some skill. That is, you go through in your mind the steps involvled with some task, preparing yourself for the actual task or performance. An advantage of mental rehearsal is that you can do it anywhere–waiting in line, sitting in a doctor’s office, or riding in a car. You might have noticed how many athletes, at the Olympics, say, practice mental rehearsal before they perform. Skiers sway back and forth as they imagine themselves sailing down the slopes, making the turns at the right time.
Method
Thinking about the skiers’ practicing their mental rehearsals reminds us of an important point. Mental rehearsal should be performed after you have learned the process or steps accurately. Otherwise, you might end up rehearsing the wrong steps, sequence, or behaviors, making unlearning and relearning very difficult.
Once you have the steps down, you can rehearse them.
- in your mind’s eye, visualize yourself going through each step in sequence
- imagine yourself performing the complete activity without making any mistakes
- think through the sequence of steps and pay attention to the connections and transitions between the steps
When you rehearse the task, follow these guidelines:
- Keep your eyes closed in order to keep out any distractions
- Make sure you include all the steps and perform the entire process or task
- Use as much time in the rehearsal as the actual task will take. (For a three-minute ride down a ski slope, use a three=minute mental rehearsal.)
- Props and gestures are okay. If holding a piece of paper (to represent a test or written assignment) helps your imagination, that’s fine. If waving your arms to mimic keeping your balance on a tightrope helps your thinking, do it.
Variation
Some performers want to practice and use mental rehearsal not only to become fluent but because they lack confidence in themselves and in their ability to perform. They are afraid they will choke. To help people like that, there are two variations of mental rehearsal.
- Find an expert, famous performer of the task, or experienced person who can perform well, and pretend you are that person. Imagine being that person performing the task or skill excellently and do what that person would do. This technique has been used to free up people who were afraid of writing (“Imagine being Hemingway and write what he would”) or speaking (“What would Winston Churchill say about this?”) or even problem solving. It actually works for many people.
- Observe or imagine observing someone go through all the steps in the process or perform the skill you are practicing.
Purpose
The purpose of mental rehearsal is to achieve fluency, also known as automaticity, in your performance. (See Learning Strategy 18: Fluency / Automaticity.) What you are doing is programming your brain to be so familiar with the process, practice, or steps that you can do it “in your sleep” as they say. You can do it without thinking. When you are fluent (from the same root word as fluid, meaning flowing), your actions are automatic (hence, the other term, automaticity). As an example, think about driving a car. WHat are the steps needed to start up and drive off? For most people, this sequence has become automatic. They don’t have to think about it. So they will say something like, “You put in the key, turn it, and then put the car into gear and drive off.” For most people, putting their foot on the brake to enable shifing into drive is a step they leave out, even though they always do it when they actually drive.
In a word, mental rehearsal is a valuable way to overlearn a skill, for the purposes of
- making the skill easier to perform, with less conscious attention and effort
- performing with more accuracy
- creating a more permanent, long-term memory of the skill
The more you practice a skill the deeper the learning of it. It’s just like memorizing vocabulary or formulas or dates. If you continue to study material even after you have learned it, you move into overlearning, a state that leads to fluency and the ability to perform a task without thinking.
One aspect of fluency that is sometimes overlooked is speed. This includes
- speed of recall
- speed of performance
- speed of selection (for example, how fast can you decide which tool or option to use?)
Try accelerating your rehearsals. Go through the steps faster and faster, while maintaining accuracy.