Construction of the Motor Imagery Integrative Model in Sport: a review and theoretical investigation of motor imagery use Aymeric Guillot* and Christian Collet Centre de Recherche et d’Innovation sur le Sport, Universite ´ de Lyon, Villeurbanne Cedex, France (Received 13 September 2007; final version received 22 November 2007) While there is ample evidence that motor imagery (MI) may improve motor performance, the models that havebeen proposed are mainly focused on some of the key components required to ascertain effectiveness, but do not give an extended overview of MI functions. This article reviews the models of greatest conceptual viability, and aims at describing the fields in which MI may play a crucial role, by integrating these functions in a unique model within motor performance and recovery. The detailed description of the imagery-based interventions considers distinct outcomes: (i) motor learning and performance, (ii) motivation, self-confidence and anxiety, (iii) strategies and problem-solving, and (iv) injury rehabilitation. The Motor Imagery Integrative Model of Imagery in Sport (MIIMS) may be used as a global guiding framework in the field of MI studies to develop more effective imagery interventions by covering the major key components of MI training related to the outcome achieved by athletes. Keywords: motor imagery; motor learning; rehabilitation; intervention studies; imagery models Introduction Motor imagery (MI) is defined as the mental representation of action without any concomitant body movement. The difficulties encountered in producing a compre- hensive reflection of MI include the taxonomy of imagery use in sport, as well as the wide range of topics and the great variety of situations to which MI has been applied. The multitude of methodological design combinations resulting from such incon- sistencies may explain the opposing research findings (Goginsky & Collins, 1996; Holmes & Collins, 2001). In compiling some relevant definitions of MI, Morris et al. (2005, p. 19) formulated a reliable and complete definition: ‘‘Imagery, in the context of sport, may be considered as the creation or recreation of an experience generated from memorial information, involving quasi-sensorial, quasi-perceptual, and quasi-affective characteristics, that is under the volitional control of the imager, and which may occur in the absence of the real stimulus antecedents normally associated with the actual experience’’. The early analytic framework for imagery effects by Paivio (1985) suggested that MI may serve distinct functions (cognitive and motivational) operating on general and specific levels. In this theory, the motivational components refer to the use of *Corresponding author. Email: aymeric.guillot@univ-lyon1.fr ISSN 1750-984X print/ISSN 1750-9858 online # 2008 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/17509840701823139 http://www.informaworld.com International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology Vol. 1, No. 1, March 2008, 31Á44