Action Observation vs. Motor Imagery on Squat Vertical Jump in Novices

NCT07711054 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: CE-EDST-1-201710.5281/zenodo.21358369
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 100
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This randomized, three-arm study compared the effects of action observation (AO) and motor imagery (MI), each delivered as a brief 10-second pre-movement stimulus, on squat vertical jump (SVJ) performance in healthy novice adults, against a control condition, over a two-week, six-session programme. For every jump, an unstimulated basic jump and a post-stimulus jump were recorded with an Optojump optical system, and the cognitive-stimulus effect was quantified as the difference between them.

Conditions

Healthy Volunteers; Motor Skills

Keywords

Action Observation; Motor Imagery; Squat Vertical Jump; Motor Performance; Priming

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Cognitive-stimulus effect on squat vertical jump height

  Within-session difference between the post-stimulus jump height and the unstimulated basic jump height (post-stimulus minus basic jump), in centimetres, measured with an Optojump optical system

  Each of six sessions across two weeks

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Change in squat vertical jump height across sessions

  Session 1 to session 6 (two weeks)

Study Arms (3)

Action Observation (AO)

EXPERIMENTAL

Before each jump, participants watched a standardized 10-second video of a model performing the squat vertical jump.

Behavioral: Action observation stimulus

Motor Imagery (MI)

EXPERIMENTAL

Before each jump, participants performed 10 seconds of third-person (external) visual motor imagery of the squat vertical jump.

Behavioral: Motor imagery stimulus

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Before each jump, participants viewed a blank black screen for 10 seconds with no imagery or observation.

Interventions

Action observation stimulus BEHAVIORAL

linked to Arm 1 \> Ten-second observation of a video model performing the squat vertical jump immediately before each jump.

Action Observation (AO)

Motor imagery stimulus BEHAVIORAL

linked to Arm 2 \> Ten-second third-person visual motor imagery of the squat vertical jump immediately before each jump.

Motor Imagery (MI)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 17 Years - 23 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Healthy young adult;
• normal or corrected-to-normal vision;
• completely naive to the squat vertical jump task and to action observation / motor imagery interventions.

You may not qualify if:

• History of neurological,
• musculoskeletal,
• visual impairment.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Lebanese University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Faculty of Public Health, Lebanese University

Beirut, Lebanon

Location

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Masking Details: Participants necessarily know whether they observe vs. imagine; they were blinded to the study hypotheses and to the other arms, and jump height was measured objectively.
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 14, 2026
• First Posted: July 17, 2026
• Study Start: July 1, 2023
• Primary Completion: July 1, 2024
• Study Completion: November 1, 2024
• Last Updated: July 17, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share

Locations

LE (1)