Effect of PETTLEP Mental Imagery and Physical Practice on Pre-motor and Motor Parts of Simple and Choice Reaction Time

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of PETTLEP imagery and physical practice of choice reaction time on simple and choice reaction time and the pre-motor and motor areas of simple and choice reaction time. Based on mental imagery ability that measured by Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire 2, 26 non-athlete girl students (age 21.23±1.2 years) were chosen purposefully and divided in two groups, each comprising 13 individuals to perform PETTLEP mental imagery exercise and physical exercise of reaction time. The Simple and choice reaction time of subjects were recorded in pre-test and after 10 sessions of 10 repetitions training by researcher-made reaction time device. In the post-test, in addition to recording reaction time, pre-motor and motor areas of reaction time in both simple and choice situations were recorded using electromyography. For analyzing data, the statistical methods of mixed two- way ANOVA and t-test were used in SPSS 23 software. The results showed that after the intervention, the simple (P=0.004) and choice (P=0.001) reaction time was reduced significantly in both groups. Also, there was a significant difference between the two kinds of exercise in simple reaction time (P=0.045). However, there wasn’t any significant difference between these two kinds of exercise in terms of reducing choice reaction time. Therefore, it can be concluded that by solving cognitive problems and reducing the time needed for information processing, PETTLEP imagery and physical exercise help to reduce reaction time.