The Effect of Implementing a Development Program Using Mental Imagery on the Time to Master Psychomotor Skills

Psychomotor skills development programs that use mental imagery have been demonstrated to help individuals acquire psychomotor skills (Anu et al., 2020; Seymore-Walsh et al., 2020; Toth et al., 2020). The commercial trucking industry is presently experiencing a global shortage of qualified truck drivers (American Trucking Association, 2019; Staats et al., 2017). One reason individuals are avoiding or leaving careers as commercial truck drivers is the time spent away from home (Staats et al., 2017). A couple logistical strategies have been developed to improve the situation (Mittal et al., 2018; Prime Inc, 2024); however, for the solutions to be sustainable, the industry will need to have access to more qualified drivers (Mittal et al., 2018). The present study aimed to determine if using mental imagery combined with physical practice would aid individuals that were attempting to master psychomotor skills required to pass the entry level driver training skills test. The study used a quasi-experimental posttest only design (Shadish et al., 2002). The researcher used a census of students enrolled in an 8-week course truck driving program. The participants were divided into control and experimental groups based on their ability to use mental imagery as measured by the vividness of movement imagery questionnaire (VMIQ) (Isaac et al., 1986). The cognitive, affective, and psychomotor perceived learning scale (Rovai et al., 2009) measured the perceived effectiveness of the programs to teach the content; and instructors provided a tally of each driver’s attempts to measure efficiency (Caruso, 2022). Frequency distributions were used to report demographic data. Central tendencies were reported for years of experience operating a commercial vehicle and ability to produce a vivid mental image. The researcher intended to use a one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to compare the perceived effectiveness of the programs and to compare the efficiency of the programs based on the participants’ number of attempts. However, data failed the assumptions for both perceived effectiveness and efficiency during analysis; so the researcher compared the programs using a Mann-Whitney U test for both perceived effectiveness and efficiency.