Abstract:

This study was conducted for the purpose of revealing the relationship between the imagery types of the candidate students taking part in the special talent exam (STE) of the sport sciences faculty and the track time, error score and track score. The study was carried out with the descriptive (scanning) and relational (correlational, causal) designs. The study group of the research is composed of 228 student candidates (nMale=150; nFemale=78) between the ages of 17 and 29 who took part in the STE of the Sport Sciences Faculty of Kırşehir Ahi Evran University in the educational year of 2022-2023 and who are determined in accordance to random sampling. In the study, the Sports Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ), the STE track data and the Personal Information Form were used as the tools of data collection. In the analysis of the obtained data, the correlation analysis was employed. According to the findings of the research, significant negative relationships were found in male participants between the STE track times and the cognitive imagery, motivational specific imagery, motivational general – arousal, motivational general – mastery, and SIQ general. And in female participants, significant negative relationships were found between the STE track times and the cognitive imagery, motivational specific imagery, motivational general – arousal, and SIQ general. While significant relationships were determined in the negative direction of the male and female participants’ error score and cognitive imagery and SIQ general. It was observed that there were positive significant relationships between the track scores of the male and female participants and the cognitive imagery, motivational specific imagery, motivational general – arousal, motivational general – mastery and SIQ general. Consequently, while the imagery levels of the male participants increased (general and all sub dimensions), their track times decreased. While the imagery levels of the female participants increased (general, cognitive imagery, motivational specific imagery and motivational general - arousal), their track times decreased. While the imagery levels of the male and female participants increased (general and cognitive imagery), their error scores decreased. Additionally, while the imagery levels of the male and female participants increased (general and all sub dimensions), their track scores increased.

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