Abstract
Wegner (1987) demonstrated that thoughts about white bears are facilitated by instructions not to think about white bears. This phenomenon is widely known as the ironic process theory, and it applies to cognitive tasks as well as motor tasks. Many studies have been conducted on ironic errors in the domain of motor performance. However, there are only a few old reviews providing a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon. In this review of selected 17 articles, we classified these articles into experimental verification of ironic errors in motor performance, ironic errors when performing motor tasks under pressure, and mechanisms of ironic errors in motor performance in the viewpoints of attentional capacity and eye movement. We also reviewed articles reporting experimental verification of errors in the opposite direction (overcompensation), including the mechanisms of such errors. Finally, based on the results of the review, we have suggested the implications of ironic errors for future studies in sport psychology. This review is expected to provide a systematic understanding of applications of ironic processing theory in the domain of motor performance and contribute to future studies on this topic.
