This paper describes an emerging field of study, termed motor cognition, is concerned with understanding the representation of action and the associated processes. It has developed from a series of initial investigations that culminated in a theory by Jeannerod (1994). BACKGROUND: The study of mental imagery has been a controversial field since the ideomotor theory of William James (1890). This construct of mental imagery has received a great deal of attention from both experimental (e.g., cognitive neuroscience) and qualitative methodologies (e.g., sport psychology). KEY POINTS: The new paradigm of Jeannerod (1994; 2006) postulates that imagery is functionally equivalent to action. In other words, imagery is said to occur along a continuum where intentional movement is at one end and representation is at the oppositte pole. This can explain phenomenon such as movement during imagery (see Holmes & Collins, 2001). Recently, Rosenbaum (2005) has articulated as that “motor control has had the status of Cinderella in psychological research” (p. 308). CONCLUSIONS: One implication of the motor cognition paradigm is that it returns the study of action to psychology. Other implictations that are examined in this discussion are the role of meta-imagery and meta-attention in action. Finally, the role of action in conscious awareness is explored from the motor cognition perspective.