Dr Rosanna Walters-Symons

• BPS Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol)
• Doctorate in Sport Psychology 2017, University of Exeter
• BSc (Hons), University of Exeter
• First Aid

• Psychology
• Sport and Exercise Psychology
• Quantitative Research Methods

I predominantly teach psychology but also enjoy engaging students in how psychology can be applied to performance contexts.

My primary research interests are in the areas of attention and concentration in sporting performance, examining the critical perceptual cognitive factors that enable elite performance. Furthermore, my research looks to understand how specific characteristics can be applied to improve performance.

PhD Brief Synopsis: My PhD thesis examined the functional mechanisms underpinning the Quiet Eye (Vickers, 1996) - an objective measure of visuo-motor control. Through the use of eye-tracking technology my thesis tackled some difficult questions surrounding these functional mechanisms that underpin the potential benefits of the Quiet Eye for sports performance. The research specifically focused on golf putting however the findings can be applied to other targeting sports.

Further areas of interest include the perceptual cognitive factors involved in judging a performance and, ultimately, decision making.  

Walters-Symons, R. M., Wilson, M. R., Klostermann, A, & Vine, S. J. (2018). Examining the response programming function of the Quiet eye: Do tougher shots need a quieter eye? Cognitive processing, 19, 47-52.

Walters-Symons, R. M., Wilson, M. R. & Vine, S. J. (2017). The Quiet Eye supports error recovery in golf putting. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 31, 21-27.  

Vine, S. J., Lee, D., Walters-Symons, R. M., & Wilson, M. R. (2015). An occlusion paradigm to assess the importance of the timing of the quiet eye fixation. European Journal of Sport Science, 25, 1-8.

• Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist (British Psychological Society)

• Equestrian coach
• Equestrian TeamGBR international athlete
• Represented Great Britain at four FEI World and European Championships, winning two individual medals and one team medal
• Applied sport psychology - maximising athletes’ potential and developing the tools they need to consistently perform under pressure