Georgina Amos

PhD Candidate
Department of Psychology and Counselling
School of Psychology and Public Health
La Trobe University
g.amos < at> latrobe.edu.au

I am doing a PhD in Sports Psychology under the supervision of Dr. Philippe Chouinard at La Trobe University. My topic is “Mechanisms of Imagery and Illusions and their Benefits on Sport Performance”. This is a particularly interesting topic as approximately 90 percent of athletes, 94 percent of coaches, and 100 percent of sport psychologists identify motor imagery as a standard fixture in their training. Why so many? Because it works. Research has shown that when visualisation techniques are combined with actual practice, performance is improved more than practice alone. Although we know about the benefits of mental imagery on sports performance, the underlying neural mechanisms of how this works are not really understood. For my PhD, I will examine how the use of imagery and optical illusions can enhance sport performance both at a behavioural and neurological level.