Dr Amanda Martindale

Senior Lecturer in Sport & Performance Psychology

Biography

Background

I am a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society (Division of Sport & Exercise Psychology) and a registered Practitioner Psychologist (Sport & Exercise) with the Health & Care Professions Council . I joined the University of Edinburgh as a member of staff in August 2006.

I provide sport and performance psychology support to high level athletes, coaches, and teams and have worked for a range of sporting bodies including the Scottish Institute of Sport, UK Athletics, and GB Shooting. I was a member of the Scotland Team (support staff) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and have provided support to athletes preparing for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, World Championships and Olympic Games.

More recently, I have been involved in the transference of peak performance psychology to other domains of performance (e.g., emergency response, medicine & healthcare, forensics, business, and academia) and am working in partnership with the Scottish Police Authority Forensic Services and the National Organ Retrieval Service to enhance human performance.

See more about my research here: Enhancing professional judgement and decision making expertise in hyperdynamic environments | The University of Edinburgh

This research and applied work informs my teaching on the MSc Performance Psychology programme. See link here:

Performance Psychology

Qualifications

PhD - Developing Professional Judgement and Decision Making Expertise in Applied Sport Psychology (University of Edinburgh) 2011

MSc Sport & Exercise Science (Sport Psychology pathway; Manchester Metropolitan University) 2000

BSc Hons. Psychology (University of St. Andrews) 1995-1999

Undergraduate teaching

BSc Applied Sport Science:

  • Special Topics in Sport Psychology 

Postgraduate teaching

  • Peak Performance
  • Professional Skills in Development Environments
  • Dissertation

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Current PhD students supervised

 

Ashley Ferkol -  Cognition in Command: Accessing expert cognition to inform decision making and training in emergency response command teams

Fiona Cox - Determining the Demands that Place Load on NHS National Organ Retrieval Service Teams

Yvette Kong - Deciphering the Art of Challenging Coaching: Balancing Challenge and Psychological Safety for Optimal Talent Development in High-Performance Sport

 

 

Past PhD students supervised

Paul Downes - An Examination of the Professional Judgement and Decision-Making of Strength and Conditioning Coaches

Anne Macdonald - The Effects of Mindfulness on Human Performance in the Workplace:  An Exploratory Case-Study with an International Sports Retailer

Michelle Smith (External) - Developing Professional Judgement and Decision-Making Expertise: A Shift from Competency to Expertise-Based Training in Applied Sport Psychology 

Gala Morozova - Applying Performance Psychology to Specialist Medical Teams: Facilitating Change in the UK National Organ Retrieval Service

Hamish Johnson - Effects of a RaceRunning Intervention on the Physical, Psychological, Health and Social Wellbeing of Children with Cerebral Palsy

Tina Stones -  What Does Well Being Mean to Young People in Comparison to the Scottish Policy Context? 2019

Edward Hall - An Ethnography of the Coaching Process 2015

Research summary

My principal research interest is the development and acceleration of professional judgement and decision making (PJDM) expertise. I am fascinated by how professionals make difficult decisions in complex environments.

I use techniques to access expert cognition across a range of high performance professions and am interested in how this knowledge can be represented, and used to train adaptive expertise in developing practitioners.

See this link for more info: Enhancing professional judgement and decision making expertise in hyperdynamic environments | The University of Edinburgh

My other research interests include the use of peak performance psychology across a range of performance domains, and the use of mindfulness interventions for performance enhancement.

I am a member of the Human Performance Science (HPS) research group in the Institute of Sport, P.E., and Health Sciences.   

Knowledge exchange

Current partnerships include:

Scottish Police Authority Forensic Services - Search & Recovery (Scenes)

National Organ Retrieval Service/ Retrieval Edinburgh

Scottish Multi-Agency Resilience Training and Exercising Unit (SMARTEU) 

Project activity

My most recent research has been in partnership with the Scottish Police Authority Forensic Services and the National Organ Retrieval Service. Examples of this work include:

  • Enhancing Organ Retrieval Team Performance (ESRC Impact Grant)
  • Accelerating Professional Judgement and Decision Making Expertise in Crime Scene Examination (ESRC Impact Grant)
  • Creating a Proficiency Scale for Scene Examination in Scotland (SIPR Small Research Grant)
  • Accelerating Professional Judgement and Decision Making Expertise:  Feedback and Scenario-Based Training in Crime Scene Examination (Scottish Institute for Policing Research Grant)
  • Exploring Professional Judgement & Decision Making Expertise in Crime Scene Examination (CHSS KE Grant in partnership with Scottish Police Authority Forensic Services)

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