Dr Khaya Morris-Binelli

BPsych (Hons), PhD (Motor Learning)
Lecturer

Email: khaya.morris-binelli@nd.edu.au
Phone: (08) 9433 0974

  • Biography

    Dr. Khaya Morris-Binelli is a motor learning and control academic in the discipline of exercise and sport science. Khaya received a Bachelor of Psychology (First Class Honours) from Murdoch University and completed a PhD in Motor Learning at the same University. His PhD research was conducted in collaboration with Hockey Australia and investigated individual differences in expert visual anticipation.

    Khaya has experience working with elite and emerging-elite athletes competing at international and national level at Hockey Australia, Rugby WA, Western Force, and South Fremantle Football Club. His research focus investigates innovative ways to assess and enhance perceptual-cognitive-motor skills. Current research projects include investigating decision-making skill in Australian rules football and threat assessment decision-making with Western Australia Tactical Response Group special operations police and Australian Federal Police.

  • Teaching Areas

    Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science

    • Motor Control, Development and Learning (HLTH2013)
    • Psychological Aspects of Sport and Physical Activity (HLTH2014)
    • Physical Activity and Health (HLTH1001)

  • Research Expertise and Supervision

    Research Expertise:

    Dr. Khaya Morris-Binelli specialises in expertise and skill learning with a background is motor learning and control, and experimental psychology. Khaya's research focuses on expert visual anticipation and decision-making in sport, law enforcement, and military. This includes innovative techniques to assess and improve anticipation and decision-making skill, such as 2D video and virtual reality simulators and field-based assessments. Khaya's research expertise and background in psychology is relevant to several domains including sport, Defence, law enforcement, mental health, and rehabilitation.

    Research Supervision:

    Current

    • Zachariah Hoyne, PhD (The University of Notre Dame Australia). Title: Contributions of Presence, Immersion, and Sensory Modality to Decision-Making in Virtual Simulations. Primary Supervisor.
    • Minverva Westbrook, PhD (Federation University). Title: Utilising Biological Motion Perception to Understand and Accelerate Anticipation in Law Enforcement Officers. Associate Supervisor.
    • Katie Janz, PhD (The University of Notre Dame Australia). Title: What Effect Does Virtual Reality Simulation Have on Final-Year Nursing Students’ Competence and Confidence in Performing Non-Technical Skills? Co-Supervisor.
    • Khaya is also currently supervising several Honours students in Exercise and Sport Science, Physical Education, and Physiotherapy at The University of Notre Dame Australia and Federation University.

    Completed

    • Christopher Haydock, MPhil. Title: Exploring Associations Between Mental Health Literacy, Wellbeing and Help Seeking Behaviours in Emerging Adult Males in Rural Western Australia. Co-supervisor.
    • Minerva Westbrook, Honours (First Class). Title: Does Motor Expertise Contribute to Decision-Making in Highly-Skilled Rugby Players? Primary Supervisor.
    • Hannah Vawser, Honours (First Class). Title: Comparison of Decision-Making Skill in Virtual Reality to the Field Setting in Highly Skilled Rugby Union Players. Primary Supervisor.
    • Michael Brick, Honours. Title: Mental Health Maintenance: Exploring the Effectiveness of a Multi-Component Program on Well-Being and Self-Efficacy. Co-Supervisor.

  • Journal Articles and Proceedings

    • Vawser, H. J., Morris-Binelli, K., Piggott, B., Müller, S., Chivers, P., & Dekker, E. (2025). Comparison of decision-making skill in 360° video to the field setting in highly skilled rugby union players. Virtual Reality, 29, Article 116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-025-01197-y
    • Morris-Binelli, K., Westbrook, M. A., Piggott, B., Müller, S., & Chivers, P. (2025). Individual differences provide a nuanced understanding of the contributions of age, experience, and level played to superior perceptual-cognitive-motor skill. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, Article 1470789. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1470789
    • Müller, S., Morris-Binelli, K., Hambrick, D. Z., & Macnamara, B. N. (2024). Accelerating visual anticipation in sport through temporal occlusion training: A meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-024-02073-6
    • Müller, S., Beseler, B., Morris-Binelli, K., & Mesagno, C. (2024). Temporal samples of visual information guides skilled interception. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. Article 1328991. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1328991
    • Müller, S., Dekker, E., Morris-Binelli, K., Piggott, B., Hoyne, G., Christensen, W., Fadde, P., Zaichkowsky, L., Brenton, J., & Hambrick, D. Z. (2023). Attributes of expert anticipation should inform the design of virtual reality simulators to accelerate learning and transfer of skill. Sports Medicine, 53(2), 301-309. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-022-01735-7
    • Morris-Binelli, K., Müller, S., van Rens, F. E.C.A., Harbaugh, A. G., & Rosalie, S. M. (2022). Individual differences and transfer of visual anticipation in expert female field hockey goalkeepers. Optometry and Vision Science, 99(2), 150-158. https://doi.org/10.1097/opx.0000000000001851
    • Morris-Binelli, K., Müller, S., van Rens, F. E.C.A., Staniforth, D., Appleby, B., & Rosalie, S. M. (2022). Implementing skill acquisition research in high-performance sport: Reflecting on the importance of autonomy-support for successful collaboration. Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 13(3), 143-154. https://doi.org/10.1080/21520704.2021.1964661
    • Morris-Binelli, K., Müller, S., van Rens, F. E.C.A., Harbaugh, A. G., & Rosalie, S. M. (2021). Individual differences in performance and learning of visual anticipation in expert field hockey goalkeepers. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 52. Article 101829. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2020.101829
    • van Rens, F. E.C.A., Burgin, M., & Morris-Binelli, K. (2021). Implementing a pressure inurement training program to optimize cognitive appraisal, emotion regulation, and sport self-confidence in a women's state cricket team. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 33(4), 402-419. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2019.1706664
    • Morris-Binelli, K., van Rens, F. E.C.A., Müller, S., & Rosalie, S. M. (2020). Psycho-perceptual-motor skills are deemed critical to save the penalty corner in international field hockey. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 51. Article 101753. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2020.101753
    • Müller, S., van Rens, F. E.C.A., Brenton, J., Morris-Binelli, K., Piggott, B., Rosalie, S., & Burgin, M. (2019). Embedding of psycho-perceptual-motor skills can improve athlete assessment and training programs. Journal of Expertise, 2, 14-22. https://www.journalofexpertise.org/articles/volume2_issue1/JoE_2019_2_1_Muller.html
    • Morris-Binelli, K., Müller, S., & Fadde, P. (2018). Use of pitcher game footage to measure visual anticipation and its relationship to baseball batting statistics. Journal of Motor Learning and Development, 6, 197-208. https://doi.org/10.1123/jmld.2017-0015
    • Morris-Binelli, K., & Müller, S. (2017). Advancements to the understanding of expert visual anticipation in striking sports. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue Canadienne des Sciences du Comportement, 49(4), 262-268. https://doi.org/10.1037/cbs0000079

  • Conference Papers

    • Hoyne, Z. G., Morris-Binelli, K. Müller, S., Piggott, B., & Dekker, E. (2025). The impact of multi-sensory information and simulator immersion on decision-making performance, presence, and cognitive load. Defence Human Sciences Symposium, Perth, Western Australia. https://www.dst.defence.gov.au/event/defence-human-sciences-symposium-2025
    • Westbrook, M. A., Müller, S., Morris-Binelli, K., Teng, S. W., Dekker, E., & Piggott, B. (2025). Special operations officers threat-no-threat decision-making in higher and lower fidelity virtual reality simulation. Defence Human Sciences Symposium, Perth, Western Australia. https://www.dst.defence.gov.au/event/defence-human-sciences-symposium-2025
    • Nelson, D., Aptaker, A., Yahata, R., Core, M., Marti, D., Müller, S., & Morris-Binelli, K. (2024). Visual abstraction for virtual reality training of threat assessment. Defence Human Sciences Symposium, Melbourne, Australia. https://www.dst.defence.gov.au/event/defence-human-sciences-symposium-2024-0
    • Westbrook, M., Morris-Binelli, K., Müller, S., Teng, S. W., Dekker, E., & Piggott, B. (2024). Special operations officers use of sensory information for decision-making in systematic venue clearance. Defence Human Sciences Symposium, Melbourne, Australia. https://www.dst.defence.gov.au/event/defence-human-sciences-symposium-2024-0
    • Müller, S., Morris-Binelli, K., Macnamara, B. N., & Hambrick, D. Z. (2022). Visual-perceptual training techniques to accelerate decision-making skill in defence personnel. Defence Human Sciences Symposium. Sydney, Australia. https://www.dst.defence.gov.au/event/defence-human-sciences-symposium-2022
    • Müller, S., Dekker, E., Morris-Binelli, K., Piggott, B., Hoyne, G., Hambrick, D. Z. & Christensen, W. (2021). Expertise and skill learning can accelerate performance of soldiers. Defence Human Sciences Symposium and Human Performance Research Network Symposium, Victoria, Australia. https://www.dst.defence.gov.au/event/defence-human-sciences-symposium-2021
    • Morris-Binelli, K., Müller, S., van Rens, F. E.C.A, Harbaugh, A. G., & Rosalie, S. M. (2020). Individual differences in assessment, training, and transfer of visual anticipation in elite field hockey goalkeepers. North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, Vancouver, Canada. https://www.naspspa.com/
    • Morris-Binelli, K., Müller, S., van Rens, F. E.C.A, Harbaugh, A. G., & Rosalie, S. M. (2020). Individual differences of visual anticipation in elite female field hockey goalkeepers. North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, Vancouver, Canada. https://www.naspspa.com/

  • Professional Affiliations

      • International Expertise, Skill Learning & Psychology Research Group – Assoc. Prof. Sean Müller (Lead), Dr. Khaya Morris-Binelli, Dr. John Brenton, Dr. Wayne Christensen, Mr. Evan Dekker, Prof. Peter Fadde, Prof. David Z. Hambrick, Assoc. Prof. Ben Piggott, Prof. Shyh Wei Teng, Dr. Fleur van Rens, Prof. Leonard Zaichkowsky.
      • North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA)

  • Awards

    • Murdoch University (2019) - Top 10% of teaching staff for student satisfaction
    • Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) PhD scholarship (2017 – 2020)