Dr Jessica Halsall
Lecturer in Psychology
- j.halsall@uos.ac.uk
- School/Directorate
- School of Health, Sciences and Society
- Jessica Halsall ORCID
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Dr Jessica Halsall is a Lecturer in Psychology with a strong background in research and higher education. She completed her PhD at the University of Essex, funded by the competitive SeNSS (ESRC) scholarship. During her doctoral studies, she undertook an international research placement at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, supported by additional competitive funding, and gained applied experience through roles including a placement with BrainCanDo.
She was awarded Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy in 2024, recognising her contribution to teaching and learning. Prior to her current role, Jess worked as an Education Developer at the University of Essex. Dr Halsall also holds a fully funded Master’s degree in Research Methods in Psychology. She completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology with Distinction, and was awarded and Academic Excellence Scholarship and Scholar Athlete of the Year in recognition of her academic achievement and wider sporting contributions.
Dr Jessica Halsall is a Lecturer in Psychology who teaches across both the BSc Psychology programme and the MSc Psychology Conversion course. Her teaching is informed by her broader experience in higher education, including her previous role in Education Development.
Dr. Jessica Halsall’s previous research has focused on social visual attention, employing both static and mobile eye-tracking methodologies. Jess has presented her research at numerous international conferences and actively engages in international collaborations.
Publications (in maiden name Dawson):
Dawson, J., Martinez-Cedillo, A. P., Forby, L., Karstadt, B., Kingstone, A., & Foulsham, T. (2025). Social attention through a new lens: Autistic and ADHD traits and eye occlusion affect gaze during conversation watching. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 17470218251390498.
Webb, A. L., Hibbard, P. B., Dawson, J., Van Dam, L. C., Asher, J. M., & Kellgren-Parker, L. J. (2024). Immersive-360° theater: User experience in the virtual auditorium and platform efficacy for current and underserved audiences. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts.
Forby, L., Anderson, N. C., Cheng, J. T., Foulsham, T., Karstadt, B., Dawson, J., ... & Kingstone, A. (2023). Reading the room: Autistic traits, gaze behaviour, and the ability to infer social relationships. Plos one, 18(3), e0282310.
Dawson, J., & Foulsham, T. (2022). Your turn to speak? Audiovisual social attention in the lab and in the wild. Visual Cognition, 30(1-2), 116-134.
Dawson, J. (2022). Visual attention during conversation: an investigation using real-world stimuli (Doctoral dissertation, University of Essex).
Dawson, J., Kingstone, A., & Foulsham, T. (2021). Theory of mind affects the interpretation of another person's focus of attention. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 17147.