Attentional and interpretive bias in anxiety: Concurrent expressions of a common selective mechanism, or independent mediators of anxiety vulnerability? The proposed research aims to determine whether two key cognitive biases recently shown to causally influence anxiety vulnerability, one involving selective attention to threat and the other involving the selective imposition of threatening interpretations on ambiguity, arise as concurrent manifestations of a common underlying causal mechanism, ....Attentional and interpretive bias in anxiety: Concurrent expressions of a common selective mechanism, or independent mediators of anxiety vulnerability? The proposed research aims to determine whether two key cognitive biases recently shown to causally influence anxiety vulnerability, one involving selective attention to threat and the other involving the selective imposition of threatening interpretations on ambiguity, arise as concurrent manifestations of a common underlying causal mechanism, or instead represent alternative causal pathways in the mediation of this emotional disposition. Resolution of this issue will significantly advance our theoretical understanding of the mechanisms that govern anxiety vulnerability, while also contributing directly to the development of new cognitive technologies designed to therapeutically modify such vulnerability.Read moreRead less
Integrating Models of Memory for Serial Order. This research aims to compare and integrate computational models of memory for serial order. The applicants have independently developed theoretically novel models, and this collaboration will enable them to combine and strengthen their complementary perspectives.
Much psychologically important processing, for example speech perception and spelling, requires the representation and reproduction of serial order information. Existing models account ....Integrating Models of Memory for Serial Order. This research aims to compare and integrate computational models of memory for serial order. The applicants have independently developed theoretically novel models, and this collaboration will enable them to combine and strengthen their complementary perspectives.
Much psychologically important processing, for example speech perception and spelling, requires the representation and reproduction of serial order information. Existing models account for a wide range of data and collectively represent exciting progress in the understanding of basic mechanisms of memory. Can these models be unified and reconciled? To date, detailed comparisons of models are lacking. This proposal is for the applicants to elaborate and unify their contrasting theoretical approaches.
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Facilitating the Lifelong Learning Needs of the Mature Age Community through Learning Object Technology. By understanding learner preferences, needs and requirements, it could be possible to provide opportunities in an online learning environment that will improve the quality, variety and relevance of learning for all. There could be particular benefits for mature-age learners. Curtin has begun to explore the benefits of reusable learning objects with current online learning management systems. ....Facilitating the Lifelong Learning Needs of the Mature Age Community through Learning Object Technology. By understanding learner preferences, needs and requirements, it could be possible to provide opportunities in an online learning environment that will improve the quality, variety and relevance of learning for all. There could be particular benefits for mature-age learners. Curtin has begun to explore the benefits of reusable learning objects with current online learning management systems. This project aims to define the use and application of learning object technology and applies a meta-model of pedagogical design to online learning environments. Outcomes will allow the applications of new methodologies for the effective implementation of complex, intelligent learning environments.Read moreRead less
Maturation of the brain and the development of cognitive abilities. This project aims to develop techniques for measuring the growing brain. We will use these techniques to determine how the growing brain influences a child's intellectual ability and to answer an important question - do areas of the brain mature at the same or different rates and what influence does that have on the development of specific abilities such as language and reasoning? An answer to this question will make an import ....Maturation of the brain and the development of cognitive abilities. This project aims to develop techniques for measuring the growing brain. We will use these techniques to determine how the growing brain influences a child's intellectual ability and to answer an important question - do areas of the brain mature at the same or different rates and what influence does that have on the development of specific abilities such as language and reasoning? An answer to this question will make an important contribution to our theoretical understanding of developmental disorders. Moreover, given the influence of intellectual development on life prospects, it is important to understand how early brain development impacts on a child's ability to learn.Read moreRead less
Building Financial Literacy and Retirement Savings Engagement by Developing a Financial Education Programme for the Workplace. To limit the drain on the federal budget as the population ages government have introduced compulsory superannuation; making individuals responsible for a significant proportion of their own retirement income. Employees are able to choose both their superannuation fund and investment mix. These are complex decisions which require a significant level of financial literacy ....Building Financial Literacy and Retirement Savings Engagement by Developing a Financial Education Programme for the Workplace. To limit the drain on the federal budget as the population ages government have introduced compulsory superannuation; making individuals responsible for a significant proportion of their own retirement income. Employees are able to choose both their superannuation fund and investment mix. These are complex decisions which require a significant level of financial literacy. Failure to make appropriate decisions can significantly reduce wealth at retirement leading to a greater reliance on the age pension. Results from this project will inform government, employers and superannuation funds about the role of financial education in improving financial literacy and hence retirement savings decision making.Read moreRead less
The role of time and similarity in short-term memory. The project examines the role of time and similarity in memory for serial order, with the long-term goal to construct a new computational model of short-term memory. The investigators are internationally known for their models, and the collaboration will enable them to combine their complementary perspectives into a unifying theory. Theory construction will be guided by two sets of studies: The first will delineate the circumstances, if any, ....The role of time and similarity in short-term memory. The project examines the role of time and similarity in memory for serial order, with the long-term goal to construct a new computational model of short-term memory. The investigators are internationally known for their models, and the collaboration will enable them to combine their complementary perspectives into a unifying theory. Theory construction will be guided by two sets of studies: The first will delineate the circumstances, if any, under which temporal separation at encoding affects memory. So far, we have shown that temporal distinctiveness has no effect on memory, unless people use temporal gaps to 'chunk' the list. The second set of studies will examine whether phonological similarity determines the strength of encoding.Read moreRead less
Parents as Partners: Getting children off to a healthy start in literacy. Our nation is best served by children getting off to a healthy start in literacy. However, almost one in six children fails to do so. This group has reduced academic and vocational options, increased social, emotional and mental health problems, higher youth unemployment, and is significantly over-represented among offenders. The nation bears the costs of these problems through reduced productivity and expenditure on unemp ....Parents as Partners: Getting children off to a healthy start in literacy. Our nation is best served by children getting off to a healthy start in literacy. However, almost one in six children fails to do so. This group has reduced academic and vocational options, increased social, emotional and mental health problems, higher youth unemployment, and is significantly over-represented among offenders. The nation bears the costs of these problems through reduced productivity and expenditure on unemployment benefits, social programs, mental health services, and incarceration. This project targets both these sources of loss to the nation by utilising a hitherto untapped community resource: Training parents of preschoolers to develop critical pre-literacy skills in their children at home before they begin to fail. Read moreRead less
Investigation of the component distributions of pause duration in spontaneous speech: Constraints for models of language production. We have discovered that the distribution of pause durations in spontaneous speech of individual speakers can be decomposed into at least two log-normal distributions. Our project will investigate this finding and provide a foundation for new research relevant to language production models. This will be achieved by determining the semantic, lexical, psycholinguistic ....Investigation of the component distributions of pause duration in spontaneous speech: Constraints for models of language production. We have discovered that the distribution of pause durations in spontaneous speech of individual speakers can be decomposed into at least two log-normal distributions. Our project will investigate this finding and provide a foundation for new research relevant to language production models. This will be achieved by determining the semantic, lexical, psycholinguistic, physiological, and acoustic concomitants of each component distribution and by investigating the impact of selected variables on the shape and location of each. The project has important implications for models of language production and applied problems involving automatic speech recognition, forensic speaker identification, and human communication disorders.Read moreRead less
Models of Knowledge Restructuring. In a world of rapid change, people must frequently adapt cognitive skills to new technologies. This often requires restructuring of knowledge, from simple initial strategies to increasingly complex ways of mastering the task. This is not always easy and people sometimes resist knowledge restructuring. We present a network model of knowledge restructuring that combines attentional processes with error-driven learning. The model accounts for several existing resu ....Models of Knowledge Restructuring. In a world of rapid change, people must frequently adapt cognitive skills to new technologies. This often requires restructuring of knowledge, from simple initial strategies to increasingly complex ways of mastering the task. This is not always easy and people sometimes resist knowledge restructuring. We present a network model of knowledge restructuring that combines attentional processes with error-driven learning. The model accounts for several existing results and makes predictions that guide the proposed research. Three factors will be examined empirically: (1) the role of directing attention to alternative strategies; (2) the imperfection of existing knowledge; and (3) the complexity of alternative strategies.Read moreRead less
Executive functioning, gender, age and medication as predictors of developmental well-being among students with ADHD. This study constructs social-cognitive phenotypes of ADHD, evaluates mental health and investigates ADHD student perceptions of classroom environment and achievement in science as functions of executive functioning, gender, age and medication. The effect of standard psychostimulant intervention and a novel nonpsychostimulant option on executive function, developmental and educati ....Executive functioning, gender, age and medication as predictors of developmental well-being among students with ADHD. This study constructs social-cognitive phenotypes of ADHD, evaluates mental health and investigates ADHD student perceptions of classroom environment and achievement in science as functions of executive functioning, gender, age and medication. The effect of standard psychostimulant intervention and a novel nonpsychostimulant option on executive function, developmental and educational outcomes will be investigated. The expected outcomes will inform more effective teacher professional development, and reduce school problems associated with psychostimulant medication and its illicit distribution by students. The linkage of health and education partners meets a nationally identified need for more effective collaboration to improve education outcomes for ADHD students.Read moreRead less