A new look at perceptual expertise: the attentional Gestalt framework. This project aims to propose and rigorously test a new, mechanistic framework for understanding how training and experience alters our capacity to perceive and engage in skilled visual processing. The project intends to explain why trained visual experts often rapidly perceive things that elude novices. Expected outcomes of the project include new knowledge about the key mechanistic features that underlie skilled visual perfo ....A new look at perceptual expertise: the attentional Gestalt framework. This project aims to propose and rigorously test a new, mechanistic framework for understanding how training and experience alters our capacity to perceive and engage in skilled visual processing. The project intends to explain why trained visual experts often rapidly perceive things that elude novices. Expected outcomes of the project include new knowledge about the key mechanistic features that underlie skilled visual performance. Intended benefits of this knowledge include the development of artificial systems and improved training environments to facilitate and enhance human expert visual processing.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100790
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$419,308.00
Summary
Understanding how the brain combines sensory information. The ease with which we perceive the external world belies the complexity involved in integrating different sensory inputs. How does the brain achieve this fundamental operation? The project will address this question using a multidisciplinary approach that combines computational modelling, brain imaging, and psychophysical techniques. The expected outcomes of the project are a better understanding of how people perceive the world through ....Understanding how the brain combines sensory information. The ease with which we perceive the external world belies the complexity involved in integrating different sensory inputs. How does the brain achieve this fundamental operation? The project will address this question using a multidisciplinary approach that combines computational modelling, brain imaging, and psychophysical techniques. The expected outcomes of the project are a better understanding of how people perceive the world through optimal integration of sensory cues. In addition to advancing basic scientific knowledge, the findings will illuminate perceptual anomalies in normally developing children and will provide a foundation for reducing a debilitating side effect of virtual reality systems known as ‘cybersickness’.Read moreRead less
Understanding and improving sustained attention under vigilance conditions. This project aims to address a major global challenge caused by technological advances: human operators have to monitor computer-control (e.g., in autonomous vehicles, rail and airtraffic control) but sustaining attention is very difficult under these conditions. Developing innovative behavioural and neural methods, this internationally collaborative project bridges basic and applied science to understand lapses of atten ....Understanding and improving sustained attention under vigilance conditions. This project aims to address a major global challenge caused by technological advances: human operators have to monitor computer-control (e.g., in autonomous vehicles, rail and airtraffic control) but sustaining attention is very difficult under these conditions. Developing innovative behavioural and neural methods, this internationally collaborative project bridges basic and applied science to understand lapses of attention under monitoring conditions. It creates a novel intervention, based on brain activity patterns, to improve performance. Outcomes will increase our neural understanding of attention and lay a foundation for a novel system to detect lapses of attention in high-risk environments, preventing errors before they occur.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100436
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$397,639.00
Summary
Identifying Factors to Optimise Teachers’ Psychological Functioning at Work. High stress and low wellbeing among teachers are known to result in considerable health costs for teachers, academic costs for students, and financial costs for schools. Yet, a disproportionate number of teachers suffer from poor psychological functioning. This project seeks to lay the groundwork to enhance teachers’ functioning at work. Using large-scale international and Australian data, along with cutting-edge biopsy ....Identifying Factors to Optimise Teachers’ Psychological Functioning at Work. High stress and low wellbeing among teachers are known to result in considerable health costs for teachers, academic costs for students, and financial costs for schools. Yet, a disproportionate number of teachers suffer from poor psychological functioning. This project seeks to lay the groundwork to enhance teachers’ functioning at work. Using large-scale international and Australian data, along with cutting-edge biopsychological data, this project expects to unearth salient personal and contextual factors that reduce stress and boost wellbeing among teachers. It is expected that this will provide a comprehensive evidence-base and essential theoretical insights for optimising teachers’ psychological health and effective functioning at work.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL160100108
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,409,738.00
Summary
How the brain creates a sense of auditory space. How the brain creates a sense of auditory space. Spatial hearing is necessary for locating the source of a sound, and critical for communication in noisy listening conditions. The object of this project is to determine how the mammalian brain, including in human listeners, represents sensitivity to interaural time differences, one of the two binaural cues, and how this representation is transformed from the brainstem to the cortex. Anticipated out ....How the brain creates a sense of auditory space. How the brain creates a sense of auditory space. Spatial hearing is necessary for locating the source of a sound, and critical for communication in noisy listening conditions. The object of this project is to determine how the mammalian brain, including in human listeners, represents sensitivity to interaural time differences, one of the two binaural cues, and how this representation is transformed from the brainstem to the cortex. Anticipated outcomes include a coherent model of binaural hearing that links cellular, systems and perceptual investigations, and an understanding of the human auditory brain that should facilitate novel technologies and interventions to improve hearing function.Read moreRead less
Natural form, aesthetics and the human brain. This project aims to study how the brain represents the emotion of aesthetic experience. This project will establish the characteristics of flowers and floral design that govern their appeal using large scale web based data collection, and identify the neural representation of floral beauty using integrative data analysis. Outcomes of the project are expected to help flower growers and designers with product planning, supporting industry sustainabili ....Natural form, aesthetics and the human brain. This project aims to study how the brain represents the emotion of aesthetic experience. This project will establish the characteristics of flowers and floral design that govern their appeal using large scale web based data collection, and identify the neural representation of floral beauty using integrative data analysis. Outcomes of the project are expected to help flower growers and designers with product planning, supporting industry sustainability. The project will also establish how the brain generates positive experience in response to our visual environment, promoting well-being by enabling informed visual design decisions.Read moreRead less
Understanding the impact of missing family on forcibly displaced people. This project aims to investigate the psychological and social effects of having missing family on forcibly displaced people settled in Australia. This world-first project enlists a longitudinal mixed-method approach to compare those with missing family to those whose connections have been restored on key outcomes and coping strategies. Project outcomes will enhance the ability of Australian Red Cross and the International C ....Understanding the impact of missing family on forcibly displaced people. This project aims to investigate the psychological and social effects of having missing family on forcibly displaced people settled in Australia. This world-first project enlists a longitudinal mixed-method approach to compare those with missing family to those whose connections have been restored on key outcomes and coping strategies. Project outcomes will enhance the ability of Australian Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross to understand and support the needs of families of the missing. This should provide significant practice and policy benefits for Red Cross’ humanitarian work in restoring family links in Australia and worldwide.Read moreRead less
Investigating voluntary and involuntary intergroup contact . Extensive research suggests that interactions between people of opposing groups - intergroup contact - reduce prejudices and improve social cohesion. Yet these benefits may not be realised if intergroup contact is actively avoided, passively received, or mandated. Drawing from social psychology and human geography, this project aims to establish the conditions under which voluntary contact occurs and how voluntary (vs. involuntary) int ....Investigating voluntary and involuntary intergroup contact . Extensive research suggests that interactions between people of opposing groups - intergroup contact - reduce prejudices and improve social cohesion. Yet these benefits may not be realised if intergroup contact is actively avoided, passively received, or mandated. Drawing from social psychology and human geography, this project aims to establish the conditions under which voluntary contact occurs and how voluntary (vs. involuntary) intergroup contact shapes diversity experiences and impacts social attitudes, trust, and civic participation. With data from multiple settings and participant populations, this project has the potential to inform interventions and policies that deliver harmonious, healthy and productive communities.Read moreRead less
Approaching the Out group Unlocks Intergroup Contact's Benefits for Society. Extensive research on group desegregation shows that intergroup contact (face-to-face interactions between people of opposing groups) should be encouraged for harmonious group relations; such contact maximises social integration, self-esteem, health, and productivity. However, these benefits are often missed as people actively avoid intergroup contact. This research introduces a theoretically- and empirically-grounded t ....Approaching the Out group Unlocks Intergroup Contact's Benefits for Society. Extensive research on group desegregation shows that intergroup contact (face-to-face interactions between people of opposing groups) should be encouraged for harmonious group relations; such contact maximises social integration, self-esteem, health, and productivity. However, these benefits are often missed as people actively avoid intergroup contact. This research introduces a theoretically- and empirically-grounded typology of contact approach-avoidance that aims to: identify personal and situational determinants driving out-group approach in natural settings; delineate outcomes of out-group approach for psychological processes critical to intergroup relations; and, indicate new interventions for encouraging intergroup contact.Read moreRead less
A paradigm shift in understanding cognitive flexibility. Aims: The project aims to model cognitive flexibility as a dynamic process within people that varies across situations and occasions using advanced data analytics.
Significance: The project intends to generate new knowledge in intelligence theory using recent advances that overcome known theory-testing limitations that have historically been ignored.
Expected Outcomes: An authentic account of cognitive flexibility and a new paradigm for ....A paradigm shift in understanding cognitive flexibility. Aims: The project aims to model cognitive flexibility as a dynamic process within people that varies across situations and occasions using advanced data analytics.
Significance: The project intends to generate new knowledge in intelligence theory using recent advances that overcome known theory-testing limitations that have historically been ignored.
Expected Outcomes: An authentic account of cognitive flexibility and a new paradigm for developing and testing models of dynamic change within people.
Benefits: Dynamic models are needed to understand authentic problem-solving and cognitive function. The advances benefit research and applied areas where dynamic processes are important, including education, work, and cognitive aging.Read moreRead less