The impact of outdoor youth programs on positive adolescent development: an empirical evaluation. This project will seek to ensure that the nation's outdoor resources are fully utilised for the benefit of young people. Accordingly, this project will conduct the first comprehensive randomised controlled trial of a structured outdoor youth program in order to inform more strategic investment in outdoor programs to promote positive youth development.
Perceptual and psychosocial factors associated with individual differences in face identity and face expression processing. What makes one person better or worse than another at recognising faces, or the emotions displayed in those faces? This project examines which aspects of visual perception contribute to these abilities, and their associations with problems such as debilitating social anxiety and young children's anti-social behaviour.
Pathways from Child Protection and Juvenile Justice. Almost 50% of children (10-14 year) in the Juvenile Justice (JJ) system have substantiated histories in Child Protection (CP). The vast majority of children with CP histories do not go on to offend. Other children, with no CP history, exhibit troubled behaviour and offending. The accuracy of instruments designed to identify at-risk children and adolescents will be investigated and individual and social factors that contribute to maladjustment ....Pathways from Child Protection and Juvenile Justice. Almost 50% of children (10-14 year) in the Juvenile Justice (JJ) system have substantiated histories in Child Protection (CP). The vast majority of children with CP histories do not go on to offend. Other children, with no CP history, exhibit troubled behaviour and offending. The accuracy of instruments designed to identify at-risk children and adolescents will be investigated and individual and social factors that contribute to maladjustment and offending in these populations will be identified. The identification of factors that are related to children and adolescents entering the CP and JJ systems will inform the development of targeted prevention/intervention strategies.Read moreRead less
Understanding the school as an intergroup system: Implications for school reform and improving student and staff outcomes. This project applies a novel social psychological understanding of group processes and intergroup relations to Australian schools. The result is a new and promising framework that will be trialed and evaluated through this project. The central idea is that one's group memberships and associated norms and practices directly impact on the attitudes and behaviours of individ ....Understanding the school as an intergroup system: Implications for school reform and improving student and staff outcomes. This project applies a novel social psychological understanding of group processes and intergroup relations to Australian schools. The result is a new and promising framework that will be trialed and evaluated through this project. The central idea is that one's group memberships and associated norms and practices directly impact on the attitudes and behaviours of individual members. The aim is to change the relevant groups within a school and how they relate in order to build a more positive school climate and higher school identification and as a result, improve school outcomes (e.g., attendance, academic achievement, well-being).Read moreRead less
Adjustment to retirement through social identity change. This project aims to improve our understanding of the factors governing successful adjustment to retirement. Retirement involves a major life change, to which 30 per cent of people fail to adjust successfully. Previous work in the social identity tradition suggests that the negative effects of significant life changes (eg moving into care) can be buffered by access to social group networks, but this possibility has not been examined in the ....Adjustment to retirement through social identity change. This project aims to improve our understanding of the factors governing successful adjustment to retirement. Retirement involves a major life change, to which 30 per cent of people fail to adjust successfully. Previous work in the social identity tradition suggests that the negative effects of significant life changes (eg moving into care) can be buffered by access to social group networks, but this possibility has not been examined in the context of retirement. This project plans to address this gap through studies that establish the importance of social group factors for successful adjustment among Australian, English, American and Chinese retirees. It also plans to test the efficacy of a new model that seeks to improve adjustment to retirement by incorporating various forms of social planning into preparation for this transition.Read moreRead less
Toward a social-psychology of prejudice reduction: Examining lay beliefs. This project aims to expand social–psychological knowledge of prejudice by examining beliefs about what prejudice is, as well as the social and psychological factors affecting these beliefs. If people believe their own intergroup attitudes (even negative ones) to be correct and normative, anti-prejudice appeals will likely be rejected. What is needed, then, is an analysis of what people believe to be prejudice or not in th ....Toward a social-psychology of prejudice reduction: Examining lay beliefs. This project aims to expand social–psychological knowledge of prejudice by examining beliefs about what prejudice is, as well as the social and psychological factors affecting these beliefs. If people believe their own intergroup attitudes (even negative ones) to be correct and normative, anti-prejudice appeals will likely be rejected. What is needed, then, is an analysis of what people believe to be prejudice or not in the first place, and how these beliefs are changed. This project aims to provide this analysis via qualitative and quantitative experimental social-psychological research. Project outcomes are expected to clarify social–psychological theory, offering new insight into how anti-prejudice arguments can be successful.Read moreRead less
Discovering sources of individual differences in first language acquisition. This project aims to investigate the processes of language acquisition to support the development of evidence-based strategies for improving children's early language. Some children learn language earlier and more easily than others. Understanding why this is the case is important because successful acquisition is strongly associated with positive life outcomes such as academic achievement and psychological wellbeing. T ....Discovering sources of individual differences in first language acquisition. This project aims to investigate the processes of language acquisition to support the development of evidence-based strategies for improving children's early language. Some children learn language earlier and more easily than others. Understanding why this is the case is important because successful acquisition is strongly associated with positive life outcomes such as academic achievement and psychological wellbeing. This project focuses on typically developing children, investigating how their ability to detect frequently occurring patterns in the environment significantly contributes to their acquisition of grammar in early childhood. The project plans to use an innovative triangulation of experimental methods from developmental psychology, longitudinal analysis and cognitive modelling to drive the development of new models of language acquisition and transform our understanding of both typical and atypical acquisition.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100592
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$363,000.00
Summary
Does shared group membership increase social risk-taking? This project aims to develop a social identity model of social risk-taking to inform the development of more effective public safety communications. Replying to a fraudulent email, investing in a pyramid scheme, or having unprotected sex – why do such behaviours persist when people know that they are dangerous? This project proposes that people evaluate risk by using shared group membership as a psychological proxy for ‘safe’. It is propo ....Does shared group membership increase social risk-taking? This project aims to develop a social identity model of social risk-taking to inform the development of more effective public safety communications. Replying to a fraudulent email, investing in a pyramid scheme, or having unprotected sex – why do such behaviours persist when people know that they are dangerous? This project proposes that people evaluate risk by using shared group membership as a psychological proxy for ‘safe’. It is proposed that people may be less likely to see other people as a source of potential harm when they are from the same social group. This project may have implications for policy and practice in the areas of policing, internet security, crowd management and disease control.Read moreRead less
Shying away from having a say: expanding the social psychology of procedural justice through a continuum model of voice expectations and desires. Differences in people's expectations and desires to have a say in matters relevant to them is clearly present in their day-to-day interactions. This project will seek insight into the social psychology of these differences so as to empower those with low expectations of being heard, and to be on guard for those who may seek to deny others of their righ ....Shying away from having a say: expanding the social psychology of procedural justice through a continuum model of voice expectations and desires. Differences in people's expectations and desires to have a say in matters relevant to them is clearly present in their day-to-day interactions. This project will seek insight into the social psychology of these differences so as to empower those with low expectations of being heard, and to be on guard for those who may seek to deny others of their rightful say.Read moreRead less
Testing theoretical models of age and disease related changes to inform prevention. Pathological brain changes associated with future cognitive decline become detectable in the 40s or earlier. Yet little is known about what constitutes normal brain ageing in mid-life. Using a number of neuroimaging and epidemiological techniques this project will scrutinise brain and cognitive ageing in middle-age and their significance.