Cognitive models of decision making in clinical populations. This cognitive science project aims to develop new methods for mathematical modelling of decision making, and to apply these methods to study decision making in people with problem drug use. Precise measures of the thought processes underlying decision making in drug users will help to direct efforts to prevent and treat drug problems.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100350
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,042.00
Summary
Decoding unstable decision preferences from brain activity. We often have to make decisions despite lacking clear preferences. This leaves us susceptible to biases from stimuli and information in our environment. This project investigates how simple, perceptual decisions and financial decisions are influenced by contextual information. The project will combine state-of-the-art neuroimaging technology with machine learning methods to develop a novel decision-decoding toolbox that directly predict ....Decoding unstable decision preferences from brain activity. We often have to make decisions despite lacking clear preferences. This leaves us susceptible to biases from stimuli and information in our environment. This project investigates how simple, perceptual decisions and financial decisions are influenced by contextual information. The project will combine state-of-the-art neuroimaging technology with machine learning methods to develop a novel decision-decoding toolbox that directly predicts decision outcomes from brain activity. This will allow investigation of how decision encoding in the brain changes under the influence of contextual information, and will provide the basis for developing an advanced model for human decision-making in real-life situations.Read moreRead less
The dog that didn't bark: a Bayesian account of reasoning from censored data. This project aims to develop and test a new computational theory of inductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning involves extending knowledge from known to novel instances, and is a central component of intelligent behaviour. This project will address the cognitive mechanisms that allow people to draw inferences based on both observed and censored evidence. The project intends to test the model through an extensive program ....The dog that didn't bark: a Bayesian account of reasoning from censored data. This project aims to develop and test a new computational theory of inductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning involves extending knowledge from known to novel instances, and is a central component of intelligent behaviour. This project will address the cognitive mechanisms that allow people to draw inferences based on both observed and censored evidence. The project intends to test the model through an extensive program of experimental investigation and computational modelling. The anticipated benefits include an enhanced understanding of human inference, especially in domains such as the evaluation of forensic or financial evidence, where data censoring is common.Read moreRead less
The independent and combined effects of front-of-pack food labelling systems and health claims on consumers' food-related beliefs and behaviours. Recent developments in food labelling policy are changing the nature of the food environment. This project aims to allow the Australian government to capitalise on its investments in food labelling and health claims policies by investigating the independent and combined effects of front-of-pack labelling systems and health claims on adults' and childre ....The independent and combined effects of front-of-pack food labelling systems and health claims on consumers' food-related beliefs and behaviours. Recent developments in food labelling policy are changing the nature of the food environment. This project aims to allow the Australian government to capitalise on its investments in food labelling and health claims policies by investigating the independent and combined effects of front-of-pack labelling systems and health claims on adults' and children's food-related beliefs and behaviours. Three different forms of front-of-pack labelling systems and three types of health claims will be tested in varying combinations to identify the effects on different consumer segments, especially those of lower socioeconomic status. This approach aims to show how different forms of nutrition information are processed and traded-off during decision making.Read moreRead less
Decoding change of mind decisions and errors from brain activity in humans. This project intends to provide new insights into how the brain changes a decision to achieve better outcomes. Decision-making is rarely optimal, and in a dynamic world people must often change their initial decisions in order to avoid consequential errors. This project aims to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying such change-of-mind decisions and decision errors in humans. To this end, it plans to use novel deco ....Decoding change of mind decisions and errors from brain activity in humans. This project intends to provide new insights into how the brain changes a decision to achieve better outcomes. Decision-making is rarely optimal, and in a dynamic world people must often change their initial decisions in order to avoid consequential errors. This project aims to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying such change-of-mind decisions and decision errors in humans. To this end, it plans to use novel decoding techniques to predict the evolution of change-of-mind decisions from brain activity while decisions unfold. This approach would clarify how quality of information, effort, and reward are integrated at a neural level to bias people towards changing their decisions. The expected results would provide an improved understanding of the neural dynamics of errors and how the brain corrects decisions online to achieve better outcomes.Read moreRead less
Super Financial Security: Improving Flexibility, Trust and Communication. This project aims to address the significant worldwide challenge of how to safeguard financial wellbeing at older ages. In doing so it aims to investigate three important and interconnected influences on retirement preparation: flexible choice architecture, trust formation and effective communication. The project aims to use a combination of innovative modelling, experimental and field-based approaches. The principal expec ....Super Financial Security: Improving Flexibility, Trust and Communication. This project aims to address the significant worldwide challenge of how to safeguard financial wellbeing at older ages. In doing so it aims to investigate three important and interconnected influences on retirement preparation: flexible choice architecture, trust formation and effective communication. The project aims to use a combination of innovative modelling, experimental and field-based approaches. The principal expected outcomes are insights into the factors that guide superannuation choice, build trust with superannuation providers, and ensure clear and effective communication with members.Read moreRead less
The Psychology of Misinformation—Towards A Theory-driven Understanding. The project aims to develop a psychological theory of misinformation effects. Misinformation influences people’s memory, reasoning and decision-making even after corrections – it thus poses a significant challenge for science and society. Through the combination of systematic experimentation with theory-driven computational modelling, the project will strive to concurrently consider individual-level cognition and the impact ....The Psychology of Misinformation—Towards A Theory-driven Understanding. The project aims to develop a psychological theory of misinformation effects. Misinformation influences people’s memory, reasoning and decision-making even after corrections – it thus poses a significant challenge for science and society. Through the combination of systematic experimentation with theory-driven computational modelling, the project will strive to concurrently consider individual-level cognition and the impact of sociocultural context. It is anticipated that this novel integrative approach will substantially expand our understanding of misinformation effects, and that this theoretical progress will result in the formulation of specific communication strategies to reduce the impact of misinformation on society.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100772
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$393,414.00
Summary
Response Time Constraints on Category Learning. Theories of associative learning and decision-making are among the most mathematically well developed in psychology. However, theories of learning do not account for the time course of decision-making, and theories of decision-making do not account for how decision-relevant information is learned. This project will develop an integrated theoretical framework linking core principles of associative learning theories with sequential sampling models of ....Response Time Constraints on Category Learning. Theories of associative learning and decision-making are among the most mathematically well developed in psychology. However, theories of learning do not account for the time course of decision-making, and theories of decision-making do not account for how decision-relevant information is learned. This project will develop an integrated theoretical framework linking core principles of associative learning theories with sequential sampling models of the time course of decision-making. The new theory will provide a quantitative account of how incremental associative learning processes drive changes in cognitive representations that, in turn, account for known changes in the time course of decision-making.Read moreRead less
The desire for knowledge: Neural mechanisms of information-seeking. This project aims to determine the mechanisms that drive individuals to seek out information, and to characterise the neural processes that underlie how that information is valued. The project tests the idea that information is represented in the brain as a form of reward. The results are expected to contribute significant mechanistic insights at the level of brain and behaviour on the nature of information value. This is likely ....The desire for knowledge: Neural mechanisms of information-seeking. This project aims to determine the mechanisms that drive individuals to seek out information, and to characterise the neural processes that underlie how that information is valued. The project tests the idea that information is represented in the brain as a form of reward. The results are expected to contribute significant mechanistic insights at the level of brain and behaviour on the nature of information value. This is likely to have wide-ranging implications across multiple domains of human endeavour, including education, work-place efficiency, policy development, and consumer behaviour.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220101508
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$447,000.00
Summary
A Brain-Behaviour Model of Decision-Making Under Distraction. People make thousands of decisions each day, such as judging whether it is safe to cross the street at a busy intersection. This project aims to investigate how decision-making is impacted when a person is temporarily distracted, for example when receiving a text message alert from one’s phone. By combining recordings of brain activity with cutting-edge mathematical modelling techniques, this project expects to develop a novel theoret ....A Brain-Behaviour Model of Decision-Making Under Distraction. People make thousands of decisions each day, such as judging whether it is safe to cross the street at a busy intersection. This project aims to investigate how decision-making is impacted when a person is temporarily distracted, for example when receiving a text message alert from one’s phone. By combining recordings of brain activity with cutting-edge mathematical modelling techniques, this project expects to develop a novel theoretical framework that captures the effects of distraction on brain networks that underpin human decision-making performance. This knowledge should be highly beneficial for developing informed policies that reduce effects of distraction and preserve decision-making capacity in safety critical situations.Read moreRead less