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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100739
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$396,521.00
Summary
Measuring the sound of inner speech with advanced brain signal analyses. The overarching aim of this project is to develop an objective, electrophysiological marker capable of identifying the auditory properties of a person’s inner speech, which is defined as the silent production of words in one’s mind. This will be accomplished by combining novel experimental paradigms with advanced brain signal analyses. This marker would represent a historically significant event, placing Australia at the fo ....Measuring the sound of inner speech with advanced brain signal analyses. The overarching aim of this project is to develop an objective, electrophysiological marker capable of identifying the auditory properties of a person’s inner speech, which is defined as the silent production of words in one’s mind. This will be accomplished by combining novel experimental paradigms with advanced brain signal analyses. This marker would represent a historically significant event, placing Australia at the forefront of cognitive science. It would provide deep insight into the fundamental nature of inner speech, such as whether it is a “special form” of overt speech, and would inform the ongoing development of brain-computer interfaces aimed at deciphering inner speech for people who are unable to produce overt speech.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
Perceiving and tracking moving objects. Processing and tracking moving objects poses challenges for human perception. To succeed, visual processing must accumulate analyses of the object from its different positions. Perceptual experiments will reveal human limits and yield insights into the underlying mechanisms, providing a basis for understanding object tracking in tasks like driving.
The causes and consequences of attentional rescaling. This project aims to investigate the mechanisms that underlie people’s capacity to rescale the focus of their visual attention. Such rescalings are important because they are linked with people’s capacity to perform specific tasks. Using an innovative approach within cognitive psychology that integrates individual differences, experimental, and training frameworks, this project expects to generate new theoretical knowledge about attentional ....The causes and consequences of attentional rescaling. This project aims to investigate the mechanisms that underlie people’s capacity to rescale the focus of their visual attention. Such rescalings are important because they are linked with people’s capacity to perform specific tasks. Using an innovative approach within cognitive psychology that integrates individual differences, experimental, and training frameworks, this project expects to generate new theoretical knowledge about attentional re-scaling and its possible improvement. The expected outcomes include selection and training programs for specific contexts such as training athletes and flight attendants. Economic benefits can be expected through the identification of those who will benefit most from training (reducing waste) and developing cost-effective forms of training which improve task performance.Read moreRead less
Form and motion interactions in human motion perception. Vision works efficiently to detect the motion of both ourselves and other objects by combining motion and pattern information. This project will determine how the visual system achieves this and also create a detailed model that will be directly applicable to areas ranging from clinical neuropsychology to the analysis and design of visual displays.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101734
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$371,220.00
Summary
The temporal dynamics of conscious object perception . We live in a constantly changing visual world. Thus a key inferential challenge that the human brain must solve is whether ongoing visual input represents a single object varying over time (for example, one person moving through a scene), or two distinct objects (for example, two different people successively occupying the same location). This project will investigate, for the first time, how the brain optimises this inference by using infor ....The temporal dynamics of conscious object perception . We live in a constantly changing visual world. Thus a key inferential challenge that the human brain must solve is whether ongoing visual input represents a single object varying over time (for example, one person moving through a scene), or two distinct objects (for example, two different people successively occupying the same location). This project will investigate, for the first time, how the brain optimises this inference by using information about context, whether the flexibility of the inference process reduces with ageing, and the role of the two main visual pathways in this inference. This will enhance our knowledge of this fundamental process in vision, and our ability to promote optimal functioning into later life.Read moreRead less