The neuroscience of group membership and its effects on action perception and empathy. People belong to different groups and sometimes group membership can lead to discrimination of people outside the group. This project will use brain imaging techniques to understand better how our brains make group distinctions and how this can sometimes lead to discrimination of other people.
Killing which averts suffering: the role of norms and empathy. Abattoir workers and butchers kill animals to prepare food, farmers to cull stock, and veterinarians to alleviate suffering. Soldiers kill other humans in war, police or security guards to protect the public, and doctors to enact legal euthanasia. Research shows that these tasks can be confronting, and even traumatic. This project aims to test the processes through which people learn socially supported palliative killing to avert suf ....Killing which averts suffering: the role of norms and empathy. Abattoir workers and butchers kill animals to prepare food, farmers to cull stock, and veterinarians to alleviate suffering. Soldiers kill other humans in war, police or security guards to protect the public, and doctors to enact legal euthanasia. Research shows that these tasks can be confronting, and even traumatic. This project aims to test the processes through which people learn socially supported palliative killing to avert suffering and their neural underpinnings, with a focus on norms and empathic distress. It will focus on two core samples: veterinarians, who must euthanize animals, and health practitioners in Victoria, where legal changes will introduce ‘voluntary assisted dying’ in mid-2019. It will investigate how practitioners learn palliative killing, and what the impact is on psychological variables such as empathy and identity. It will generate new understandings of social influence around life and death decisions, provide an evidence basis to inform policy makers, and help institutions and practitioners seeking to manage distress and respond to fast-moving, controversial policy changes.Read moreRead less
Neural substrates of paired decision-making training and brain stimulation. This project aims to provide definitive evidence on the efficacy of cognitive training, brain stimulation for enhancing performance, and will reveal the underlying neural processes involved. Outcomes and benefits include identifying the functional neural mechanisms and structural correlates of these effects for individuals and groups, informing cognitive training and stimulation approaches in a range of current settings, ....Neural substrates of paired decision-making training and brain stimulation. This project aims to provide definitive evidence on the efficacy of cognitive training, brain stimulation for enhancing performance, and will reveal the underlying neural processes involved. Outcomes and benefits include identifying the functional neural mechanisms and structural correlates of these effects for individuals and groups, informing cognitive training and stimulation approaches in a range of current settings, and a possible means of reducing the effects of age-related cognitive decline.Read moreRead less
The mirror system and the perception of actions. Our ability to recognise and understand others' actions is crucial to our everyday social life and appears to be mediated by specialised networks in the brain. This project will bring a greater understanding of the brain processes involved in the perception and recognition of others' actions.
The future of childhood anxiety treatment: translating cognitive-neuroscience insights into clinical practice. The newest adult anxiety treatments use computer-based tasks that provide practice in overcoming maladaptive thinking patterns. This project is among the first to test this approach with children by developing a simple intervention that can be done at home. This new treatment will significantly reduce the burden of disease in Australia.
Charting the prevalence, time course and social-cognitive correlates of neonatal imitation. Imitation is something that we do naturally and often. However, because the necessary research has not been done, it remains controversial whether or not humans can imitate from birth and what role this may play for later developments. The proposed research aims to settle these issues through a comprehensive, longitudinal study of infant imitation and its relation to later-developing social skills. A trai ....Charting the prevalence, time course and social-cognitive correlates of neonatal imitation. Imitation is something that we do naturally and often. However, because the necessary research has not been done, it remains controversial whether or not humans can imitate from birth and what role this may play for later developments. The proposed research aims to settle these issues through a comprehensive, longitudinal study of infant imitation and its relation to later-developing social skills. A training condition will examine the viability of potential early interventions aimed at promoting social responding in infants and toddlers. This project will generate new knowledge about the development of early social skills and provide the foundation for new programs to enhance social development in typical and at-risk infants. Read moreRead less
The extinction of human fear. Excessive fear negatively impacts the lives of many Australians - so how can we increase the effectiveness of exposure based treatments to reduce human fear? The present basic research will investigate the process thought to underlie exposure-based treatments, extinction of human fear learning, in order to answer this applied question.
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
Examining the relationship between error processing, cognitive control and emotion: a cognitive neuroscience approach. The proposed research aims to contribute to current scientific thinking on how the processing of errors influences self-monitoring and cognitive performance. The ability to monitor one's cognitive performance deteriorates with normal ageing, and is particularly affected in a range of clinical conditions, where it is a reliable predictor of a poor prognostic outcome. This project ....Examining the relationship between error processing, cognitive control and emotion: a cognitive neuroscience approach. The proposed research aims to contribute to current scientific thinking on how the processing of errors influences self-monitoring and cognitive performance. The ability to monitor one's cognitive performance deteriorates with normal ageing, and is particularly affected in a range of clinical conditions, where it is a reliable predictor of a poor prognostic outcome. This project aims to clarify understanding of the cognitive and neural processes underlying self-monitoring, as an important first step to improving rehabilitation and management methods for age-related impairments such as Alzheimer's disease, and prominent mental health conditions such as schizophrenia.Read moreRead less
Attachment security and relationship outcomes in adult adoptees: The moderating effects of family experiences and recent relationship events. Personal relationships are vital to well-being and to the structure of society; hence, factors involved in maintaining satisfying relationships are of prime importance. The relationship experiences of adult adoptees deserve particular attention. These individuals have lost the major persons with whom attachments normally form; further, given legislative ....Attachment security and relationship outcomes in adult adoptees: The moderating effects of family experiences and recent relationship events. Personal relationships are vital to well-being and to the structure of society; hence, factors involved in maintaining satisfying relationships are of prime importance. The relationship experiences of adult adoptees deserve particular attention. These individuals have lost the major persons with whom attachments normally form; further, given legislative changes, an increasing number are facing issues related to the search for birth parents. These studies, based on adult attachment theory, represent the first research program to systematically examine the links among adoption, family experiences, attachment security and relationship outcomes. The research has implications for policy and practice regarding adoption and post-adoption counselling.Read moreRead less