Evolution Of Knowledge: Transformations And Universals. This project has two principal benefits: A basic scientific outcome concerning the evolution of language and an applied outcome that can inform the design of graphical communication tools. The evolution of language is one of the most hotly debated issues in contemporary science, but to date it has escaped experimental examination. This project develops an experimental methodology that permits examination of the processes by which human know ....Evolution Of Knowledge: Transformations And Universals. This project has two principal benefits: A basic scientific outcome concerning the evolution of language and an applied outcome that can inform the design of graphical communication tools. The evolution of language is one of the most hotly debated issues in contemporary science, but to date it has escaped experimental examination. This project develops an experimental methodology that permits examination of the processes by which human knowledge evolves across generations of teachers and learners. In addition, by also examining the final content of evolution, and by determining what type of graphical symbols emerge out of communal evolution, the project can inform the future design of graphical communication tools (e.g., road signs).Read moreRead less
ARC Research Network for Enabling Human Communication. The Human Communication Network promotes interdisciplinary research in speech, language, and sound by and between humans and machines. The network connects leading and emerging researchers across disciplines, exploits previously unrecognised intersections, supports interdisciplinary graduate training and exchanges, provides database storage infrastructure, and consults with industry and government to set, not follow, research agendas. By ge ....ARC Research Network for Enabling Human Communication. The Human Communication Network promotes interdisciplinary research in speech, language, and sound by and between humans and machines. The network connects leading and emerging researchers across disciplines, exploits previously unrecognised intersections, supports interdisciplinary graduate training and exchanges, provides database storage infrastructure, and consults with industry and government to set, not follow, research agendas. By generating an explosion of new approaches and knowledge, the network will build Australia's reputation as a leader in communication science and technology via advances in automatic speech recognition, distress call monitoring, hearing prostheses, web interfaces, and data retrieval and data mining systems.Read moreRead less
Parents as Partners: Getting children off to a healthy start in literacy. Our nation is best served by children getting off to a healthy start in literacy. However, almost one in six children fails to do so. This group has reduced academic and vocational options, increased social, emotional and mental health problems, higher youth unemployment, and is significantly over-represented among offenders. The nation bears the costs of these problems through reduced productivity and expenditure on unemp ....Parents as Partners: Getting children off to a healthy start in literacy. Our nation is best served by children getting off to a healthy start in literacy. However, almost one in six children fails to do so. This group has reduced academic and vocational options, increased social, emotional and mental health problems, higher youth unemployment, and is significantly over-represented among offenders. The nation bears the costs of these problems through reduced productivity and expenditure on unemployment benefits, social programs, mental health services, and incarceration. This project targets both these sources of loss to the nation by utilising a hitherto untapped community resource: Training parents of preschoolers to develop critical pre-literacy skills in their children at home before they begin to fail. Read moreRead less
Predicting health, well-being, and educational success in emerging adults: An 8 year longitudinal study. This project will inform the community about factors that affect the psychological, physical, academic, and employment outcomes of emerging adults. It will improve our knowledge of why some young people do not reach their full potential. The project will provide a comprehensive assessment of factors associated with well-being across several domains. It will better equip and assist professiona ....Predicting health, well-being, and educational success in emerging adults: An 8 year longitudinal study. This project will inform the community about factors that affect the psychological, physical, academic, and employment outcomes of emerging adults. It will improve our knowledge of why some young people do not reach their full potential. The project will provide a comprehensive assessment of factors associated with well-being across several domains. It will better equip and assist professionals to identify early those youth at risk of having poor psychological, health, and employment prospects post-school. The project will inform the development of intervention programs for young people and maximise their overall adjustment and well-being several years later.Read moreRead less
Facilitating the attainment of difficult goals: From theory to intervention. Being persistent in pursuing an important goal is glorified in society. People, however, often need to be strategic in their goal pursuits. A series of lab and field studies will aim to test how helping individuals to realise early in their goal striving whether their goal is attainable or not, can support them in making the right decision (persist with, abandon, or change the goal). The project will make novel contribu ....Facilitating the attainment of difficult goals: From theory to intervention. Being persistent in pursuing an important goal is glorified in society. People, however, often need to be strategic in their goal pursuits. A series of lab and field studies will aim to test how helping individuals to realise early in their goal striving whether their goal is attainable or not, can support them in making the right decision (persist with, abandon, or change the goal). The project will make novel contributions to theories of motivation and goal regulation. It will also have significant public benefit as it will provide the necessary evidence for the development of brief interventions that maximise the efficient use of individuals’ limited resources, facilitating individual and societal productivity and well-being.Read moreRead less
Selective information processing and anxiety problems. Anxiety problems cost Australia over $1 billion per annum, and affect up to 16% of some Australian populations. Previous research by the applicants, and others, recently has established that certain patterns of selective information processing causally underpin elevated vulnerability to anxiety. The present program will serve to distinguish the functional contributions made by two specific classes of processing selectivity to two key dimensi ....Selective information processing and anxiety problems. Anxiety problems cost Australia over $1 billion per annum, and affect up to 16% of some Australian populations. Previous research by the applicants, and others, recently has established that certain patterns of selective information processing causally underpin elevated vulnerability to anxiety. The present program will serve to distinguish the functional contributions made by two specific classes of processing selectivity to two key dimensions of anxiety vulnerability. It is designed to produce novel cognitive technologies capable not only of predicting, but also of attenuating, both the tendency to experience anxiety reactions to stress, and the subsequent persistent of anxiety over time.Read moreRead less
How biased engagement with, and biased disengagement from, emotional information contribute to alternative dimensions of anxiety vulnerability. Anxiety problems cost Australia over $1 billion per annum, and affect up to 16% of some Australian populations. Previous research by the applicants, and others, recently has established that certain patterns of selective information processing causally underpin elevated vulnerability to anxiety. The present program will serve to distinguish the functiona ....How biased engagement with, and biased disengagement from, emotional information contribute to alternative dimensions of anxiety vulnerability. Anxiety problems cost Australia over $1 billion per annum, and affect up to 16% of some Australian populations. Previous research by the applicants, and others, recently has established that certain patterns of selective information processing causally underpin elevated vulnerability to anxiety. The present program will serve to distinguish the functional contributions made by two specific classes of processing selectivity to two key dimensions of anxiety vulnerability. It is designed to produce novel cognitive technologies capable not only of predicting, but also of attenuating, both the tendency to experience anxiety reactions to stress, and the subsequent persistence of anxiety over time.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101006
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Understanding and increasing high school girls' physical activity levels through a physical education-based research program. Currently, less than 15% of early-teenage Australian girls meet exercise recommendations. This project will identify new ways in which physical education can promote physical activity, and will provide practical methods for increasing girls' activity levels, helping to reduce future health risks such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Atypical cognition in autism: preference for nonverbal coding and impaired connectivity? This project will investigate whether individuals with autism prefer to think 'in pictures' rather than use words, and whether their thinking shows evidence of limited connections across brain regions. Establishing either characteristic for autism would provide important direction in improving diagnosis and intervention for affected children.
Human visual determination of shape. Visual coding of shape is central to our ability to interact with objects effectively. The visual system contains processes that are specific to particular shapes and this work aims to determine how those processes are used by the system in visual analysis. The work will advance theoretical understanding, and will contribute to the training of the next generation of researchers but also has the potential to provide information that enables display designers ....Human visual determination of shape. Visual coding of shape is central to our ability to interact with objects effectively. The visual system contains processes that are specific to particular shapes and this work aims to determine how those processes are used by the system in visual analysis. The work will advance theoretical understanding, and will contribute to the training of the next generation of researchers but also has the potential to provide information that enables display designers to determine the most efficient way to detect and present pattern information. This may lead to simplified methods for creating objects that are equally effective in conveying information and more rapid scene analysis. Read moreRead less