Auditory spatial perception during head movements. Orienting to stimuli frequently involves eye and head movements. This improves localisation, yet brings attendant problems (eg, blurring). These problems are well understood in vision, but not in audition, despite evidence for common neural mechanisms. We will examine auditory (and visual) localisation during head movements, showing head movements produce auditory suppression and spatial distortions (analogous to visual saccadic effects). This w ....Auditory spatial perception during head movements. Orienting to stimuli frequently involves eye and head movements. This improves localisation, yet brings attendant problems (eg, blurring). These problems are well understood in vision, but not in audition, despite evidence for common neural mechanisms. We will examine auditory (and visual) localisation during head movements, showing head movements produce auditory suppression and spatial distortions (analogous to visual saccadic effects). This will demonstrate the malleability of auditory spatial perception and the impoverished sensitivity of audition during head and self-motion. Knowledge of these distortions will inform applications such as cockpit design, where orienting to auditory signals is common, and other human/computer interfaces.
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Lexical retrieval and reading comprehension: Binding perceptual, lexical and conceptual information in on-line reading. Reading is a complex process that involves integrating sensory information extracted from text with stored memories about word meanings, syntactic structures and general knowledge. Most reading research has focused on the processing of isolated words, but normal reading requires integration processes that are not necessary to recognise single words. This research uses tasks req ....Lexical retrieval and reading comprehension: Binding perceptual, lexical and conceptual information in on-line reading. Reading is a complex process that involves integrating sensory information extracted from text with stored memories about word meanings, syntactic structures and general knowledge. Most reading research has focused on the processing of isolated words, but normal reading requires integration processes that are not necessary to recognise single words. This research uses tasks requiring sentence comprehension and measures of eye movements during reading to investigate how readers retrieve and combine information while reading to comprehend text. It will contribute to developing more comprehensive theories of normal reading that can inform methods of teaching reading and contribute to refinement of text recognition systems.Read moreRead less
The Disproportionate Impact of Negative Contact on Category Salience and Prejudice: Explaining Why Intergroup Interactions Can Be Harmful. The social psychological literature suggests that face-to-face interactions between people of rival groups will reduce mutual prejudice and discrimination. The present research tests the novel prediction that negative face-to-face interactions have a greater probability of worsening broad intergroup relations than positive face-to-face interactions have of im ....The Disproportionate Impact of Negative Contact on Category Salience and Prejudice: Explaining Why Intergroup Interactions Can Be Harmful. The social psychological literature suggests that face-to-face interactions between people of rival groups will reduce mutual prejudice and discrimination. The present research tests the novel prediction that negative face-to-face interactions have a greater probability of worsening broad intergroup relations than positive face-to-face interactions have of improving them. The research will benefit Australia by (a) explaining why intergroup conflict continues to be a key social issue in multicultural Australia despite increased intergroup interactions and by (b) informing policy makers about the social conditions that result in more conflicting intergroup relations as well as the social conditions that result in more harmonious relations.Read moreRead less
Rekindle sexuality after cancer: development and testing of a novel web-based psychoeducational resource for both survivors and their partners. In collaboration with the Cancer Council New South Wales, this project will develop the first web-based psycho-educational resource, Rekindle, that addresses sexual concerns of both survivors and their partners, across all cancer-types, tailored to the unique concerns of each user.
Emergent cues underlying the perception of shape, colour, and material . This goal of this project is to identify the information the visual system uses to extract the three-dimensional structure and material composition of objects. This project aims to generate an advanced understanding of the information that supports these perceptual abilities and to advance our understanding how this information is learned from exposure to natural scenes. The findings of this work are expected to benefit ou ....Emergent cues underlying the perception of shape, colour, and material . This goal of this project is to identify the information the visual system uses to extract the three-dimensional structure and material composition of objects. This project aims to generate an advanced understanding of the information that supports these perceptual abilities and to advance our understanding how this information is learned from exposure to natural scenes. The findings of this work are expected to benefit our understanding of the human visual system, and to provide insights into the information needed to advance the development of deep neural networks (machine learning) that exploit the same information used by humans to guide our behavior and recognize objects and materials.Read moreRead less
Perceiving and misperceiving the causes of optical structure. This project aims to understand the conditions that cause humans to misperceive the shape and surface properties of real-world materials. Most natural materials are translucent to varying degrees, but little is known about how light is transported through them or how such materials are perceived or misperceived. This project will determine the conditions and causes responsible for the misperception of material properties and shape, an ....Perceiving and misperceiving the causes of optical structure. This project aims to understand the conditions that cause humans to misperceive the shape and surface properties of real-world materials. Most natural materials are translucent to varying degrees, but little is known about how light is transported through them or how such materials are perceived or misperceived. This project will determine the conditions and causes responsible for the misperception of material properties and shape, and will offer practical information about what can be done to minimise such misperceptions. The outcomes of the project are expected to lead to new techniques for depicting and manipulating real-world translucent materials in computer graphics, virtual reality, and gaming industries.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
Evaluation of the relative efficacy and mechanisms of a couple-based intervention for Premenstrual Syndrome through a randomised control trial using mixed methods. Of 9,689 Australian women recently surveyed nationally, 33% reported moderate or severe premenstrual symptoms (PMS). Whilst relationships have been identified as a significant factor in the experience of premenstrual distress, to date there has been no systematic description or evaluation of couple-based PMS interventions. This resear ....Evaluation of the relative efficacy and mechanisms of a couple-based intervention for Premenstrual Syndrome through a randomised control trial using mixed methods. Of 9,689 Australian women recently surveyed nationally, 33% reported moderate or severe premenstrual symptoms (PMS). Whilst relationships have been identified as a significant factor in the experience of premenstrual distress, to date there has been no systematic description or evaluation of couple-based PMS interventions. This research study will do this, helping health-care providers understand the experience and treatment of PMS in the context of family relationships, thereby reducing PMS, and the physical and psychological distress associated with it. This will lead to improved psychological wellbeing and quality of life for women and their families.Read moreRead less
From Talking Heads to Thinking Heads: A Research Platform for Human Communication Science. In this project current Talking Head technology will be taken into the realm of a high-fidelity Thinking Head, with implications and applications for basic and applied research. Outcomes will bear on human-machine communication, telecommunications, e-commerce, and mobile phone technology; personalised aids for disabled users, the hearing impaired, the elderly, and children with learning difficulties, forei ....From Talking Heads to Thinking Heads: A Research Platform for Human Communication Science. In this project current Talking Head technology will be taken into the realm of a high-fidelity Thinking Head, with implications and applications for basic and applied research. Outcomes will bear on human-machine communication, telecommunications, e-commerce, and mobile phone technology; personalised aids for disabled users, the hearing impaired, the elderly, and children with learning difficulties, foreign language learning; and will facilitate the development of animation in new media, film, and games. In addition to output in scholarly journals, beta-versions of the Head will be made available, and public visibility for the project will be facilitated by the incorporation of high-profile installations and exhibitions.Read moreRead less
New Partnerships: Promoting development in outback towns through voluntary programs for Grey Nomads. Older retired Australians who undertake extensive independent travel through outback regions of Australia may potentially bring economic, human and social capital to areas of extreme isolation and disadvantage by engaging in volunteer programs of short to medium duration. Such programs would enable the sharing of information, and skills between locals and visitors and enable the development of lo ....New Partnerships: Promoting development in outback towns through voluntary programs for Grey Nomads. Older retired Australians who undertake extensive independent travel through outback regions of Australia may potentially bring economic, human and social capital to areas of extreme isolation and disadvantage by engaging in volunteer programs of short to medium duration. Such programs would enable the sharing of information, and skills between locals and visitors and enable the development of local facilities and services. Engagement in such programs may also potentially enhance the grey nomad experience, contributing to a healthy productive ageing lifestyle. Read moreRead less