Exploration, Generalisation and the Development of Learning Traps. This project addresses three fundamental questions about human decision-making; 1) how does exploratory choice lead to “learning traps”, persistent patterns of poor decision-making that cause us to miss rewards and experience losses? 2) how does susceptibility to traps change with age? 3) what strategies prevent traps or facilitate escape? The project will advance our understanding of the cognitive processes underlying adult and ....Exploration, Generalisation and the Development of Learning Traps. This project addresses three fundamental questions about human decision-making; 1) how does exploratory choice lead to “learning traps”, persistent patterns of poor decision-making that cause us to miss rewards and experience losses? 2) how does susceptibility to traps change with age? 3) what strategies prevent traps or facilitate escape? The project will advance our understanding of the cognitive processes underlying adult and child decision-making, using innovative experimental paradigms and computational modeling. Expected outcomes include a novel computational model that explains developmental change in trap formation. The results will guide strategies for improved decision-making in educational, financial, and social settings.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100177
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,000.00
Summary
Cognitive models of mental architectures in consumer preference. This project aims to characterise the mental architecture of consumer preference, the decision mechanisms and strategies that people use to select products or service options. It uses carefully designed experiments and cognitive modelling of mental architectures that capitalise on the information in the product decisions people make and the time taken to make them. The project provides insight into how people reason with and use in ....Cognitive models of mental architectures in consumer preference. This project aims to characterise the mental architecture of consumer preference, the decision mechanisms and strategies that people use to select products or service options. It uses carefully designed experiments and cognitive modelling of mental architectures that capitalise on the information in the product decisions people make and the time taken to make them. The project provides insight into how people reason with and use information to inform their decisions. This will help organisations to improve products and services and engage with consumers, to create competitive advantage, improve customer service and ultimately stimulate the economy.Read moreRead less
Towards an integrated model of reasoning and reasoning development. This project aims to identify the core cognitive processes that underlie different forms of reasoning and how they develop. The project intends to use a signal detection framework to derive detailed computational models of reasoning which can then be tested through Bayesian computational modelling as well as the first systematic investigation of developmental change in reasoning processes. Expected outcomes include a more princi ....Towards an integrated model of reasoning and reasoning development. This project aims to identify the core cognitive processes that underlie different forms of reasoning and how they develop. The project intends to use a signal detection framework to derive detailed computational models of reasoning which can then be tested through Bayesian computational modelling as well as the first systematic investigation of developmental change in reasoning processes. Expected outcomes include a more principled and comprehensive computational model of reasoning in both adults and children. The project should provide significant benefits by helping to resolve long-standing debates about how humans reason complex arguments relevant to everyday lives and guide development of more effective methods for teaching reasoning.Read moreRead less
Quantitative psychological theories for a dynamic world. . The dynamic world around us means we need to constantly adjust our decisions in light of ever-changing influences, both external (weather, traffic ...) and internal (fatigue, learning ...). This project aims to understand how these changes affect performance. This will have significance for basic science, and also practical benefits for applied psychology. This project will examine the dynamic nature of psychological processes in a range ....Quantitative psychological theories for a dynamic world. . The dynamic world around us means we need to constantly adjust our decisions in light of ever-changing influences, both external (weather, traffic ...) and internal (fatigue, learning ...). This project aims to understand how these changes affect performance. This will have significance for basic science, and also practical benefits for applied psychology. This project will examine the dynamic nature of psychological processes in a range of settings: simple decisions, consumer decisions, human-machine interactions, and team performance. Theory development will lead to improved understanding of underlying cognitive processes, and transforms the measurement of decisions, which is important for applied psychological investigations. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100292
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$380,868.00
Summary
From known to unknown: Individual differences in associative generalisation. This project aims to investigate how and why individuals differ in the way that they generalise from past experiences to novel situations. The goal of the project is to develop an innovative and formal model capable of predicting how a given individual will generalise based on their beliefs and personal traits, and to better understand how people behave when there are multiple conflicting ways to generalise. The expecte ....From known to unknown: Individual differences in associative generalisation. This project aims to investigate how and why individuals differ in the way that they generalise from past experiences to novel situations. The goal of the project is to develop an innovative and formal model capable of predicting how a given individual will generalise based on their beliefs and personal traits, and to better understand how people behave when there are multiple conflicting ways to generalise. The expected outcomes of the project are a better understanding and measurement of generalisation, a fundamental psychological process. The outcomes of this project can be used to benefit the development of clinical treatment for anxiety disorders, of which overgeneralisation of fear responses is a defining feature. Read moreRead less
Improving the diagnosticity of eyewitness memory choices. Eyewitness identification error is common and costly. This project aims to improve the quality of information provided by eyewitnesses, and the ability of police officers and triers of fact (e.g., juries, judges) to evaluate this information. Laboratory investigations will determine how best to test memory and confidence to achieve this aim. A new class of cognitive models will provide a unified account of response accuracy, response time ....Improving the diagnosticity of eyewitness memory choices. Eyewitness identification error is common and costly. This project aims to improve the quality of information provided by eyewitnesses, and the ability of police officers and triers of fact (e.g., juries, judges) to evaluate this information. Laboratory investigations will determine how best to test memory and confidence to achieve this aim. A new class of cognitive models will provide a unified account of response accuracy, response time, and confidence, suitable for application to computerized testing scenarios. The models and testing methods validated in the laboratory will be refined for application in eyewitness memory settings, facilitating better evaluation of identification evidence, and potentially reducing wrongful convictions.Read moreRead less
Combating Misinformation – Designing a Toolkit to Address a Global Problem. Misinformation impairs people’s cognition – their memory, reasoning and judgements – even if credible corrections are issued; it therefore poses a significant threat to evidence-based practice and policy. This project aims to develop novel psychological interventions to reduce the impact of misinformation, based on an experimental research program designed to systematically assess the effects of various types of misinfor ....Combating Misinformation – Designing a Toolkit to Address a Global Problem. Misinformation impairs people’s cognition – their memory, reasoning and judgements – even if credible corrections are issued; it therefore poses a significant threat to evidence-based practice and policy. This project aims to develop novel psychological interventions to reduce the impact of misinformation, based on an experimental research program designed to systematically assess the effects of various types of misinformation on cognition and behaviour. The expected outcome is the development of new knowledge regarding misinformation processing and communication and its translation into a toolkit for practical application. This promises to improve individual and public decision making and foster a culture of accurate information exchange.Read moreRead less