Determining principles for successful episode retrieval of repeated events. This project aims to develop the first-ever set of explanatory principles for how people successfully retain and retrieve individual episode memories from repeated experiences (e.g., one occurrence of a routine social encounter or job-related activity). By deepening our understanding of how memory works, this new knowledge is expected to lay the foundation for interview guidance and ongoing research aimed at enhancing th ....Determining principles for successful episode retrieval of repeated events. This project aims to develop the first-ever set of explanatory principles for how people successfully retain and retrieve individual episode memories from repeated experiences (e.g., one occurrence of a routine social encounter or job-related activity). By deepening our understanding of how memory works, this new knowledge is expected to lay the foundation for interview guidance and ongoing research aimed at enhancing the proficiency of investigations into matters that rely on detailed and accurate accounts of specific episodes. This includes workplace or traffic accident investigations, infectious disease contact tracing, as well as prosecution of repeated sexual offences.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
Do theory of mind delays explain children's social problems? Theory of mind—our capacity to understand what other people think and feel—grows significantly in the preschool and early school years. This is recognised as a crucial period for social development yet 30 years of research has not yet answered these basic questions: Do children with relatively advanced theories of mind also excel at navigating the everyday world of friendship and peer group dynamics at school? And conversely, do develo ....Do theory of mind delays explain children's social problems? Theory of mind—our capacity to understand what other people think and feel—grows significantly in the preschool and early school years. This is recognised as a crucial period for social development yet 30 years of research has not yet answered these basic questions: Do children with relatively advanced theories of mind also excel at navigating the everyday world of friendship and peer group dynamics at school? And conversely, do developmental delays in acquiring a theory of mind explain some of the peer problems that children with autism or deafness face? The proposed longitudinal project aims to be the first to supply a comprehensive and causally convincing answer to these core questions.Read moreRead less
A RCT of an education reengagement program for at-risk youth. A RCT of an education reengagement program for at-risk youth. This project aims to determine the best and most cost-effective way to help 12–15 year olds re-engage with school when they become at-risk for dropping out, by conducting a gold-standard randomized-control trial. 20% of Australians fail to attain a Year 12 or equivalent certificate, often for preventable reasons. Dropouts are more likely to be unemployed, have psychological ....A RCT of an education reengagement program for at-risk youth. A RCT of an education reengagement program for at-risk youth. This project aims to determine the best and most cost-effective way to help 12–15 year olds re-engage with school when they become at-risk for dropping out, by conducting a gold-standard randomized-control trial. 20% of Australians fail to attain a Year 12 or equivalent certificate, often for preventable reasons. Dropouts are more likely to be unemployed, have psychological, social, and health problems, and end up in prison. This project could influence implementation of programmes and policy related to youth dropout, promote youth economic, social and physical wellbeing, and decrease their chance of committing crimes and becoming a social burden.Read moreRead less
Social outcomes, behaviour and emotional well-being of adults with autism. It is recognised that autism results in substantial life-long disability. Severe emotional and behavioural problems are likely to be a key factor in precluding adults with autism from work, independent living, social contact, and undermine their quality of life, thus increasing support needs. This project aims to address a major gap in our current knowledge - the association between severe emotional and behavioural proble ....Social outcomes, behaviour and emotional well-being of adults with autism. It is recognised that autism results in substantial life-long disability. Severe emotional and behavioural problems are likely to be a key factor in precluding adults with autism from work, independent living, social contact, and undermine their quality of life, thus increasing support needs. This project aims to address a major gap in our current knowledge - the association between severe emotional and behavioural problems in adults with autism and social outcomes. Identification of markers of adult outcomes aims to lead to an improved understanding of the pathways to better social outcomes, facilitating the development of specific interventions to provide much needed improvements in outcomes for adults with autism.Read moreRead less
Linking arterial, brain and cognitive integrity in healthy older adults. This project aims to demonstrate that engaging the brain’s prefrontal cortex, an area that is highly sensitive to ageing, can improve the function of arteries that supply blood to this brain region. Using an innovative optical imaging methodology that maps the brain’s regional arterial health, it aims to generate new knowledge about the link between this arterial system and the progressive decline in cognitive control abili ....Linking arterial, brain and cognitive integrity in healthy older adults. This project aims to demonstrate that engaging the brain’s prefrontal cortex, an area that is highly sensitive to ageing, can improve the function of arteries that supply blood to this brain region. Using an innovative optical imaging methodology that maps the brain’s regional arterial health, it aims to generate new knowledge about the link between this arterial system and the progressive decline in cognitive control ability and in prefrontal cortex structure and function in healthy older adults. This interdisciplinary, international collaboration aims to put Australia at the forefront of brain optical imaging methods that may have significant benefits by informing approaches to promote and maintain healthy brain and cognition in old age.Read moreRead less
The elusive engram: What can infantile amnesia tell us about memory? Revealing the 'engram' is one of the greatest challenges neuroscience has faced. Substantial advances have been made in elucidating the mechanisms underlying memories that last for a few hours or days but much less is known about the cellular and molecular processes that mediate memories across remote periods of time. An underutilised approach to this problem is to study forgetting. The infant rat is an ideal model as they typi ....The elusive engram: What can infantile amnesia tell us about memory? Revealing the 'engram' is one of the greatest challenges neuroscience has faced. Substantial advances have been made in elucidating the mechanisms underlying memories that last for a few hours or days but much less is known about the cellular and molecular processes that mediate memories across remote periods of time. An underutilised approach to this problem is to study forgetting. The infant rat is an ideal model as they typically display good memory for a day or two but forget after a week or more. That is, they exhibit a specific impairment in the maintenance of remote memories. This project aims to determine the molecular/cellular processes underlying infantile amnesia and is expected to provide unique insights into memory processes in general.Read moreRead less
Effects of early life trauma on fear memory and fear extinction in rats. This project aims to increase our understanding of how early life stress affects fear regulation across development. The results will provide unique insights into normal developmental changes in fear regulation as well as abnormal developmental changes in these processes in those exposed to early life stress.
Cooperative dual identity: A new approach to promote ethnic harmony between Muslim and non-Muslim Australians. This project makes a significant contribution to strengthening Australia's social fabric by promoting positive cooperation between Muslim and non-Muslim students. Cooperative contact and dual identity strategies will be innovatively integrated into school curricula using web technology to encourage positive intergroup interactions that are currently not commonplace. Researchers, policy- ....Cooperative dual identity: A new approach to promote ethnic harmony between Muslim and non-Muslim Australians. This project makes a significant contribution to strengthening Australia's social fabric by promoting positive cooperation between Muslim and non-Muslim students. Cooperative contact and dual identity strategies will be innovatively integrated into school curricula using web technology to encourage positive intergroup interactions that are currently not commonplace. Researchers, policy-makers, and teachers will have available a significantly effective long-term ethnic harmony strategy, which will be incorporated routinely into their research and practice. We expect this cutting edge research program to yield timely and influential findings, and advance Australia's position as a leader in the field of social and developmental psychology.Read moreRead less
Open(ing up) goals in physical activity: What works, when, and for whom? This project aims to advance knowledge of open goals as a new goal-setting approach to optimise the adoption and maintenance of physical activity among insufficiently active individuals. This project expects to generate substantive insights into the mechanisms that explain why, when, and for whom open goals are particularly beneficial in this population. Expected outcomes include a theory of open goals that will inform phys ....Open(ing up) goals in physical activity: What works, when, and for whom? This project aims to advance knowledge of open goals as a new goal-setting approach to optimise the adoption and maintenance of physical activity among insufficiently active individuals. This project expects to generate substantive insights into the mechanisms that explain why, when, and for whom open goals are particularly beneficial in this population. Expected outcomes include a theory of open goals that will inform physical activity promotion efforts, with the potential for broad population-level dissemination and scale-up. Significant benefits include the ability to set physical activity goals that are enjoyable and intrinsically motivating to pursue, while also avoiding detrimental effects of current practice (eg high failure rates).Read moreRead less