The emotional psychology of blood donors: understanding and using the affective key to donor return. Every week in Australia 27,000 blood donations are required to meet medical needs. Though donors are continually recruited, each year around 40per cent of Australian donors fail to re-donate. Why this occurs and how to prevent this is not well understood. Using an approach grounded in psychology and affective science, this project comprises a program of studies that aims to advance understanding ....The emotional psychology of blood donors: understanding and using the affective key to donor return. Every week in Australia 27,000 blood donations are required to meet medical needs. Though donors are continually recruited, each year around 40per cent of Australian donors fail to re-donate. Why this occurs and how to prevent this is not well understood. Using an approach grounded in psychology and affective science, this project comprises a program of studies that aims to advance understanding of the affective factors that contribute to blood donor return and translate that understanding into interventions to increase donor return. The project aims to advance the psychological conceptualisation of blood donation by integrating insight from affective science, while also enabling the Blood Service to meet the nation's demand for blood products.Read moreRead less
How pain shapes our social world. Pain is an important source of human experience. Traditionally it has been defined by its social and psychological costs and treated as a problem that needs to be ‘fixed’. This project represents the first systematic study of the ways in which pain may motivate social and behavioural responses that serve to enhance affiliation, communication, solidarity, and group formation. In this way, pain may serve to connect people with their social worlds - it may act as s ....How pain shapes our social world. Pain is an important source of human experience. Traditionally it has been defined by its social and psychological costs and treated as a problem that needs to be ‘fixed’. This project represents the first systematic study of the ways in which pain may motivate social and behavioural responses that serve to enhance affiliation, communication, solidarity, and group formation. In this way, pain may serve to connect people with their social worlds - it may act as social glue - bringing people together and strengthening social connection. The findings will help to to provide a broader perspective on physical pain and will lead to insights that are important when treating pain.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101138
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$437,623.00
Summary
Habit formation and change in ageing: Developing a neuropsychological model. This project aims to investigate the neurobiological and neuropsychological determinants of habit formation and change in the context of ageing, by combining cutting-edge techniques in psychology, behavioural neuroscience and neuroimaging. This research expects to generate new knowledge in the area of automatic habits and behaviour change, by investigating how these processes are affected in ageing using an interdiscipl ....Habit formation and change in ageing: Developing a neuropsychological model. This project aims to investigate the neurobiological and neuropsychological determinants of habit formation and change in the context of ageing, by combining cutting-edge techniques in psychology, behavioural neuroscience and neuroimaging. This research expects to generate new knowledge in the area of automatic habits and behaviour change, by investigating how these processes are affected in ageing using an interdisciplinary approach. Expected outcomes include a new, comprehensive model of habit formation and change in ageing. This should provide significant benefits, as it will lay the foundation for future habit-based behaviour change interventions to support older people to age well and productively.Read moreRead less
Identifying the biopsychosocial factors promoting healthy, productive, and fulfilling transitions from high school: A seven-year longitudinal study. The post high-school transition represents the confluence of a number of developmental tasks. While there is considerable research on individuals after this transition, little research has examined adolescent development to identify early indicators of transition success. This project seeks to extend the multi-state, multi-year Australian Character ....Identifying the biopsychosocial factors promoting healthy, productive, and fulfilling transitions from high school: A seven-year longitudinal study. The post high-school transition represents the confluence of a number of developmental tasks. While there is considerable research on individuals after this transition, little research has examined adolescent development to identify early indicators of transition success. This project seeks to extend the multi-state, multi-year Australian Character Study (ACS), at the critical period when the ACS cohort will be transitioning out of school. Using a biopsychosocial approach, the research will explore the degree to which character strengths, contextual factors, and their interaction lead to positive transition experiences across a wide variety of domains, including social, spiritual, physical, and educational and occupational attainment.Read moreRead less
The antecedents and outcomes of affective and cognitive readiness for organisational change. This project aims to understand employees' readiness for organisational change. It identifies positive beliefs and positive emotional experiences as key aspects of readiness for change. The project focuses on individuals' personality, workplace characteristics, and characteristics of organisational change events as influencing readiness for change.
Square Eyes or All Lies? Understanding Children's Exposure to Screens. This project will examine Australian parents’ number one concern about their children’s health and behaviour – their interactions with electronic screens. Current screen time guidelines are based on low-quality evidence and lack the nuance required to address this complex issue. This project will use innovative technology to resolve these weaknesses. Wearable cameras will measure what children are doing on screens, and where, ....Square Eyes or All Lies? Understanding Children's Exposure to Screens. This project will examine Australian parents’ number one concern about their children’s health and behaviour – their interactions with electronic screens. Current screen time guidelines are based on low-quality evidence and lack the nuance required to address this complex issue. This project will use innovative technology to resolve these weaknesses. Wearable cameras will measure what children are doing on screens, and where, when, and how long they are doing it. The project will also investigate how screen time impacts children’s development and how it is influenced by their environment. This evidence will benefit children by improving screen time guidelines, and help parents understand the impact of screen time on children’s development.
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Western-style diet and impairments in food-intake control in humans. Animals fed a Western-style (W-S) diet high in saturated fat and added sugar rapidly develop cognitive impairments, which include disrupted food-intake control. This project aims to see if this also occurs in lean healthy people who eat a W-S diet. That is, are W-S diets associated with impaired cognition, and especially food-intake control, in adults and children, and is this caused by a W-S diet? Obesity is a major public hea ....Western-style diet and impairments in food-intake control in humans. Animals fed a Western-style (W-S) diet high in saturated fat and added sugar rapidly develop cognitive impairments, which include disrupted food-intake control. This project aims to see if this also occurs in lean healthy people who eat a W-S diet. That is, are W-S diets associated with impaired cognition, and especially food-intake control, in adults and children, and is this caused by a W-S diet? Obesity is a major public health issue and the significance of this project lies in testing a new account of how overeating may first occur. The expected outcome aims to show that a W-S diet can disrupt various aspects of cognition in adults and children, including food-intake control, providing an entirely new basis to argue for a better diet.Read moreRead less
Advancing the science of willpower: investigating the mechanisms and processes of self-control. Willpower or 'good' self control is important for success in our academic, occupational, and social lives. This project will use cutting-edge scientific methods to investigate how glucose, the primary fuel for body function, promotes 'good' self-control and stimulates regions in the brain important for self-control.
Scalability Of The Transform-Us! Program To Promote Children's Physical Activity And Reduce Prolonged Sitting In Victorian Primary Schools
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$549,823.00
Summary
Transform-Us! is an innovative primary school program that has been found to substantially increase children’s physical activity levels, reduce sitting time and benefit health. With simple changes to the school and classroom environments and teaching practices (eg, standing lessons) we will work with partners in the education and health systems to translate this program across Victorian primary schools to determine the real-world implementation and impact of this program over 5 years.
The early communicative environment prior to and following cochlear implants: impact on children's early communicative and cognitive development. This research with children with cochlear implants will examine the effect on language development of being in an oral environment or one that also includes sign language. The outcomes will provide information for parents and professionals enabling informed decision about the management of the children to promote the best possible outcomes.