The Role of Colour and Luminance in Spatial Location. How does the brain form our impression of the world? Black and white images appear normal to us. However, colour images without luminance variation have little depth, suggesting that the brain does not process colour in the same way as luminance. A series of fresh experiments examine how colour and luminance are utilised for seeing the depth and position of objects. The results will help us to understand how the first stages of visual process ....The Role of Colour and Luminance in Spatial Location. How does the brain form our impression of the world? Black and white images appear normal to us. However, colour images without luminance variation have little depth, suggesting that the brain does not process colour in the same way as luminance. A series of fresh experiments examine how colour and luminance are utilised for seeing the depth and position of objects. The results will help us to understand how the first stages of visual processing in the brain shape our sense of the world, and help develop theories of human vision, as well as animal and machine models of vision.Read moreRead less
Mechanisms underlying the perception of surface slant. How our brain encodes sensory information is of fundamental importance in neuroscience. Visual after-effects (how looking at various stimuli can affect the perception of subsequently presented stimuli) have provided valuable information about mechanisms of perceptual coding. We will use an adaptation paradigm to examine two-dimensional and three-dimensional after-effects, and their dependence on common mechanisms. Stimulus manipulations will ....Mechanisms underlying the perception of surface slant. How our brain encodes sensory information is of fundamental importance in neuroscience. Visual after-effects (how looking at various stimuli can affect the perception of subsequently presented stimuli) have provided valuable information about mechanisms of perceptual coding. We will use an adaptation paradigm to examine two-dimensional and three-dimensional after-effects, and their dependence on common mechanisms. Stimulus manipulations will allow us to probe the steps involved in recovering three-dimensional slant, and recording the full time-course of the after-effect will allow us to gauge the plasticity of these mechanisms. These effects will be modelled in terms of the response properties of cortical neurons.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101301
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,000.00
Summary
Cognitive Models of Human Decision-making in Cybersecurity Settings. This project aims to study human decision-making by attackers, defenders and users, in a cyber-security setting. Cognitive modelling of these decisions will play a central role in understanding and optimising the safety of cyberspace. This project will involve three components: new behavioural experiments focusing on cybersecurity situations of prevention and detection; cognitive models to understand and predict how people make ....Cognitive Models of Human Decision-making in Cybersecurity Settings. This project aims to study human decision-making by attackers, defenders and users, in a cyber-security setting. Cognitive modelling of these decisions will play a central role in understanding and optimising the safety of cyberspace. This project will involve three components: new behavioural experiments focusing on cybersecurity situations of prevention and detection; cognitive models to understand and predict how people make decisions in such settings; and the evaluation of these models against behavioural data using Bayesian statistical methods. This will then be applied to operational problems that will involve, determining optimal security policies, automated behaviour in adversarial situations, and individualised training.Read moreRead less
A computational and experimental investigation into the organisation of letters in reading. In alphabetical languages, people need to learn to organise individual letters into groups so that they can read efficiently. This project will develop a model of this process, which will allow great insight into this key aspect of reading in terms of what the most efficient way of doing this is and what may go wrong and cause reading problems.
A theory of attention and decision-making in multi-attribute and multi-object perceptual judgements. The human brain is an efficient biological computation device for rapidly translating perception into action. This project will develop and test a mathematical model of the processes of visual selective attention and perceptual decision-making. These processes are at the heart of the brain's ability to carry out this translation in a fast and accurate way.
Cognitive Foundations of Fast Decision Making. This project aims to develop a new theory of fast decision making. In all walks of life, from the sports field to the battlefield, fast and accurate decisions are central to human performance. This project will develop and test mathematical models of the processes involved in making decisions with continuous choice sets and decisions requiring integration of multiple sources of information and decisions in which information varies over time. It is e ....Cognitive Foundations of Fast Decision Making. This project aims to develop a new theory of fast decision making. In all walks of life, from the sports field to the battlefield, fast and accurate decisions are central to human performance. This project will develop and test mathematical models of the processes involved in making decisions with continuous choice sets and decisions requiring integration of multiple sources of information and decisions in which information varies over time. It is expected to contribute to our understanding of factors that characterise and limit human performance in settings in which fast and accurate decisions are required. It is expected to benefit the design of systems and environments in which safety and efficiency depend on human decision making.Read moreRead less
Perception: From Genes to Behaviour. Understanding how genes affect behaviour is inherently difficult because the human brain is extraordinarily complex. This project aims to map fundamental relationships between genes, brain, and behaviour by studying visual perception, where brain mechanisms can be characterised with high fidelity. The project expects to generate new knowledge in behavioural genetics using innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to integrate precise genetic, neural and psycho ....Perception: From Genes to Behaviour. Understanding how genes affect behaviour is inherently difficult because the human brain is extraordinarily complex. This project aims to map fundamental relationships between genes, brain, and behaviour by studying visual perception, where brain mechanisms can be characterised with high fidelity. The project expects to generate new knowledge in behavioural genetics using innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to integrate precise genetic, neural and psychophysical measurements. Expected outcomes of this project include a deeper understanding of our perceptual experience, and rich new experimental paradigms. This should provide significant benefits for future research attempting to disentangle complex gene–behaviour relationships.Read moreRead less
Feature processing in categorisation: modelling the time course of perceptual decision making. How do we perceive stable unified objects with a brain comprised of specialised neurons located in different regions? This project will test a model of perceptual categorisation to link feature processing in categorisation with other perceptual tasks like visual search and explain the time course of information processing in both.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100125
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$385,536.00
Summary
Human visual perception: Connecting genes, brain and behaviour. This project aims to reveal the relationship between genes, brain and behaviour in visual perception, where underlying brain activity can be decoded from electrical signals. Modern molecular genetics promises unprecedented insights into human psychology. But progress has been slower than expected because the brain mechanisms linking genes to behaviours are incredibly complex. Project results are expected to show how common variation ....Human visual perception: Connecting genes, brain and behaviour. This project aims to reveal the relationship between genes, brain and behaviour in visual perception, where underlying brain activity can be decoded from electrical signals. Modern molecular genetics promises unprecedented insights into human psychology. But progress has been slower than expected because the brain mechanisms linking genes to behaviours are incredibly complex. Project results are expected to show how common variations in genes affect our brain's response to visual stimulation, and how this in turn alters our perceptual experience and behavioural reactions. These discoveries aim to cast new light on the architecture and development of the mind, and provide a new model for investigating the genetic basis of other psychological traits.Read moreRead less
Decision Processes in Visual Working Memory. This project aims to investigate a new theory of rapid human decision making and memory processes in contexts of a continuous choice set. Many real-world, action-oriented decisions, such as those made while driving, walking, or cycling, require the decision maker to choose from a continuous set of alternatives and decisions are often based on memories of past events. This project will use human experimentation and computational modelling methods to i ....Decision Processes in Visual Working Memory. This project aims to investigate a new theory of rapid human decision making and memory processes in contexts of a continuous choice set. Many real-world, action-oriented decisions, such as those made while driving, walking, or cycling, require the decision maker to choose from a continuous set of alternatives and decisions are often based on memories of past events. This project will use human experimentation and computational modelling methods to increase our understanding of the processes involved in an important class of memory-based decision tasks. The expected outcomes will provide an improved understanding of cognitive computation, which may aid in the future development of associated technologies.Read moreRead less