Ready, steady, go: Infant motor development and cognition. This project aims to examine the changes in and relationships between cognition and motoric abilities during infancy. The project will utilise well-established and innovative measures of memory flexibility and motor development to generate new knowledge about the complex relationship between action, perception, and cognition. The expected outcomes will provide significant benefits such as increased scientific and public knowledge on earl ....Ready, steady, go: Infant motor development and cognition. This project aims to examine the changes in and relationships between cognition and motoric abilities during infancy. The project will utilise well-established and innovative measures of memory flexibility and motor development to generate new knowledge about the complex relationship between action, perception, and cognition. The expected outcomes will provide significant benefits such as increased scientific and public knowledge on early development and an evidence base on the normal stages of infant development, relevant for health policy.Read moreRead less
Enhancing lifeguard performance: A multidisciplinary approach. This project aims to improve the timely identification of swimmers at risk of drowning by drawing on a range of theoretical, empirical, and methodological approaches from the disciplines of organisational psychology, human factors, cognitive science and computer science. Lifeguards are vital for maintaining public safety at aquatic venues, however despite their presence, fatal and non-fatal drownings occur every year with little know ....Enhancing lifeguard performance: A multidisciplinary approach. This project aims to improve the timely identification of swimmers at risk of drowning by drawing on a range of theoretical, empirical, and methodological approaches from the disciplines of organisational psychology, human factors, cognitive science and computer science. Lifeguards are vital for maintaining public safety at aquatic venues, however despite their presence, fatal and non-fatal drownings occur every year with little known about the factors that affect vigilance, scanning and sustained attention in such a complex, dynamic environment. Expected outcomes of the project include evidence-based solutions for selecting, training and maintaining the performance of lifeguards that account for both organisational and individual factors. These will improve Australia’s ability to build social capital in both urban and rural centres by providing the safest possible community swimming pools.Read moreRead less
Problematic interactions between autistic adults and the justice system. This project aims to highlight how autistic adults may fall foul of the law due to a diminished ability to recognise subtle cues in social interactions that should warn of unfolding criminal activity or deteriorating relationships with justice system personnel. Autism Spectrum Disorder has unique characteristics that may lead to unwitting involvement in crime and problematic interactions with the justice system. This projec ....Problematic interactions between autistic adults and the justice system. This project aims to highlight how autistic adults may fall foul of the law due to a diminished ability to recognise subtle cues in social interactions that should warn of unfolding criminal activity or deteriorating relationships with justice system personnel. Autism Spectrum Disorder has unique characteristics that may lead to unwitting involvement in crime and problematic interactions with the justice system. This project expects to unveil innovative research paradigms, establish a knowledge base for police and the courts, and assist in developing guidelines for remediating misunderstandings that contribute to problematic interactions with the justice system.Read moreRead less
The psychology of gridlock: Compromise, coalitions, and radicalisation. This project aims to test an innovative psychological model of collective gridlock. Using interviews, surveys, experiments, small group research, and analysis of social media data, the project aims to examine critical pathways in gridlock psychology, where opponents are locked into mutually suboptimal outcomes, unable to move forward. These pathways include the exit or self-censorship of moderates; normative pressure towards ....The psychology of gridlock: Compromise, coalitions, and radicalisation. This project aims to test an innovative psychological model of collective gridlock. Using interviews, surveys, experiments, small group research, and analysis of social media data, the project aims to examine critical pathways in gridlock psychology, where opponents are locked into mutually suboptimal outcomes, unable to move forward. These pathways include the exit or self-censorship of moderates; normative pressure towards purity and refusal to compromise; tactical choices to avoid coalitions; and radicalisation. The research aims to develop novel interventions to reduce polarisation and radicalisation, and to promote compromises, which together will help society respond more nimbly and effectively to social and environmental challenges.Read moreRead less
When, why, and how well do we regulate other people's emotions? This project aims to understand when and why people attempt to regulate others' emotions, and to evaluate which regulation processes are most effective. We will study regulation attempts as they occur over minutes, days, and months in interactions between romantic couples and between nurse co-workers. This project extends the study of emotion regulation to others’ emotions as well as one’s own. The major project output will be an ev ....When, why, and how well do we regulate other people's emotions? This project aims to understand when and why people attempt to regulate others' emotions, and to evaluate which regulation processes are most effective. We will study regulation attempts as they occur over minutes, days, and months in interactions between romantic couples and between nurse co-workers. This project extends the study of emotion regulation to others’ emotions as well as one’s own. The major project output will be an evidence-based theory of extrinsic regulation. Project benefits include applications of this new knowledge to programs and policies that reduce negative emotions and stress in healthcare workers and couples, reducing workplace burnout, on-the-job errors, relationship breakdown and their associated economic costs.Read moreRead less
The psychology of understanding and reducing conspiracy beliefs. This project aims to provide new understandings of the psychology of believing conspiracy theories, a problem that promotes prejudice, undermines trust, and costs lives. This project will involve the first large-scale, multi-national survey of willingness to believe conspiracies, allowing us to identify how national and cultural factors influence conspiracist thinking around the world. It will also use innovative experimental techn ....The psychology of understanding and reducing conspiracy beliefs. This project aims to provide new understandings of the psychology of believing conspiracy theories, a problem that promotes prejudice, undermines trust, and costs lives. This project will involve the first large-scale, multi-national survey of willingness to believe conspiracies, allowing us to identify how national and cultural factors influence conspiracist thinking around the world. It will also use innovative experimental techniques to test how group-based loyalties shape people’s conspiracist thinking and their online behaviours. Doing so paves the way for us to test novel strategies for reducing the impact of conspiracy theories, with benefits in terms of reducing societal mistrust, prejudice, and political violence.Read moreRead less
Testing an Integrative Model of Interpersonal Partner Aggression. The project aims to conduct: 1) a developmental test (i.e., from childhood to adulthood), and 2) a dyadic longitudinal test of an integrative model of intimate partner violence (IPV). The project is significant as it addresses 4 key IPV research limitations. These are the lack of: 1) focus on relationship dynamics; 2) longitudinal research on couples; 3) developmental tests of IPV; 4) research on same-sex couples. Expected outcome ....Testing an Integrative Model of Interpersonal Partner Aggression. The project aims to conduct: 1) a developmental test (i.e., from childhood to adulthood), and 2) a dyadic longitudinal test of an integrative model of intimate partner violence (IPV). The project is significant as it addresses 4 key IPV research limitations. These are the lack of: 1) focus on relationship dynamics; 2) longitudinal research on couples; 3) developmental tests of IPV; 4) research on same-sex couples. Expected outcomes include a comprehensive suite of assessments to effectively detect and support couples at risk of IPV and self-help resources to combat IPV. Benefits include the development of an integrative framework to identify couples most at risk of IPV and guide the development of interventions and policy to reduce IPV.Read moreRead less
To imitate or innovate: A new look at children's social learning strategies. Children learn many important things by copying others. But how do we best facilitate this where it’s culturally appropriate or encourage innovation to support more general learning? This developmental psychology project aims to provide answers, using novel experiments and comparisons of different cultural groups to show how children acquire skills while becoming valued community members. Expected outcomes include the r ....To imitate or innovate: A new look at children's social learning strategies. Children learn many important things by copying others. But how do we best facilitate this where it’s culturally appropriate or encourage innovation to support more general learning? This developmental psychology project aims to provide answers, using novel experiments and comparisons of different cultural groups to show how children acquire skills while becoming valued community members. Expected outcomes include the refinement of core developmental psychology theory, introduction of new experimental techniques, and strengthening of international collaborations. This should provide significant benefits to educators, policy makers, parents and those invested in understanding and improving the inter-generational transmission of knowledge.Read moreRead less
Brain systems implicated in alcohol-related aggression. Alcohol has many adverse effects on social behaviour and emotion regulation. Aggressive behaviour is one of the most common social behaviours that intoxicated people display. Using neuroimaging and brain stimulation technology, this project aims to identify how alcohol disrupts brain networks implicated in anger and emotion regulation. Expected outcomes of this project include discovery of how the brain responds to social provocation, suppo ....Brain systems implicated in alcohol-related aggression. Alcohol has many adverse effects on social behaviour and emotion regulation. Aggressive behaviour is one of the most common social behaviours that intoxicated people display. Using neuroimaging and brain stimulation technology, this project aims to identify how alcohol disrupts brain networks implicated in anger and emotion regulation. Expected outcomes of this project include discovery of how the brain responds to social provocation, supports emotion regulation, and produces aggressive behaviour when intoxicated. Benefits include identifying how the intoxicated brain contributes to the millennia-old phenomenon of alcohol-related aggression and how brain stimulation may protect against aggression.Read moreRead less
How childhood inattention affects the emerging cognitive landscape. This project aims to determine whether behavioural and cognitive inattention differentially map onto early and later developing cognitive skills such as numeracy and literacy. Lack of focus and concentration, distractibility, poor task completion and forgetfulness are common manifestations of inattention and can insidiously affect learning skills that need attention as a building block such as literacy and numeracy skills. Howev ....How childhood inattention affects the emerging cognitive landscape. This project aims to determine whether behavioural and cognitive inattention differentially map onto early and later developing cognitive skills such as numeracy and literacy. Lack of focus and concentration, distractibility, poor task completion and forgetfulness are common manifestations of inattention and can insidiously affect learning skills that need attention as a building block such as literacy and numeracy skills. However, how attention affects their acquisition, across development, is not fully known. The findings are expected to guide cognitive-based interventions to improve attention skills as a mechanism for improving children’s learning trajectories in the first years of schooling.Read moreRead less