Emotion regulation in daily life: Capturing context and flexibility. This project aims to understand the role of contextual and individual factors in effective emotion regulation in daily life. The ability to manage emotions is central to virtually every aspect of psychosocial functioning and wellbeing. However, because research in this domain has relied heavily on laboratory methods, very little is known about emotion regulation as it naturally occurs in daily life. Using cutting-edge mobile te ....Emotion regulation in daily life: Capturing context and flexibility. This project aims to understand the role of contextual and individual factors in effective emotion regulation in daily life. The ability to manage emotions is central to virtually every aspect of psychosocial functioning and wellbeing. However, because research in this domain has relied heavily on laboratory methods, very little is known about emotion regulation as it naturally occurs in daily life. Using cutting-edge mobile technologies, this project aims to uncover when, and for whom, various forms of emotion regulation are most effective in daily life. Besides a significantly improved scientific understanding of emotion regulation, this project is expected to inform the development of novel person - and situation-specific interventions in the many applied domains involving emotion regulation.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101570
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$409,038.00
Summary
The cognitive basis of anxiety-linked heightened negative expectancies. Problems with anxiety tear at the social and economic fabric of our nation. Individuals with an elevated vulnerability to experience high levels of anxiety display a heightened tendency to expect that the future will be emotionally negative. The current project will test compelling new hypotheses concerning the cognitive mechanisms that causally underpin such negative expectancies, using cutting-edge cognitive methodologies ....The cognitive basis of anxiety-linked heightened negative expectancies. Problems with anxiety tear at the social and economic fabric of our nation. Individuals with an elevated vulnerability to experience high levels of anxiety display a heightened tendency to expect that the future will be emotionally negative. The current project will test compelling new hypotheses concerning the cognitive mechanisms that causally underpin such negative expectancies, using cutting-edge cognitive methodologies that permit not only the sensitive assessment, but also the direct manipulation, of these mechanisms. The findings generated will exert major scientific impact, and will directly contribute to our national strategic efforts to improve the mental well-being of our citizens, and to build healthy and resilient communities.Read moreRead less
The cognitive basis of resilience. This project aims to test whether resilience to bad events can be influenced by modifying information processing factors. High resilience reflects the ability to sustain adaptive psychological functioning in the wake of bad events, and affects physical, emotional, social, and economic wellbeing. The project will test the hypothesis that biases in attention and implicational inferencing at differing stages of event processing affect wellbeing. It will use cognit ....The cognitive basis of resilience. This project aims to test whether resilience to bad events can be influenced by modifying information processing factors. High resilience reflects the ability to sustain adaptive psychological functioning in the wake of bad events, and affects physical, emotional, social, and economic wellbeing. The project will test the hypothesis that biases in attention and implicational inferencing at differing stages of event processing affect wellbeing. It will use cognitive methodologies that sensitively assess and manipulate biases, thereby revealing their causal role in the determination of resilience. The findings are expected to directly contribute to national efforts to build healthy and resilient communities.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL170100167
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,295,215.00
Summary
Differentiating the cognitive basis of unproductive versus productive worry. This project aims to delineate the individual differences in cognitive functioning that distinguish between the tendency to experience unproductive versus productive worry. For some people, worry severely compromises well-being, while for others worry yields significant benefits by fostering preparatory behaviours that protect against misfortune. Using innovative and compelling hypotheses, as well as laboratory and fiel ....Differentiating the cognitive basis of unproductive versus productive worry. This project aims to delineate the individual differences in cognitive functioning that distinguish between the tendency to experience unproductive versus productive worry. For some people, worry severely compromises well-being, while for others worry yields significant benefits by fostering preparatory behaviours that protect against misfortune. Using innovative and compelling hypotheses, as well as laboratory and fieldwork approaches, this project will deliver the capacity to assess, predict, and explain the individual differences in unproductive and productive worrying that underpin variability in resilient responding to situations in which adaptive action can mitigate real-world risk. This project will have major scientific impact, generating influential publications concerning the cognitive distinctions between productive and unproductive worry that will position Australia as a global leader in this field.Read moreRead less
Attentional bias, attentional control, and anxiety vulnerability: A test of alternative hypotheses concerning their functional relationship. Elevated anxiety vulnerability (AV) is characterised by two attentional anomalies; an attentional bias to threat (ABT), and impaired attentional control (IAC). These have been the foci of separate lines of investigation. The proposed research will synthesise these disparate lines of inquiry, to significantly progress both in important ways. Innovative parad ....Attentional bias, attentional control, and anxiety vulnerability: A test of alternative hypotheses concerning their functional relationship. Elevated anxiety vulnerability (AV) is characterised by two attentional anomalies; an attentional bias to threat (ABT), and impaired attentional control (IAC). These have been the foci of separate lines of investigation. The proposed research will synthesise these disparate lines of inquiry, to significantly progress both in important ways. Innovative paradigms will be developed to determine the functional relationship between ABT and IAC, and illuminate the nature of their associations with AV. In addition to advancing theoretical understanding of the attentional underpinnings of AV, this research will evaluate the capacity of new cognitive technologies to ameliorate anxiety vulnerability through modification of its attentional substrate. Read moreRead less
Cognitive mechanisms underlying readiness to acquire elevated anxious temperament. This research project seeks to identify the cognitive mechanisms that are causally implicated in individual differences in the tendency to elevate anxious temperament in response to stressful environments. It will also seek to establish the extent to which these cognitive mechanisms represent the phenotypic expression of genes associated with greater susceptibility to elevate anxious temperament. Research outcomes ....Cognitive mechanisms underlying readiness to acquire elevated anxious temperament. This research project seeks to identify the cognitive mechanisms that are causally implicated in individual differences in the tendency to elevate anxious temperament in response to stressful environments. It will also seek to establish the extent to which these cognitive mechanisms represent the phenotypic expression of genes associated with greater susceptibility to elevate anxious temperament. Research outcomes will serve to inform the question as to why the same types of environmental stressors can serve to produce vastly different effects on emotional vulnerability for different individuals. The procedures developed during this research will also have the potential to reduce the negative emotional consequences of sustained stress.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL150100096
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,030,714.00
Summary
Development of emotional functioning during adolescence. Development of emotional functioning during adolescence: This fellowship project aims to understand factors that increase risk and provide protection from the development of emotional distress during the adolescent years. Adolescence is a critical stage in the development of emotional functioning, and behaviours developed at this time can influence the entire life course. The research plans to follow a large group of teenagers over many ye ....Development of emotional functioning during adolescence. Development of emotional functioning during adolescence: This fellowship project aims to understand factors that increase risk and provide protection from the development of emotional distress during the adolescent years. Adolescence is a critical stage in the development of emotional functioning, and behaviours developed at this time can influence the entire life course. The research plans to follow a large group of teenagers over many years and will focus on risk and protective factors that are open to possible modification. The intended outcomes seek to support the development of prevention and promotion programs and public health initiatives to maximise positive emotional development in young people. It is hoped that these will lead to increased productivity and better quality of life.Read moreRead less
Mental imagery and visual working memory. Remembering information “in mind” is severely limited by restrictions in capacity, duration and precision. The limits on capacity and precision in visual working memory remain unclear. Likewise, the search for the neural correlates of visual working memory has produced conflicting results. This proposal will show that the limits in precision, capacity and the neural correlates of visual working memory are driven by visual mental imagery. By showing that ....Mental imagery and visual working memory. Remembering information “in mind” is severely limited by restrictions in capacity, duration and precision. The limits on capacity and precision in visual working memory remain unclear. Likewise, the search for the neural correlates of visual working memory has produced conflicting results. This proposal will show that the limits in precision, capacity and the neural correlates of visual working memory are driven by visual mental imagery. By showing that mental imagery is the missing link to a comprehensive understanding of working memory, This project will show that mental imagery strength limits how much visual information can be held "in mind”. This work will unify two heated scientific debates and produce a complete map of working memory.Read moreRead less
Poor social functioning in schizophrenia: understanding its causes and developing better treatments. This project will advance knowledge of the thinking processes and the associated neural changes that cause the lifelong social disability which characterises schizophrenia. Findings will, in turn, contribute to better identifying young people, at risk of developing schizophrenia, and inform the design of new interventions and treatments.
Moral reasoning and mental illness: towards a model of moral judgment and moral accountability. This research examines capacities for moral judgment in people with schizophrenia, some of whom act on their delusional beliefs and commit crimes. Findings will, in turn, inform legal and philosophical consideration of the moral accountability of mentally ill defendants, and advance theoretical knowledge of healthy moral decision making.