Experimental Studies of the effects of the research process on participant behaviour. A key national challenge for social science is to develop and evaluate cost effective health behaviour interventions that may have relatively small effects at the individual level, but which, when aggregated across a large population, produce a measurable benefit. The trials required to evaluate such interventions are typically subject to biases arising from study design and measurement of behaviour, and theref ....Experimental Studies of the effects of the research process on participant behaviour. A key national challenge for social science is to develop and evaluate cost effective health behaviour interventions that may have relatively small effects at the individual level, but which, when aggregated across a large population, produce a measurable benefit. The trials required to evaluate such interventions are typically subject to biases arising from study design and measurement of behaviour, and therefore result in poor estimates of efficacy and cost-effectiveness. By quantifying the extent to which aspects of the research process affect estimates of intervention efficacy, efforts to address national health priorities such as physical inactivity, smoking, hazardous drinking, and poor nutrition will be enhanced.Read moreRead less
Modelling dynamic interactive social processes. This project aims to enhance our understanding of complex social systems by developing empirically testable mathematical models for interactive, dynamic social processes. Models will be developed for such processes as the development of interpersonal and inter-organisational networks, and social influence and diffusion. They will be assessed using new and exacting evaluation techniques. The results will strengthen the mathematical foundation for ....Modelling dynamic interactive social processes. This project aims to enhance our understanding of complex social systems by developing empirically testable mathematical models for interactive, dynamic social processes. Models will be developed for such processes as the development of interpersonal and inter-organisational networks, and social influence and diffusion. They will be assessed using new and exacting evaluation techniques. The results will strengthen the mathematical foundation for modelling in the social sciences, and will have immediate application in several diverse domains, including: the structure of networks relevant to disease transmission; the social epidemiology of rural mental health; and the emergence of collective structures in organisations.Read moreRead less
Modeling cross-level interactions in complex networked social systems. The advances of this collaboration will add significantly to Australian and international capacity in the modelling of complex social systems. The outcomes will be directly translated, through these and other collaborations, into practical scientific outcomes in several significant policy areas. There is widespread demand for these modelling techniques in empirical settings. Potential applications from ongoing national collab ....Modeling cross-level interactions in complex networked social systems. The advances of this collaboration will add significantly to Australian and international capacity in the modelling of complex social systems. The outcomes will be directly translated, through these and other collaborations, into practical scientific outcomes in several significant policy areas. There is widespread demand for these modelling techniques in empirical settings. Potential applications from ongoing national collaborations include: Hepatitis C spread through sexual and needle sharing networks; labour market dynamics; mental health and social support in rural communities; defence applications; and environmental governance. A major emphasis is the training of postgraduates in the application of complex modelling techniques.Read moreRead less
Statistical models for social networks, network-based social processes and complex social systems. Our methodological advances (flexible, theoretically defensible and empirically testable quantitative models for a wide range of interactive social processes) will add significantly to national capacity in modelling complex social systems. Existing collaborations will result in practical scientific outcomes relating to: the impact of social contact and needle-sharing networks on HIV transmission; ....Statistical models for social networks, network-based social processes and complex social systems. Our methodological advances (flexible, theoretically defensible and empirically testable quantitative models for a wide range of interactive social processes) will add significantly to national capacity in modelling complex social systems. Existing collaborations will result in practical scientific outcomes relating to: the impact of social contact and needle-sharing networks on HIV transmission; the social epidemiology of mental health; health policy and local government networks; governance arrangements in environmental management; intra-organizational networks; labour market dynamics; and acculturation processes for international students. A major emphasis will be the training of a new group of quantitative social science graduates.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100499
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$393,087.00
Summary
The body in interaction – the impact of tracking the human body on visual object processing. For efficient and safe interactions with the world, our brain needs to constantly process the location and posture of the body as well as the characteristics of surrounding objects. Central questions in the field of cognitive science consider how tracking the human body influences object perception and which mechanisms support this perception in action. This project will use innovative virtual hand techn ....The body in interaction – the impact of tracking the human body on visual object processing. For efficient and safe interactions with the world, our brain needs to constantly process the location and posture of the body as well as the characteristics of surrounding objects. Central questions in the field of cognitive science consider how tracking the human body influences object perception and which mechanisms support this perception in action. This project will use innovative virtual hand technology to investigate the impact of body actions on concurrent visual perception. A better understanding of the demands that the body, in interaction, poses on our perceptual system will help to improve the design of complex work environments, such as computer interfaces and control panels.Read moreRead less
Drivers' Behavioural Responses to Traffic Signs. Traffic signs are ubiquitous in the road environment; research to improve their effectiveness can be very cost-effective in terms of safety improvements. Conducting traffic sign research on real roads has many difficulties, such as ethical considerations and lack of control. To overcome this, the research will be conducted in a driving simulator, in which the interaction between drivers and their equipment/environment will be studied. The aim of ....Drivers' Behavioural Responses to Traffic Signs. Traffic signs are ubiquitous in the road environment; research to improve their effectiveness can be very cost-effective in terms of safety improvements. Conducting traffic sign research on real roads has many difficulties, such as ethical considerations and lack of control. To overcome this, the research will be conducted in a driving simulator, in which the interaction between drivers and their equipment/environment will be studied. The aim of this project is to further understand drivers? behavioural responses to traffic signs, the expected outcome being to make the exchange of information between the driver and traffic sign as smooth and efficient as possible.Read moreRead less
Self-Leadership towards Innovation & Well-Being. Innovation and well-being in the workplace are of paramount importance in maintaining Australia's social and economic environment. Self-leadership training provides employees with strategies to build confidence and resilience, identify opportunities in the environment, deriving greater meaning and enjoyment from work. Self-leadership training has already been shown to improve performance; this project extends self-leadership research by testing th ....Self-Leadership towards Innovation & Well-Being. Innovation and well-being in the workplace are of paramount importance in maintaining Australia's social and economic environment. Self-leadership training provides employees with strategies to build confidence and resilience, identify opportunities in the environment, deriving greater meaning and enjoyment from work. Self-leadership training has already been shown to improve performance; this project extends self-leadership research by testing the effects of self-leadership training on employee innovation and well-being. It also elucidates the psychological processes underlying improvements in innovation and well-being. The project addresses ARC Research Priorities 2 and 3 and contributes to Australia's social and economic advancement.Read moreRead less
State-trace analysis: theory and application. A fundamental question for the science of psychology is: how can we identify the functional components of the human mind from observed behaviour and bodily states? This project explores this question through a new methodology called state-trace analysis and apply it to a basic cognitive ability - the capacity to learn to classify different objects.
Multidimensional unfolding: the latitude of acceptance and the structure of the single peaked response process in a multidimensional space. The latitude of acceptance and the operational function that structures the single peaked response process have only recently been understood as central to unidimensional models for the measurement of attitude, preference and choice. They have been neglected in multidimensional models. This project will formalise these two central components in a multidimens ....Multidimensional unfolding: the latitude of acceptance and the structure of the single peaked response process in a multidimensional space. The latitude of acceptance and the operational function that structures the single peaked response process have only recently been understood as central to unidimensional models for the measurement of attitude, preference and choice. They have been neglected in multidimensional models. This project will formalise these two central components in a multidimensional space. The operational function governs the relationship between any item-person distance and the latitude of acceptance defines a multidimensional hyper-sphere within which the more positive response is more likely. The project will articulate and operationalise these models for a range of typical response formats from ranking to pairwise preferences.Read moreRead less
Using self-report data to predict crash risk: how accurate is it and how can it best be used? The aim of this project is to develop better methods to collect self-reported data about motorists' driving behaviour in order to understand the factors associated with road crashes. The results will not only assist to identify 'at risk' drivers but also inform interventions designed to reduce crashes on Australian roads.