Music cognition in infants, children and adults. Music is an important tool for the expression of emotion and transmission of culture. One approach to understanding why music is a human universal is to examine how people process musical structure - the simultaneous and sequential pitch relations among tones of musical pieces. We investigate the way humans acquire implicit and explicit knowledge of such relations and the way exposure to music influences acquisition. Three experiments involving in ....Music cognition in infants, children and adults. Music is an important tool for the expression of emotion and transmission of culture. One approach to understanding why music is a human universal is to examine how people process musical structure - the simultaneous and sequential pitch relations among tones of musical pieces. We investigate the way humans acquire implicit and explicit knowledge of such relations and the way exposure to music influences acquisition. Three experiments involving infants, children and adults will compare formal musical training with incidental learning. Results will increase knowledge of the development of auditory perception and music cognition. Infant perceptual predispositions hold implications for music education.Read moreRead less
A philosophical and empirical approach to the nature of perception and belief. This project offers substantial benefits - intellectual, practical, and ultimately economic - to the nation. On the intellectual side, the project will contribute to research output and will further enhance the national research strength in the study of delusions, rationality, and agency, within both philosophy of mind and inter-disciplinary cognitive science. On the practical side, the project offers the prospect of ....A philosophical and empirical approach to the nature of perception and belief. This project offers substantial benefits - intellectual, practical, and ultimately economic - to the nation. On the intellectual side, the project will contribute to research output and will further enhance the national research strength in the study of delusions, rationality, and agency, within both philosophy of mind and inter-disciplinary cognitive science. On the practical side, the project offers the prospect of considerable benefits for the community as improved theories of the nature and causes of delusions generate strategies for earlier detection or even prevention of the development of delusions, new methods of therapy for patients, and better understanding for families.Read moreRead less
How, What and Who in Human Communication: Movement of Face and Voice. The aim of this project is to identify the essential characteristics of tone, affect, and identity from face and voice using a combination of signal processing, biological, and behavioural techniques in order to develop a comprehensive model of auditory-visual speech processing and communication. This research will significantly improve understanding of the basis of auditory-visual perception and production in tonal languages ....How, What and Who in Human Communication: Movement of Face and Voice. The aim of this project is to identify the essential characteristics of tone, affect, and identity from face and voice using a combination of signal processing, biological, and behavioural techniques in order to develop a comprehensive model of auditory-visual speech processing and communication. This research will significantly improve understanding of the basis of auditory-visual perception and production in tonal languages and in affective communication, facilitate links between neurophysiological processes and auditory-visual speech processing; and contribute to applications in automatic person recognition, automatic speech recognition, text-to-speech systems, and talking head aids for the hearing impaired.Read moreRead less
Solving the passport problem: re-designing photo-ID to improve recognition. We aim to contribute to national security and crime prevention by increasing the accuracy with which security staff can check the validity of photo-ID documents such as passports. Research shows that it is surprisingly difficult to determine if the image on a photo-ID document is of the bearer, and as a result it is likely that fraudulent use of photo-ID documents sometimes goes undetected. Our novel approach is to use ....Solving the passport problem: re-designing photo-ID to improve recognition. We aim to contribute to national security and crime prevention by increasing the accuracy with which security staff can check the validity of photo-ID documents such as passports. Research shows that it is surprisingly difficult to determine if the image on a photo-ID document is of the bearer, and as a result it is likely that fraudulent use of photo-ID documents sometimes goes undetected. Our novel approach is to use our knowledge of unfamiliar face perception to develop new image formats for photo-ID documents which increase the accuracy with which security staff can detect identity fraud.Read moreRead less
A cross-linguistic investigation of lexical stress using corpus analyses, behavioural testing and computational modelling. Some languages exhibit variable patterns of emphasis or 'lexical stress' across words ('ZEbra' v 'girAFFE'). This research will provide a more precise understanding of the role of lexical stress in language processing. This will assist educators/clinicians working with normally developing children and those with developmental delays as well as educators/students in second-l ....A cross-linguistic investigation of lexical stress using corpus analyses, behavioural testing and computational modelling. Some languages exhibit variable patterns of emphasis or 'lexical stress' across words ('ZEbra' v 'girAFFE'). This research will provide a more precise understanding of the role of lexical stress in language processing. This will assist educators/clinicians working with normally developing children and those with developmental delays as well as educators/students in second-language learning. It will also lead to improved automatic speech recognition/synthesis - used in commercial applications such as phone banking, edutainment/epistemic computer games and communication devices (speech-to-text dictation systems for those with limited mobility and text-to-speech systems for those unable to speak). Undertaken in collaboration with a high-profile research lab in the UK this project will maintain Australia's competitive edge in cognitive science.Read moreRead less
Managing Knowledge in Web-Driven Organisational Evolution. Organisations are increasingly concerned with the effective utilisation of Web technologies, and especially the ways in which these technologies can be used to improve their business. Effective management of knowledge about the interplay between the organisation and technical drivers of this technology adoption will enable a much-enhanced process for leveraging emerging information and communication technologies. This project aims to li ....Managing Knowledge in Web-Driven Organisational Evolution. Organisations are increasingly concerned with the effective utilisation of Web technologies, and especially the ways in which these technologies can be used to improve their business. Effective management of knowledge about the interplay between the organisation and technical drivers of this technology adoption will enable a much-enhanced process for leveraging emerging information and communication technologies. This project aims to link related research at UTS and Southampton University to understand how tools might support this knowledge management. Outcomes will include the creation of specific tools (and techniques for using them) within the context of managing organisational uptake of new technologies.Read moreRead less
Social Capital and Sustainable Development: An International Study. A collaborative international study of social capital and sustainability in local communities will address the following objectives: 1. to characterize the properties of networks that generate social capital and of network formation; and 2. to analyze the mechanisms by which social capital contributes to sustainable development. The project will involve intensive comparative case studies of five communities, three in Canada and ....Social Capital and Sustainable Development: An International Study. A collaborative international study of social capital and sustainability in local communities will address the following objectives: 1. to characterize the properties of networks that generate social capital and of network formation; and 2. to analyze the mechanisms by which social capital contributes to sustainable development. The project will involve intensive comparative case studies of five communities, three in Canada and two in Australia. Within each case community, an intensive qualitative and quantitative analysis will be conducted of the theorized mechanisms for the development of social capital and its mobilization for reconciliation of the ecological, economic and social imperatives required for sustainable development.
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