Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190101043
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$404,956.00
Summary
Tackling facial prejudice. This project aims to investigate individual differences in facial prejudice, a powerful psychological bias whereby people rely on inaccurate first impressions to guide key decisions, such as whom to trust. Utilising recent advances in electrophysiology, the project will develop a new neural marker of individual differences in facial impressions that lead to prejudice. The project expects to lead to insights into the link between visual perception and social behaviour, ....Tackling facial prejudice. This project aims to investigate individual differences in facial prejudice, a powerful psychological bias whereby people rely on inaccurate first impressions to guide key decisions, such as whom to trust. Utilising recent advances in electrophysiology, the project will develop a new neural marker of individual differences in facial impressions that lead to prejudice. The project expects to lead to insights into the link between visual perception and social behaviour, and to develop strategies to reduce facial prejudice given the pervasive influence it has on everyday life.Read moreRead less
Who may judge a book by its cover? This project aims to build a model of how and why people vary in their impressions of others and in the accuracy of these impressions. People readily form impressions of others from their faces and these impressions influence crucial decisions: election results, court case outcomes and partner choices. To build this model, the project will apply twin data and construct a psychometric test to measure variation in facial impressions. The research is expected to l ....Who may judge a book by its cover? This project aims to build a model of how and why people vary in their impressions of others and in the accuracy of these impressions. People readily form impressions of others from their faces and these impressions influence crucial decisions: election results, court case outcomes and partner choices. To build this model, the project will apply twin data and construct a psychometric test to measure variation in facial impressions. The research is expected to lead to insights into this aspect of social perception, and to identify the sources of atypical or inaccurate facial judgements. This has applications in health contexts (to identify social impairment) and in security contexts (for personnel selection).Read moreRead less
Reading facial expressions from real and virtual humans. This project aims to advance understanding of human emotional communication and improve human rapport with the virtual humans and avatars that are rapidly infiltrating our social world. Using two unique stimulus sets - naturalistic human expressions and highly realistic virtual faces - together with powerful genetic, experimental, and individual differences designs, the project expects to answer previously intractable questions in emotion ....Reading facial expressions from real and virtual humans. This project aims to advance understanding of human emotional communication and improve human rapport with the virtual humans and avatars that are rapidly infiltrating our social world. Using two unique stimulus sets - naturalistic human expressions and highly realistic virtual faces - together with powerful genetic, experimental, and individual differences designs, the project expects to answer previously intractable questions in emotion science, as well as deliver tangible outcomes, such as new psychological tests to better understand human social connection. This should provide significant benefits, by improving emotion communication and offering a new perspective on how artificial intelligence can best serve human social needs.
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Multidimensional autistic traits and attention in healthy adults. This project aims to develop a new, comprehensive measure of six major dimensions of autistic traits in healthy adults. High levels of autistic traits are associated with atypical patterns of attention in healthy adults. However autistic traits are multidimensional, with some dimensions weakly correlated, and few studies have assessed sensory sensitivity, a key trait dimension. This project will investigate the specific relationsh ....Multidimensional autistic traits and attention in healthy adults. This project aims to develop a new, comprehensive measure of six major dimensions of autistic traits in healthy adults. High levels of autistic traits are associated with atypical patterns of attention in healthy adults. However autistic traits are multidimensional, with some dimensions weakly correlated, and few studies have assessed sensory sensitivity, a key trait dimension. This project will investigate the specific relationships of autistic traits to key attentional phenomena including left-visual-field bias, attention to detail at the expense of integrative processing, and the attraction of attention to emotional stimuli. Linking behavioural and cognitive features of autistic traits will inform models of the development of autism.Read moreRead less
Information sampling in superior face identifiers. This project aims to develop a theoretical understanding of perceptual processing that gives rise to the skill of face identification. The project intends to use innovative eye-tracking methods in order to pinpoint the visual information used by superior face identifiers, and capture qualitative differences in their visual processing. Expected outcomes include data-driven training and recruitment methods that can improve performance of professio ....Information sampling in superior face identifiers. This project aims to develop a theoretical understanding of perceptual processing that gives rise to the skill of face identification. The project intends to use innovative eye-tracking methods in order to pinpoint the visual information used by superior face identifiers, and capture qualitative differences in their visual processing. Expected outcomes include data-driven training and recruitment methods that can improve performance of professional face identification experts. Intended benefits include improved efficiency and reliability in identity verification processes, legal guidelines for interpreting identification evidence in court and training interventions for people with acquired and developmental impairments in face processing ability.Read moreRead less
Predicting the diagnostic performance of individuals and organisations. Predicting the diagnostic performance of individuals and organisations. This project aims to address diagnostic error in advanced technology systems, by providing a mechanism to assess and improve individual diagnosticians’ performance. Organisations that rely on their employees’ diagnostic skills rarely assess them once the operators become qualified, so there is no basis for interventions that might prevent diagnostic erro ....Predicting the diagnostic performance of individuals and organisations. Predicting the diagnostic performance of individuals and organisations. This project aims to address diagnostic error in advanced technology systems, by providing a mechanism to assess and improve individual diagnosticians’ performance. Organisations that rely on their employees’ diagnostic skills rarely assess them once the operators become qualified, so there is no basis for interventions that might prevent diagnostic errors affecting thousands. This research tests a new method of assessing diagnostic skills based on how skilled operators respond to cues. This project will test how employees’ diagnostic skills change and whether this change corresponds to measures of organisational performance. This research is expected to provide organisations with a tool to pre-empt diagnostic errors that could minimise costs to the economy.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100750
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$395,106.00
Summary
Associative learning and fluid intelligence: Computational and neurogenetic analyses. This project investigates genetic contributions to associative learning, one of our most fundamental abilities. Associative learning allows us to navigate in our environment, predict future events and make appropriate decisions. Electrophysiological measures will be used to study learning processes precisely and to investigate their relationship to polymorphisms in genes that regulate neural function. This rese ....Associative learning and fluid intelligence: Computational and neurogenetic analyses. This project investigates genetic contributions to associative learning, one of our most fundamental abilities. Associative learning allows us to navigate in our environment, predict future events and make appropriate decisions. Electrophysiological measures will be used to study learning processes precisely and to investigate their relationship to polymorphisms in genes that regulate neural function. This research will further understanding of the mechanisms that generate individual differences in learning ability and will have applications for educational techniques and behavioural interventions.Read moreRead less