SPECTRAL TILT: DO INFANTS KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR THEM? This project falls within the National Research Priorities, giving children 'a healthy start to life'. The research is important economically because it will lay the groundwork for the informed design of hearing aid frequency responses based on empirical research, and give infants the opportunity to be fitted with hearing aids amplified for infants, not adults as is the current unsatisfactory practice. Moreover, the cross fertilisation of meth ....SPECTRAL TILT: DO INFANTS KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR THEM? This project falls within the National Research Priorities, giving children 'a healthy start to life'. The research is important economically because it will lay the groundwork for the informed design of hearing aid frequency responses based on empirical research, and give infants the opportunity to be fitted with hearing aids amplified for infants, not adults as is the current unsatisfactory practice. Moreover, the cross fertilisation of methods and knowledge that the collaborators bring to this grant should provide outcomes that will help maintain attention on Australia as a site of cutting edge research into hearing impairment, hearing aid development and use.Read moreRead less
Speech production in the developing brain. This project aims to study how children acquire language. Speech is arguably the most complicated action that humans can perform, yet is acquired with apparent ease in the pre-school years. The brain mechanisms of speech production have rarely been studied in children due to methodological and technical challenges. This project will address this gap using an articulographic setup for measuring speech movements concurrently with scanning of brain activit ....Speech production in the developing brain. This project aims to study how children acquire language. Speech is arguably the most complicated action that humans can perform, yet is acquired with apparent ease in the pre-school years. The brain mechanisms of speech production have rarely been studied in children due to methodological and technical challenges. This project will address this gap using an articulographic setup for measuring speech movements concurrently with scanning of brain activity in a customised paediatric brain imaging system. The results are expected to help explain why most children acquire speech easily and smoothly and why this process can be more difficult for others.Read moreRead less
The role of preferred brain states in perceptual and cognitive processing: New insights into brain dynamics. New insights into brain dynamics will improve our understanding of both normal and atypical functioning. Extending previous work on normals will confirm how innovative Australian approaches can lead the research agenda in basic neuroscience, at the psychology-physiology interface. Testing in AD/HD and elderly populations will clarify dysfunctional brain mechanisms underlying AD/HD, and th ....The role of preferred brain states in perceptual and cognitive processing: New insights into brain dynamics. New insights into brain dynamics will improve our understanding of both normal and atypical functioning. Extending previous work on normals will confirm how innovative Australian approaches can lead the research agenda in basic neuroscience, at the psychology-physiology interface. Testing in AD/HD and elderly populations will clarify dysfunctional brain mechanisms underlying AD/HD, and the cognitive losses in elderly populations (exacerbated by dementia). These results may lead to better diagnosis, treatment, and community understanding of these groups. Also, publications on these target groups will demonstrate internationally the widespread utility of this approach, encouraging further novel applications of basic neuroscience in health.Read moreRead less
The seeds of literacy in infancy: empirical specification of the acoustic determinants of language acquisition. Reading is one of the most difficult skills we learn, and while the process is largely forgotten by adults, any minor difficulty can have lasting effects. This project will follow speech, vocabulary and reading in infants at or not at risk for dyslexia from six months to five years with implications for parent-child interaction and language delay intervention.
Social outcomes, behaviour and emotional well-being of adults with autism. It is recognised that autism results in substantial life-long disability. Severe emotional and behavioural problems are likely to be a key factor in precluding adults with autism from work, independent living, social contact, and undermine their quality of life, thus increasing support needs. This project aims to address a major gap in our current knowledge - the association between severe emotional and behavioural proble ....Social outcomes, behaviour and emotional well-being of adults with autism. It is recognised that autism results in substantial life-long disability. Severe emotional and behavioural problems are likely to be a key factor in precluding adults with autism from work, independent living, social contact, and undermine their quality of life, thus increasing support needs. This project aims to address a major gap in our current knowledge - the association between severe emotional and behavioural problems in adults with autism and social outcomes. Identification of markers of adult outcomes aims to lead to an improved understanding of the pathways to better social outcomes, facilitating the development of specific interventions to provide much needed improvements in outcomes for adults with autism.Read moreRead less
Discovering sources of individual differences in first language acquisition. This project aims to investigate the processes of language acquisition to support the development of evidence-based strategies for improving children's early language. Some children learn language earlier and more easily than others. Understanding why this is the case is important because successful acquisition is strongly associated with positive life outcomes such as academic achievement and psychological wellbeing. T ....Discovering sources of individual differences in first language acquisition. This project aims to investigate the processes of language acquisition to support the development of evidence-based strategies for improving children's early language. Some children learn language earlier and more easily than others. Understanding why this is the case is important because successful acquisition is strongly associated with positive life outcomes such as academic achievement and psychological wellbeing. This project focuses on typically developing children, investigating how their ability to detect frequently occurring patterns in the environment significantly contributes to their acquisition of grammar in early childhood. The project plans to use an innovative triangulation of experimental methods from developmental psychology, longitudinal analysis and cognitive modelling to drive the development of new models of language acquisition and transform our understanding of both typical and atypical acquisition.Read moreRead less
Do theory of mind delays explain children's social problems? Theory of mind—our capacity to understand what other people think and feel—grows significantly in the preschool and early school years. This is recognised as a crucial period for social development yet 30 years of research has not yet answered these basic questions: Do children with relatively advanced theories of mind also excel at navigating the everyday world of friendship and peer group dynamics at school? And conversely, do develo ....Do theory of mind delays explain children's social problems? Theory of mind—our capacity to understand what other people think and feel—grows significantly in the preschool and early school years. This is recognised as a crucial period for social development yet 30 years of research has not yet answered these basic questions: Do children with relatively advanced theories of mind also excel at navigating the everyday world of friendship and peer group dynamics at school? And conversely, do developmental delays in acquiring a theory of mind explain some of the peer problems that children with autism or deafness face? The proposed longitudinal project aims to be the first to supply a comprehensive and causally convincing answer to these core questions.Read moreRead less
A RCT of an education reengagement program for at-risk youth. A RCT of an education reengagement program for at-risk youth. This project aims to determine the best and most cost-effective way to help 12–15 year olds re-engage with school when they become at-risk for dropping out, by conducting a gold-standard randomized-control trial. 20% of Australians fail to attain a Year 12 or equivalent certificate, often for preventable reasons. Dropouts are more likely to be unemployed, have psychological ....A RCT of an education reengagement program for at-risk youth. A RCT of an education reengagement program for at-risk youth. This project aims to determine the best and most cost-effective way to help 12–15 year olds re-engage with school when they become at-risk for dropping out, by conducting a gold-standard randomized-control trial. 20% of Australians fail to attain a Year 12 or equivalent certificate, often for preventable reasons. Dropouts are more likely to be unemployed, have psychological, social, and health problems, and end up in prison. This project could influence implementation of programmes and policy related to youth dropout, promote youth economic, social and physical wellbeing, and decrease their chance of committing crimes and becoming a social burden.Read moreRead less
Cooperative dual identity: A new approach to promote ethnic harmony between Muslim and non-Muslim Australians. This project makes a significant contribution to strengthening Australia's social fabric by promoting positive cooperation between Muslim and non-Muslim students. Cooperative contact and dual identity strategies will be innovatively integrated into school curricula using web technology to encourage positive intergroup interactions that are currently not commonplace. Researchers, policy- ....Cooperative dual identity: A new approach to promote ethnic harmony between Muslim and non-Muslim Australians. This project makes a significant contribution to strengthening Australia's social fabric by promoting positive cooperation between Muslim and non-Muslim students. Cooperative contact and dual identity strategies will be innovatively integrated into school curricula using web technology to encourage positive intergroup interactions that are currently not commonplace. Researchers, policy-makers, and teachers will have available a significantly effective long-term ethnic harmony strategy, which will be incorporated routinely into their research and practice. We expect this cutting edge research program to yield timely and influential findings, and advance Australia's position as a leader in the field of social and developmental psychology.Read moreRead less
Missing the big picture: Global form perception from infancy to adolescence. There is hardly another system, either biological or artificial, that surpasses the visual system in its ability to process extremely complex and dynamic information. The questions concerning developmental aspects of this ability have been one of the most fascinating in both philosophical and scientific inquiry. This research will provide insights of theoretical significance to the perceptual bases of cognitive developm ....Missing the big picture: Global form perception from infancy to adolescence. There is hardly another system, either biological or artificial, that surpasses the visual system in its ability to process extremely complex and dynamic information. The questions concerning developmental aspects of this ability have been one of the most fascinating in both philosophical and scientific inquiry. This research will provide insights of theoretical significance to the perceptual bases of cognitive development. The research proposed will enhance international collaboration and strengthen Australia's strong reputation in vision research. It also contributes to national research training by offering honours and PhD students research training and international exposure.
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