Language processing in children with high functioning autism: Evidence from eye tracking. The language abilities in people with autism predict their response to intervention and their cognitive outcome. Young children with autism with poor language abilities are severely disadvantaged. Yet we understand little about what impedes their language development and their interpretation of what others say. The research findings will make a significant contribution by enriching our understanding of why ....Language processing in children with high functioning autism: Evidence from eye tracking. The language abilities in people with autism predict their response to intervention and their cognitive outcome. Young children with autism with poor language abilities are severely disadvantaged. Yet we understand little about what impedes their language development and their interpretation of what others say. The research findings will make a significant contribution by enriching our understanding of why and how comprehension may go astray, as well as helping us to identify subgroups within the autism population.Read moreRead less
Is reading automatic?: Investigating hypnotic elimination of the Stroop effect. Reading in literate people is often characterised as automatic; it cannot be prevented. Recent findings indicate however that hypnotic suggestion may prevent reading. This project: (1) investigates hypnotic elimination/modulation of automatic reading, (2) determines whether these effects arise either because reading does not occur under hypnotic suggestion or because suggestion leads to rapid inhibition of the resul ....Is reading automatic?: Investigating hypnotic elimination of the Stroop effect. Reading in literate people is often characterised as automatic; it cannot be prevented. Recent findings indicate however that hypnotic suggestion may prevent reading. This project: (1) investigates hypnotic elimination/modulation of automatic reading, (2) determines whether these effects arise either because reading does not occur under hypnotic suggestion or because suggestion leads to rapid inhibition of the results of the reading process, and (3) determines which components of the cognitive system can and cannot be affected by hypnotic suggestion. This project provides fresh perspective on how literate people respond to printed stimuli and on the concept of automaticity in cognitive psychology.Read moreRead less
Enhancing Language Learning in Ageing With Exercise. This project aims to determine if exercise improves language learning and consolidation in ageing. There is now compelling evidence for the benefits of exercise on cognition in older adults, however, it is unclear whether exercise improves age-related language problems. The project plans to examine exercise-induced changes in brain activity and biomarkers in an innovative set of studies that seeks to identify the brain mechanisms involved. The ....Enhancing Language Learning in Ageing With Exercise. This project aims to determine if exercise improves language learning and consolidation in ageing. There is now compelling evidence for the benefits of exercise on cognition in older adults, however, it is unclear whether exercise improves age-related language problems. The project plans to examine exercise-induced changes in brain activity and biomarkers in an innovative set of studies that seeks to identify the brain mechanisms involved. The findings are expected to contribute to theories of word learning and cognitive ageing and should advance our understanding of how exercise may be harnessed to optimise language and cognition. This would have practical applications in a range of populations with language and learning difficulties.Read moreRead less
The roles of spectral cues and auditory plasticity in auditory localisation, speech segregation and speech intelligibility. Our recent work shows that high frequency energy in speech is important for the localisation of speech and may also aid in improving speech intelligibility in noisy environments. The work proposed here will systematically explore this somewhat surprising new finding and the results will be incorporated into a predictive model of speech intelligibility under spatial listenin ....The roles of spectral cues and auditory plasticity in auditory localisation, speech segregation and speech intelligibility. Our recent work shows that high frequency energy in speech is important for the localisation of speech and may also aid in improving speech intelligibility in noisy environments. The work proposed here will systematically explore this somewhat surprising new finding and the results will be incorporated into a predictive model of speech intelligibility under spatial listening conditions. This work includes a systematic study of auditory functional plasticity to changes in the spatial cues. Taken together, the outcomes of this work will unlock a range of new approaches to enhancing spatial hearing in multi-channel communication devices and spatial hearing aids.Read moreRead less
Acoustic, spatial and informational cues used to solve the cocktail party problem. Speech is the principal mode of human communication and yet we understand little about how we are able to concentrate on one talker against a noisy background. Significant improvements in supporting listening by the hearing impaired, in teleconferencing systems and computer speech interfaces are dependent on a more advanced understanding of how we solve this cocktail party problem. This research explores the acous ....Acoustic, spatial and informational cues used to solve the cocktail party problem. Speech is the principal mode of human communication and yet we understand little about how we are able to concentrate on one talker against a noisy background. Significant improvements in supporting listening by the hearing impaired, in teleconferencing systems and computer speech interfaces are dependent on a more advanced understanding of how we solve this cocktail party problem. This research explores the acoustic, spatial and informational cues used by the healthy auditory system to achieve this remarkable feat of signal processing. There is significant potential for commercialization of the IP that will arise from this research.Read moreRead less
Longitudinal twin study of literacy, language and attention. The primary practical national benefit will be in the unrivalled picture that emerges about how genetic factors interact with aspects of the familial and educational environment to determine the course of children's development in literacy and language. Policy makers in preschool and school education will be able to use the information to guide curriculum refinement and to develop policies for the early identification of children at d ....Longitudinal twin study of literacy, language and attention. The primary practical national benefit will be in the unrivalled picture that emerges about how genetic factors interact with aspects of the familial and educational environment to determine the course of children's development in literacy and language. Policy makers in preschool and school education will be able to use the information to guide curriculum refinement and to develop policies for the early identification of children at developmental risk in these domains. As an international project, the research will also promote scientific cooperation between Australia, the USA, and Scandinavia in a cutting-edge branch of human psychology, the interaction of genes and environment in psychological development.Read moreRead less
Behaviour-genetic studies of literacy, language and attention. The primary national benefit will be the unrivalled picture that emerges about how genetic factors interact with aspects of the family and educational environment to determine the course of a child's progress in literacy and language. Policy makers will be able to use the information to guide curriculum refinement, and to develop policies for the identification and instruction of children at developmental risk in these domains. The p ....Behaviour-genetic studies of literacy, language and attention. The primary national benefit will be the unrivalled picture that emerges about how genetic factors interact with aspects of the family and educational environment to determine the course of a child's progress in literacy and language. Policy makers will be able to use the information to guide curriculum refinement, and to develop policies for the identification and instruction of children at developmental risk in these domains. The project will also strengthen Australia's position in the cutting-edge field of behavioural genetics through the postdoctoral support of a young scientist.Read moreRead less
Fundamental neurocognitive mechanisms underpinning creative thought. The project aims to understand the neural and cognitive bases of creative thought by using a novel approach and recent framework that has emerged from the study of semantic cognition and executive control functions. Creative thought is fundamental to human advances throughout history and it is the foundation to all arts and sciences. Expected outcomes are a framework that can explain the source of knowledge and the evaluative ....Fundamental neurocognitive mechanisms underpinning creative thought. The project aims to understand the neural and cognitive bases of creative thought by using a novel approach and recent framework that has emerged from the study of semantic cognition and executive control functions. Creative thought is fundamental to human advances throughout history and it is the foundation to all arts and sciences. Expected outcomes are a framework that can explain the source of knowledge and the evaluative mechanisms needed to generate new and useful ideas. Significant benefits will be to advance our understanding of the neurocognitive mechanisms of creative thought, which can enhance Australia’s scientific capability through training and collaboration and broader society by enhancing capacity for innovative thinking. Read moreRead less
Lexical expertise and reading skill: An experimental analysis of individual differences in written language proficiency. The Federal Government's current National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy highlights the importance of an evidence-based approach to teaching and assessing literacy. Considerable research and policy effort has been directed towards early reading programs. Much less attention has been paid to evaluating children's later development of reading comprehension and spelling pr ....Lexical expertise and reading skill: An experimental analysis of individual differences in written language proficiency. The Federal Government's current National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy highlights the importance of an evidence-based approach to teaching and assessing literacy. Considerable research and policy effort has been directed towards early reading programs. Much less attention has been paid to evaluating children's later development of reading comprehension and spelling proficiency, but there is wide diversity in these skills within the adult population that influence educational and vocational opportunity. This investigation of the factors underlying expertise in reading and spelling will provide evidence that can contribute to developing educational policy and curricula for the later stages of schooling.Read moreRead less
Exploring the nature of lexical representation. In order to comprehend and produce the words that we know, whether in speech or in writing, we must possess mental representations of each of those words (i.e., "lexical" representations). The aim of the proposed research is to elaborate on the nature of these representations in an attempt to understand more fully the cognitive mechanisms involved in proficient language use. The central idea to be explored is that underlying all lexical functioning ....Exploring the nature of lexical representation. In order to comprehend and produce the words that we know, whether in speech or in writing, we must possess mental representations of each of those words (i.e., "lexical" representations). The aim of the proposed research is to elaborate on the nature of these representations in an attempt to understand more fully the cognitive mechanisms involved in proficient language use. The central idea to be explored is that underlying all lexical functioning is an abstract phonological representation that is influenced by orthography. Furthermore, the possibility will be examined that poorer readers possess less abstract representations than do better readers.Read moreRead less