Developing a novel method for delivering a behavioral intervention for decreasing morbidity in women with a chronic disease: a randomized controlled trial. Currently there are 209.8 deaths from heart, stroke and vascular diseases per 100 000 of the Australian female population each year, with the rates being considerably high in the elderly female population. Despite the potential benefits of behavioural strategies to prevent morbidity in women with chronic disease, studies to date have not targ ....Developing a novel method for delivering a behavioral intervention for decreasing morbidity in women with a chronic disease: a randomized controlled trial. Currently there are 209.8 deaths from heart, stroke and vascular diseases per 100 000 of the Australian female population each year, with the rates being considerably high in the elderly female population. Despite the potential benefits of behavioural strategies to prevent morbidity in women with chronic disease, studies to date have not targeted women who already have a chronic disease in a clinical setting. This research study will address this, helping postmenopausal women who have chronic disease change negative health behaviours and increase physical activity and self efficacy, improve quality of life and decrease blood pressure, obesity and tobacco use.Read moreRead less
Very young adolescents and substance use: community and family vulnerabilities and healthy developmental transitions. This research will examine how families and communities protect very young children from early alcohol and tobacco use. The findings will lead to new prevention policies and programs that better meet the needs of vulnerable communities. This project will strengthen collaborations with leading international research centres in this area.
Psychological strategies for maximum health and enjoyment during moderate intensity and vigorous physical exercise. This project will change the way people think during physical exercise. It will show adults of all ages and levels of experience how to get more out of moderate intensity and vigorous exercise by reducing perceived effort and making it more enjoyable.
Learning and Deciding Under Low Levels of Awareness: Representation Issues and Memory Processes. Human decision making is frequently sub-optimal and can be influenced by factors of which we are only dimly aware. At times, this sub-optimality produces large social, economic, and health costs. We address decisions made under low levels of awareness including those typically influenced by advertising and other marketing activities, such as pairing brands with images of attractive people. We examine ....Learning and Deciding Under Low Levels of Awareness: Representation Issues and Memory Processes. Human decision making is frequently sub-optimal and can be influenced by factors of which we are only dimly aware. At times, this sub-optimality produces large social, economic, and health costs. We address decisions made under low levels of awareness including those typically influenced by advertising and other marketing activities, such as pairing brands with images of attractive people. We examine the cognitive processes invoked by this pairing in order to determine how it competes with the provision of factual information. We aim to improve decision making in areas such as food choice and consumer understanding, as well as provide the knowledge base to support policy for regulating marketing communications.Read moreRead less
A theory-based approach to the design and evaluation of anti-speeding messages to target high risk road users' attitudes and behaviours. The proposed research offers three significant benefits. First, this research will develop an improved approach to aid the design and testing of road safety anti-speeding messages. Second, the research will identify the most effective advertising messages for different groups of drivers at risk of being involved in road-related trauma such as young males. Third ....A theory-based approach to the design and evaluation of anti-speeding messages to target high risk road users' attitudes and behaviours. The proposed research offers three significant benefits. First, this research will develop an improved approach to aid the design and testing of road safety anti-speeding messages. Second, the research will identify the most effective advertising messages for different groups of drivers at risk of being involved in road-related trauma such as young males. Third, through improving the persuasiveness of anti-speeding advertising messages, the research may contribute to a reduction in the extent to which drivers engage in speeding which, in turn, may lessen speeding-related road trauma which would have significant benefits not only for road safety but for public health more broadly. Read moreRead less
Improving workplace productivity via an AI-based physical activity chatbot . This project aims to develop, train and evaluate a physical activity chatbot using artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve workplace productivity in sedentary office workers. Productivity losses, due to high numbers of physically inactive workers, cost the Australian economy $14 billion per year. The cost of effective and scalable workplace physical activity programs acts as a barrier to their implementa ....Improving workplace productivity via an AI-based physical activity chatbot . This project aims to develop, train and evaluate a physical activity chatbot using artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve workplace productivity in sedentary office workers. Productivity losses, due to high numbers of physically inactive workers, cost the Australian economy $14 billion per year. The cost of effective and scalable workplace physical activity programs acts as a barrier to their implementation. As such, innovative programs that can reach large numbers of workers at minimal cost are needed. This project aims to generate new knowledge on the use of artificial intelligence to achieve behavioural improvements and will lead to the development of a new type of behaviour change program with broad applicability.
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Understanding effective and satisfying communication between health providers and patients and its relationship with health outcomes. This project investigates the components of satisfying and effective consultations for both health professionals and patients, and their relationship with good health outcomes. This project takes an intergroup theoretical perspective to examine interpersonal interactions between health providers and patients. It examines differences in perceptions of role and co ....Understanding effective and satisfying communication between health providers and patients and its relationship with health outcomes. This project investigates the components of satisfying and effective consultations for both health professionals and patients, and their relationship with good health outcomes. This project takes an intergroup theoretical perspective to examine interpersonal interactions between health providers and patients. It examines differences in perceptions of role and communication strategies between in health professionals from different disciplines and between a broad range of patients types.Read moreRead less
Testing a relational account for visual working memory. This project aims to test whether Becker's relational theory of attention can explain visual working memory performance, the ability to remember visual items over brief time periods. According to the relational account, elementary features such as colours are encoded relative to other features in the context (e.g. as redder, larger, darker). Our ability to detect a change in a feature would depend on the features in the context, and on whet ....Testing a relational account for visual working memory. This project aims to test whether Becker's relational theory of attention can explain visual working memory performance, the ability to remember visual items over brief time periods. According to the relational account, elementary features such as colours are encoded relative to other features in the context (e.g. as redder, larger, darker). Our ability to detect a change in a feature would depend on the features in the context, and on whether the context remains constant. This project expects to provide insights into how features are represented in memory, and to predict which items will be remembered. This could help to develop interactions and therapies for the ageing population and in clinical disorders.Read moreRead less