The emotional face: What determines preferential expression processing. The processing of facial expressions of emotion is essential for successful social functioning. However, we still lack a good understanding of key factors that facilitate or impede the processing of these important social signals. The current project aims to address this knowledge gap by providing a) a more rigorous test of the currently dominant account of expression processing, the evaluative congruence account, and deline ....The emotional face: What determines preferential expression processing. The processing of facial expressions of emotion is essential for successful social functioning. However, we still lack a good understanding of key factors that facilitate or impede the processing of these important social signals. The current project aims to address this knowledge gap by providing a) a more rigorous test of the currently dominant account of expression processing, the evaluative congruence account, and delineating how b) contextual factors and c) person knowledge affect expression processing. The research aims to advance our understanding of facial expression processing, to build international collaborations, and to train the next generation of emotion scientists.Read moreRead less
The emotional face: Effects on orienting, visual search, and categorization. The processing of facial expressions of emotion is essential for successful social functioning however our understanding of how these important signals are processed and of the factors which may impede appropriate processing is lacking. Using a range of converging methodologies drawn from neuroscience, social, and cognitive psychology, this project aims to advance our understanding of the processing of the expressions o ....The emotional face: Effects on orienting, visual search, and categorization. The processing of facial expressions of emotion is essential for successful social functioning however our understanding of how these important signals are processed and of the factors which may impede appropriate processing is lacking. Using a range of converging methodologies drawn from neuroscience, social, and cognitive psychology, this project aims to advance our understanding of the processing of the expressions of two central social emotions, happiness and anger, by delineating the conditions that support or limit it in the general population. This research aims to provide an invaluable knowledge base for subsequent applied research into deficits of emotional expression processing such as occur in autism, anxiety, or old age.Read moreRead less
Evaluative learning: do all roads lead to Rome? This project aims to enhance understanding of how likes and dislikes are acquired and changed across a range of different settings. Evaluative learning, the acquisition and change of likes and dislikes, is ubiquitous and occurs in situations that range from trivial to traumatic. However, it is unknown whether evaluative learning in these different situations is mediated by a single or distinct learning mechanisms. Answering this question is critica ....Evaluative learning: do all roads lead to Rome? This project aims to enhance understanding of how likes and dislikes are acquired and changed across a range of different settings. Evaluative learning, the acquisition and change of likes and dislikes, is ubiquitous and occurs in situations that range from trivial to traumatic. However, it is unknown whether evaluative learning in these different situations is mediated by a single or distinct learning mechanisms. Answering this question is critically important for emotion science and the design of effective interventions for anxiety disorders and public health campaigns. The expected outcomes from this project will provide significant benefits, such as creating new knowledge to assist in applied areas ranging from the design of public health messages to the treatment for anxiety.Read moreRead less
The role of early testosterone and brain laterality in language development. The aim of the project is to provide key insights into how foetal hormone exposure and early brain growth support child language. The specialisation of the left cerebral hemisphere for language function is considered critical to supporting the complexity of human language. There is evidence of sex differences in patterns of brain specialisation, which has led to popular but unsubstantiated hypotheses linking prenatal te ....The role of early testosterone and brain laterality in language development. The aim of the project is to provide key insights into how foetal hormone exposure and early brain growth support child language. The specialisation of the left cerebral hemisphere for language function is considered critical to supporting the complexity of human language. There is evidence of sex differences in patterns of brain specialisation, which has led to popular but unsubstantiated hypotheses linking prenatal testosterone and language development. The project aims to explore this by using innovative neuroimaging, endocrine and genetic techniques to track neurodevelopment longitudinally from prenatal life to three years of age. An important aspect of the project is the anticipated refinement of innovative methods for measuring early human development.Read moreRead less
The extinction of human fear. Excessive fear negatively impacts the lives of many Australians - so how can we increase the effectiveness of exposure based treatments to reduce human fear? The present basic research will investigate the process thought to underlie exposure-based treatments, extinction of human fear learning, in order to answer this applied question.
Towards a safer workplace: promoting healthy work environments through strategic research in memory and behaviour change. In collaboration with WorkCover NSW, psychologists plan to develop new strategies to promote healthy and safe work environments. The researchers will find how to: best motivate people to engage in healthy work practices and obtain comprehensive and accurate information about the causes of accidents.
Understanding the link between reading impairments and emotional problems. This Project aims to understand why children with reading impairments are at increased risk for emotional problems. By integrating the statistical power of large-scale longitudinal studies with the causal testing power of intervention case studies, it seeks to fast-track the development of a comprehensive evidence-based theory of the mechanisms linking reading impairments and emotional problems. The outcomes will pave the ....Understanding the link between reading impairments and emotional problems. This Project aims to understand why children with reading impairments are at increased risk for emotional problems. By integrating the statistical power of large-scale longitudinal studies with the causal testing power of intervention case studies, it seeks to fast-track the development of a comprehensive evidence-based theory of the mechanisms linking reading impairments and emotional problems. The outcomes will pave the way for future diagnosis and treatment of concomitant reading and emotional difficulties in children. These outcomes improve our capacity to reduce the incidence of two common problems that limit the life success of Australian children - poor literacy and poor emotional health.Read moreRead less
Why does face identification ability improve during childhood? Accurate face identification is crucial to social functioning and is supported by face-specific visual and neural mechanisms. Performance on tests of face identification continues to improve from preschool ages until well into adolescence. What drives this improvement? This project compares two current theories to determine whether face-specific development or more general cognitive and perceptual development drives this improvement. ....Why does face identification ability improve during childhood? Accurate face identification is crucial to social functioning and is supported by face-specific visual and neural mechanisms. Performance on tests of face identification continues to improve from preschool ages until well into adolescence. What drives this improvement? This project compares two current theories to determine whether face-specific development or more general cognitive and perceptual development drives this improvement. The project will employ a powerful and novel approach, using individual differences and a longitudinal design that will provide new insights into the source of developmental change in face identification skills during childhood. This project also examines how development breaks down by studying Congenital Prosopagnosia (face-blindness).Read moreRead less
Outcomes of collective action: After the blockade, what next? The project intends to study how collective actors react when conventional or radical collective action succeeds or fails. If a democratic protest rally is ignored by authorities, does support for violence increase? If a turbulent riot attracts favourable media attention and concessions, does this increase the likelihood of future riots or undercut them? This project aims to answer these questions. It plans to test a new, theoreticall ....Outcomes of collective action: After the blockade, what next? The project intends to study how collective actors react when conventional or radical collective action succeeds or fails. If a democratic protest rally is ignored by authorities, does support for violence increase? If a turbulent riot attracts favourable media attention and concessions, does this increase the likelihood of future riots or undercut them? This project aims to answer these questions. It plans to test a new, theoretically integrative model of collective action and the intergroup dynamic, using a mixed-methods approach including experiments, small group research and longitudinal field surveys. Project outcomes may provide an evidence basis for policy-makers' debates about trajectories of radicalisation and deradicalisation, and for recommendations about engagement and negotiation of tactics for activists, political parties, and nongovernment organisations.Read moreRead less
To focus on pain or not to focus: WHEN is the question. The experience of pain is a ubiquitous experience, and persistent pain is common and causes enormous personal and
societal burden. Anyone who has been in severe pain will understand that pain captures attention, but the role that attention plays in
increasing pain perception is poorly understood. This project will test a new conceptual model that calls for a change in the paradigm underlying research into attention and pain. We will use nov ....To focus on pain or not to focus: WHEN is the question. The experience of pain is a ubiquitous experience, and persistent pain is common and causes enormous personal and
societal burden. Anyone who has been in severe pain will understand that pain captures attention, but the role that attention plays in
increasing pain perception is poorly understood. This project will test a new conceptual model that calls for a change in the paradigm underlying research into attention and pain. We will use novel experimental tasks in virtual reality environments to address
these important gaps in our knowledge. The project will significantly advance our fundamental understanding of
the role of attention in pain perception and pave the way for translational research to reduce the substantial burden pain causes.Read moreRead less