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
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
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
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
Moving from assumptions to new learning. . Moving from assumptions to new learning. The project aims to investigate the processes that drive new learning
by using automatically evoked brain responses to examine when new information triggers the brain to update
beliefs about the world. The project will generate new knowledge on the maturity of this process at birth, how it
declines with older age and the brain areas critical to the process. The outcomes will provide insight into how
attentio ....Moving from assumptions to new learning. . Moving from assumptions to new learning. The project aims to investigate the processes that drive new learning
by using automatically evoked brain responses to examine when new information triggers the brain to update
beliefs about the world. The project will generate new knowledge on the maturity of this process at birth, how it
declines with older age and the brain areas critical to the process. The outcomes will provide insight into how
attentional resources are automatically marshalled when beliefs are challenged, and it will help identify the consequences for learning when a system is immature, or the process breaks down with increasing age.Read moreRead less
How brain oscillations influence our behaviour. This project aims to reveal how sudden, intense stimuli impair or facilitate concurrent actions. Startling sounds can disrupt the execution of movements and distract attention from vital events in the environment, with potential disastrous consequences when handling complex equipment such as airplanes, cars and trucks, or surgical instruments. This project will combine classic experimental and novel neuro-modulatory techniques with the measurement ....How brain oscillations influence our behaviour. This project aims to reveal how sudden, intense stimuli impair or facilitate concurrent actions. Startling sounds can disrupt the execution of movements and distract attention from vital events in the environment, with potential disastrous consequences when handling complex equipment such as airplanes, cars and trucks, or surgical instruments. This project will combine classic experimental and novel neuro-modulatory techniques with the measurement of oscillatory brain activity. Expect outcomes will inform theories of cognitive function and the design of interventions to reduce the negative effects of sudden, distracting events.Read moreRead less
Older workers & psychological contracts: A dynamic perspective. This project aims to track the trajectories of older workers’ psychological contracts that shape their give-and-take with the organisation. Little is understood about how these psychological contracts change as older workers continue to pursue work through their fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth decades of life. This project tracks older workers over intensive, repeated in-depth interviews and a large-scale longitudinal panel study. ....Older workers & psychological contracts: A dynamic perspective. This project aims to track the trajectories of older workers’ psychological contracts that shape their give-and-take with the organisation. Little is understood about how these psychological contracts change as older workers continue to pursue work through their fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth decades of life. This project tracks older workers over intensive, repeated in-depth interviews and a large-scale longitudinal panel study. The outcomes fill significant gaps in our understanding of older workers’ needs and orientation toward work, and identify the age-related changes and organisational practices that spur older workers to sustain a strong trajectory of productive participation in the workforce.Read moreRead less
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
Understanding Growth in Emotion Regulatory Flexibility in Emerging Adults. Emerging adults (ages 18-25) are now facing unparalleled social and technological change and the on-going effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such demands can be overwhelming and undermine engagement with education and employment, with serious impacts for the individual and society. At the same time, our novel model proposes that the diverse daily adult-like stressors that characterise emerging adulthood can also drive grow ....Understanding Growth in Emotion Regulatory Flexibility in Emerging Adults. Emerging adults (ages 18-25) are now facing unparalleled social and technological change and the on-going effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such demands can be overwhelming and undermine engagement with education and employment, with serious impacts for the individual and society. At the same time, our novel model proposes that the diverse daily adult-like stressors that characterise emerging adulthood can also drive growth in flexible emotion regulation when combined with reflection on, and insight into, their own coping processes. Our research expands scientific knowledge by taking the first steps to uncover why some emerging adults increase their ability to flexibly regulate their emotions over this period, whereas others fail to do so.Read moreRead less
Towards an integrated model of reasoning and reasoning development. This project aims to identify the core cognitive processes that underlie different forms of reasoning and how they develop. The project intends to use a signal detection framework to derive detailed computational models of reasoning which can then be tested through Bayesian computational modelling as well as the first systematic investigation of developmental change in reasoning processes. Expected outcomes include a more princi ....Towards an integrated model of reasoning and reasoning development. This project aims to identify the core cognitive processes that underlie different forms of reasoning and how they develop. The project intends to use a signal detection framework to derive detailed computational models of reasoning which can then be tested through Bayesian computational modelling as well as the first systematic investigation of developmental change in reasoning processes. Expected outcomes include a more principled and comprehensive computational model of reasoning in both adults and children. The project should provide significant benefits by helping to resolve long-standing debates about how humans reason complex arguments relevant to everyday lives and guide development of more effective methods for teaching reasoning.Read moreRead less