Understanding and improving sustained attention under vigilance conditions. This project aims to address a major global challenge caused by technological advances: human operators have to monitor computer-control (e.g., in autonomous vehicles, rail and airtraffic control) but sustaining attention is very difficult under these conditions. Developing innovative behavioural and neural methods, this internationally collaborative project bridges basic and applied science to understand lapses of atten ....Understanding and improving sustained attention under vigilance conditions. This project aims to address a major global challenge caused by technological advances: human operators have to monitor computer-control (e.g., in autonomous vehicles, rail and airtraffic control) but sustaining attention is very difficult under these conditions. Developing innovative behavioural and neural methods, this internationally collaborative project bridges basic and applied science to understand lapses of attention under monitoring conditions. It creates a novel intervention, based on brain activity patterns, to improve performance. Outcomes will increase our neural understanding of attention and lay a foundation for a novel system to detect lapses of attention in high-risk environments, preventing errors before they occur.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160101137
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$373,536.00
Summary
The whole is greater than its parts: Improving rail safety through teamwork. This project seeks to develop a train driving risk model that includes human factors, to enable rail organisations to better identify and mitigate safety risks. Train driving is a cognitively demanding task in which errors can quickly lead to catastrophic consequences. Signals passed at danger (SPADs) occur when a train goes past a red light. Despite significant investment in better signalling and communications infrast ....The whole is greater than its parts: Improving rail safety through teamwork. This project seeks to develop a train driving risk model that includes human factors, to enable rail organisations to better identify and mitigate safety risks. Train driving is a cognitively demanding task in which errors can quickly lead to catastrophic consequences. Signals passed at danger (SPADs) occur when a train goes past a red light. Despite significant investment in better signalling and communications infrastructure, SPAD rates remain unacceptably high and are projected to rise. SPAD risk is currently managed with a retrospective approach that fails to consider non-technical human factors such as time pressure, workload and team communications. By including non-technical dimensions, this project seeks to develop a comprehensive model to explain and prevent SPADs.Read moreRead less
Difficulties of monitoring for rare events. This project aims to identify cognitive and neural processes involved in sustaining attention to moving displays under monitoring conditions.People are poor at monitoring for rare events: they tend to miss infrequent targets. This is a problem in automated systems for transport, rail and air traffic control. If a computer error occurs, the operator needs to intervene quickly. This project will develop a tool for studying monitoring and determine patter ....Difficulties of monitoring for rare events. This project aims to identify cognitive and neural processes involved in sustaining attention to moving displays under monitoring conditions.People are poor at monitoring for rare events: they tend to miss infrequent targets. This is a problem in automated systems for transport, rail and air traffic control. If a computer error occurs, the operator needs to intervene quickly. This project will develop a tool for studying monitoring and determine patterns of brain activity that predict a lapse of attention. The results should contribute to theories of vigilance and improve performance in real-world monitoring situations.Read moreRead less
Characterisation and Prevention of Vibration-Induced Drowsiness in Drivers. The present CIs have demonstrated that vibrational frequencies of 4-7 Hz entrain brainwaves associated with the onset of sleep. Our unpublished pilot data show that higher vibrational frequencies can restore alertness. Thus future vehicle design could dampen 3-8Hz vibrations while higher frequency vibrations could counteract drowsiness or stimulate alertness. This project aims to: i) develop novel equivalent drowsiness c ....Characterisation and Prevention of Vibration-Induced Drowsiness in Drivers. The present CIs have demonstrated that vibrational frequencies of 4-7 Hz entrain brainwaves associated with the onset of sleep. Our unpublished pilot data show that higher vibrational frequencies can restore alertness. Thus future vehicle design could dampen 3-8Hz vibrations while higher frequency vibrations could counteract drowsiness or stimulate alertness. This project aims to: i) develop novel equivalent drowsiness contours for the effects of physical vibration on driver drowsiness that will form the basis of a new industry standard for transportation safety; ii) develop an innovative vibration regime to improve alertness. This research will reduce transportation injuries and deaths by enabling the design of safer transport vehicles.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100372
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$373,536.00
Summary
Understanding the role of self-regulation in moderating distracted driving. The goal of this project is to combine naturalistic driving and simulation methods to explore the role that driver-initiated adaptive behaviour (self-regulation) can play in mitigating the effects of distraction on driving performance and safety. Driver distraction is a growing threat to road safety worldwide, contributing to approximately one-quarter of all crashes. Distraction is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon and, ....Understanding the role of self-regulation in moderating distracted driving. The goal of this project is to combine naturalistic driving and simulation methods to explore the role that driver-initiated adaptive behaviour (self-regulation) can play in mitigating the effects of distraction on driving performance and safety. Driver distraction is a growing threat to road safety worldwide, contributing to approximately one-quarter of all crashes. Distraction is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon and, despite its impact on safety, our understanding of it is far from complete. The project aims to develop and assess a set of new countermeasures designed to enhance drivers’ self-regulatory behaviour when distracted. The outcomes of the project may reduce the impact of distraction on road trauma in Australia.Read moreRead less
Managing the risks posed by Artificial General Intelligence. It is widely acknowledged that a failure to implement appropriate controls for the next generation of Artificial Intelligence, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), could have catastrophic consequences, including in the worst case - the extinction of the human race. This research aims to forecast the risks associated with AGI systems and identify the controls required to ensure that risks and existential threats are minimised. The exp ....Managing the risks posed by Artificial General Intelligence. It is widely acknowledged that a failure to implement appropriate controls for the next generation of Artificial Intelligence, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), could have catastrophic consequences, including in the worst case - the extinction of the human race. This research aims to forecast the risks associated with AGI systems and identify the controls required to ensure that risks and existential threats are minimised. The expected outputs will provide designers, organisations, regulators and governments with a framework to support the design, implementation, and management of safe and efficient AGI systems. This will ensure that the potential far-reaching benefits of AGI are realised without undue threat to society.Read moreRead less
Understanding the impact of missing family on forcibly displaced people. This project aims to investigate the psychological and social effects of having missing family on forcibly displaced people settled in Australia. This world-first project enlists a longitudinal mixed-method approach to compare those with missing family to those whose connections have been restored on key outcomes and coping strategies. Project outcomes will enhance the ability of Australian Red Cross and the International C ....Understanding the impact of missing family on forcibly displaced people. This project aims to investigate the psychological and social effects of having missing family on forcibly displaced people settled in Australia. This world-first project enlists a longitudinal mixed-method approach to compare those with missing family to those whose connections have been restored on key outcomes and coping strategies. Project outcomes will enhance the ability of Australian Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross to understand and support the needs of families of the missing. This should provide significant practice and policy benefits for Red Cross’ humanitarian work in restoring family links in Australia and worldwide.Read moreRead less
Investigating voluntary and involuntary intergroup contact . Extensive research suggests that interactions between people of opposing groups - intergroup contact - reduce prejudices and improve social cohesion. Yet these benefits may not be realised if intergroup contact is actively avoided, passively received, or mandated. Drawing from social psychology and human geography, this project aims to establish the conditions under which voluntary contact occurs and how voluntary (vs. involuntary) int ....Investigating voluntary and involuntary intergroup contact . Extensive research suggests that interactions between people of opposing groups - intergroup contact - reduce prejudices and improve social cohesion. Yet these benefits may not be realised if intergroup contact is actively avoided, passively received, or mandated. Drawing from social psychology and human geography, this project aims to establish the conditions under which voluntary contact occurs and how voluntary (vs. involuntary) intergroup contact shapes diversity experiences and impacts social attitudes, trust, and civic participation. With data from multiple settings and participant populations, this project has the potential to inform interventions and policies that deliver harmonious, healthy and productive communities.Read moreRead less
Facilitating the attainment of difficult goals: From theory to intervention. Being persistent in pursuing an important goal is glorified in society. People, however, often need to be strategic in their goal pursuits. A series of lab and field studies will aim to test how helping individuals to realise early in their goal striving whether their goal is attainable or not, can support them in making the right decision (persist with, abandon, or change the goal). The project will make novel contribu ....Facilitating the attainment of difficult goals: From theory to intervention. Being persistent in pursuing an important goal is glorified in society. People, however, often need to be strategic in their goal pursuits. A series of lab and field studies will aim to test how helping individuals to realise early in their goal striving whether their goal is attainable or not, can support them in making the right decision (persist with, abandon, or change the goal). The project will make novel contributions to theories of motivation and goal regulation. It will also have significant public benefit as it will provide the necessary evidence for the development of brief interventions that maximise the efficient use of individuals’ limited resources, facilitating individual and societal productivity and well-being.Read moreRead less
Approaching the Out group Unlocks Intergroup Contact's Benefits for Society. Extensive research on group desegregation shows that intergroup contact (face-to-face interactions between people of opposing groups) should be encouraged for harmonious group relations; such contact maximises social integration, self-esteem, health, and productivity. However, these benefits are often missed as people actively avoid intergroup contact. This research introduces a theoretically- and empirically-grounded t ....Approaching the Out group Unlocks Intergroup Contact's Benefits for Society. Extensive research on group desegregation shows that intergroup contact (face-to-face interactions between people of opposing groups) should be encouraged for harmonious group relations; such contact maximises social integration, self-esteem, health, and productivity. However, these benefits are often missed as people actively avoid intergroup contact. This research introduces a theoretically- and empirically-grounded typology of contact approach-avoidance that aims to: identify personal and situational determinants driving out-group approach in natural settings; delineate outcomes of out-group approach for psychological processes critical to intergroup relations; and, indicate new interventions for encouraging intergroup contact.Read moreRead less