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
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
Tranquillising Work Stress: Corporate Climate and Antidepressant Use. This national project will investigate the plausible link between distress at work and Australia’s high levels of antidepressant use, through creative linkage of data from the Australian Workplace Barometer (10-year longitudinal study) to antidepressant medication data (via the national Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme). The project advances theory by probing the role corporate climate plays in work design, distress, mental hea .... Tranquillising Work Stress: Corporate Climate and Antidepressant Use. This national project will investigate the plausible link between distress at work and Australia’s high levels of antidepressant use, through creative linkage of data from the Australian Workplace Barometer (10-year longitudinal study) to antidepressant medication data (via the national Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme). The project advances theory by probing the role corporate climate plays in work design, distress, mental health problems and antidepressant use. It will determine if antidepressant use has led to an underestimation of work stress effects. It will estimate the $AUD cost of work related antidepressant use. The project will yield evidence to stimulate corporate climate change to protect worker psychological health and wellbeing.Read moreRead less
Enhancing lifeguard performance: A multidisciplinary approach. This project aims to improve the timely identification of swimmers at risk of drowning by drawing on a range of theoretical, empirical, and methodological approaches from the disciplines of organisational psychology, human factors, cognitive science and computer science. Lifeguards are vital for maintaining public safety at aquatic venues, however despite their presence, fatal and non-fatal drownings occur every year with little know ....Enhancing lifeguard performance: A multidisciplinary approach. This project aims to improve the timely identification of swimmers at risk of drowning by drawing on a range of theoretical, empirical, and methodological approaches from the disciplines of organisational psychology, human factors, cognitive science and computer science. Lifeguards are vital for maintaining public safety at aquatic venues, however despite their presence, fatal and non-fatal drownings occur every year with little known about the factors that affect vigilance, scanning and sustained attention in such a complex, dynamic environment. Expected outcomes of the project include evidence-based solutions for selecting, training and maintaining the performance of lifeguards that account for both organisational and individual factors. These will improve Australia’s ability to build social capital in both urban and rural centres by providing the safest possible community swimming pools.Read moreRead less