Filters reveal what flicker conceals: temporal processing in the human visual system. I have recently discovered a new form of camouflage using 10Hz luminance flicker. This project will quantify this effect and examine the extent to which it generalises across colour and spatial dimensions and to video sequences depicting natural scenes. This information is expected to provide foundational information to technologies relating to national security that rely on visual concealment. This research wi ....Filters reveal what flicker conceals: temporal processing in the human visual system. I have recently discovered a new form of camouflage using 10Hz luminance flicker. This project will quantify this effect and examine the extent to which it generalises across colour and spatial dimensions and to video sequences depicting natural scenes. This information is expected to provide foundational information to technologies relating to national security that rely on visual concealment. This research will examine the extent to which filtering out these camouflaging frequencies enhances our sensitivity to low temporal frequency information. This decamouflaging aspect of my research is expected to improve the clarity of digital video-based technologies including ultrasound, educational, info-tainment and defence applicationsRead moreRead less
Captions for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired: Availability versus Accessibility. The availability of educational, informational and recreational services for deaf and hearing-impaired people has been dramatically facilitated by (i) increased television captioning due to the 2001 introduction of the Television Broadcasting Services Act; and (ii) trial introduction of real-time captioning in educational settings. These innovations must be matched by equally innovative ways of increasing the accessib ....Captions for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired: Availability versus Accessibility. The availability of educational, informational and recreational services for deaf and hearing-impaired people has been dramatically facilitated by (i) increased television captioning due to the 2001 introduction of the Television Broadcasting Services Act; and (ii) trial introduction of real-time captioning in educational settings. These innovations must be matched by equally innovative ways of increasing the accessibility of captions, which is currently limited by English literacy, caption speed, and caption reduction techniques. Here, systematic manipulation of these factors in experiments on television captioning with adults and educational captioning with children will determine how resources might best be directed to improving caption accessibility.Read moreRead less
Investigating a New Explanation of Discrimination Against Migrant and Excluded People. Migrants and socially excluded people are often the subjects of discrimination and prejudice. Our research will provide valuable knowledge about when and why people discriminate against migrant and excluded individuals as well as how this type of behaviour can be reduced. Our research will benefit Australia by contributing scientific information to the policy developments of national organizations that aim to ....Investigating a New Explanation of Discrimination Against Migrant and Excluded People. Migrants and socially excluded people are often the subjects of discrimination and prejudice. Our research will provide valuable knowledge about when and why people discriminate against migrant and excluded individuals as well as how this type of behaviour can be reduced. Our research will benefit Australia by contributing scientific information to the policy developments of national organizations that aim to reduce discrimination and prejudice. Hence, our research falls within the Government's broader goal of creating a more harmonious multicultural Australian society.Read moreRead less
The social and cognitive functions of affect. Dealing with affective problems represents a major challenge in clinical, health, organisational and counselling psychology. Yet the role that affective states play in thinking, judgments and many everyday social behaviours remains poorly understood.. This project will produce direct national and community benefit by developing a new, integrative theory of affective influences on thinking and action, and exploring the functions and processing consequ ....The social and cognitive functions of affect. Dealing with affective problems represents a major challenge in clinical, health, organisational and counselling psychology. Yet the role that affective states play in thinking, judgments and many everyday social behaviours remains poorly understood.. This project will produce direct national and community benefit by developing a new, integrative theory of affective influences on thinking and action, and exploring the functions and processing consequences of affect in everyday settings. The real-life consequences of affect infusion in applied areas will also be explored. The project will also contribute to Australia's research capability by training doctoral and postdoctoral students, and fostering international research collaboration.Read moreRead less
Hearts and minds: Affect, thinking and behaviour. Understanding the influence of affect on health, adjustment and on many everyday behaviours remains an enduring puzzle. This project will produce direct national and community benefit by developing a new, integrative theory of affective influences on thinking and action, and exploring the mechanisms that facilitate or inhibit affective influences on everyday behaviours. The real-life consequences of affect infusion in health, organisational, educ ....Hearts and minds: Affect, thinking and behaviour. Understanding the influence of affect on health, adjustment and on many everyday behaviours remains an enduring puzzle. This project will produce direct national and community benefit by developing a new, integrative theory of affective influences on thinking and action, and exploring the mechanisms that facilitate or inhibit affective influences on everyday behaviours. The real-life consequences of affect infusion in health, organisational, educational, marketing and clinical settings will also be explored. The project will also contribute to Australia's research capability by training doctoral and postdoctoral students, and fostering international research collaboration.Read moreRead less
Children's difficulties in learning to read: Causes and consequences of poor letter-sound knowledge. This research will identify the causes and treatments of reading impairment in children. This will help the Government counter the effects of poor reading instruction in Australian schools (see the National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy). The outcomes will reveal how struggling readers should be taught in classrooms, and which treatments should be covered by the Reading Assistance Voucher ....Children's difficulties in learning to read: Causes and consequences of poor letter-sound knowledge. This research will identify the causes and treatments of reading impairment in children. This will help the Government counter the effects of poor reading instruction in Australian schools (see the National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy). The outcomes will reveal how struggling readers should be taught in classrooms, and which treatments should be covered by the Reading Assistance Voucher programme. Treating reading impairment in children will reduce the number of teenagers who attempt suicide, drop out of school, or abuse drugs to try and escape the failure that accompanies poor reading ability.Read moreRead less
Repeated questions in children's event recall: Testing competing explanations. One of the threats to a healthy start in life for Australian children, and one which imposes substantial financial and emotional cost on the Australian community, is child abuse and neglect. This project addresses a key stumbling block in obtaining evidence from child victims/witnesses - their tendency to give inconsistent testimony under repeated questioning. It seeks to understand the conditions under which inconsis ....Repeated questions in children's event recall: Testing competing explanations. One of the threats to a healthy start in life for Australian children, and one which imposes substantial financial and emotional cost on the Australian community, is child abuse and neglect. This project addresses a key stumbling block in obtaining evidence from child victims/witnesses - their tendency to give inconsistent testimony under repeated questioning. It seeks to understand the conditions under which inconsistency is minimized, as a basis for developing empirically and theoretically based ways to optimise the accuracy and legal utility of children's testimony. Read moreRead less
Affective influences social thinking and behaviour: A social neuroscience approach. Affective states have a major influence on how people think and behave in everyday life. However, the psychological and neural mechanisms producing these effects remain incompletely understood. This project will investigate how external situations and internal cognitive and neurological mechanisms interact to facilitate or inhibit affective influences on judgments and behaviour. The project will also develop and ....Affective influences social thinking and behaviour: A social neuroscience approach. Affective states have a major influence on how people think and behave in everyday life. However, the psychological and neural mechanisms producing these effects remain incompletely understood. This project will investigate how external situations and internal cognitive and neurological mechanisms interact to facilitate or inhibit affective influences on judgments and behaviour. The project will also develop and test an innovative information processing theory of affective influences, and develop new empirical methods for measuring the cognitive and behavioural consequences of affect. Studies will also investigate the influence of affect on clinical, organisational, educational and health outcomes, and on various real-life behaviours.
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Feeling, thinking and doing: Affective influences on social cognition and behaviour. Affect has a major influence on how people think and behave in social situations, yet the psychological mechanisms responsible for these effects remain incompletely understood. The proposed experiments will investigate the circumstances that facilitate or inhibit affect infusion into social thinking, judgments and behaviours and explore the real-life consequences of these effects. A comprehensive theoretical mod ....Feeling, thinking and doing: Affective influences on social cognition and behaviour. Affect has a major influence on how people think and behave in social situations, yet the psychological mechanisms responsible for these effects remain incompletely understood. The proposed experiments will investigate the circumstances that facilitate or inhibit affect infusion into social thinking, judgments and behaviours and explore the real-life consequences of these effects. A comprehensive theoretical model, the recently revised Affect Infusion Model will be tested as an integrative explanation for affect infusion phenomena.Read moreRead less
Predicting health, well-being, and educational success in emerging adults: An 8 year longitudinal study. This project will inform the community about factors that affect the psychological, physical, academic, and employment outcomes of emerging adults. It will improve our knowledge of why some young people do not reach their full potential. The project will provide a comprehensive assessment of factors associated with well-being across several domains. It will better equip and assist professiona ....Predicting health, well-being, and educational success in emerging adults: An 8 year longitudinal study. This project will inform the community about factors that affect the psychological, physical, academic, and employment outcomes of emerging adults. It will improve our knowledge of why some young people do not reach their full potential. The project will provide a comprehensive assessment of factors associated with well-being across several domains. It will better equip and assist professionals to identify early those youth at risk of having poor psychological, health, and employment prospects post-school. The project will inform the development of intervention programs for young people and maximise their overall adjustment and well-being several years later.Read moreRead less