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
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
The development of feedforward mechanisms of motor control: The role of efference copy in motor skill development. Our work provides preliminary evidence that deficits in efference copy (or feedforward planning) underlie impaired motor skill development in children (or Developmental Coordination Disorder - DCD). The aim of this project is to advance our understanding of normal and abnormal motor development by examining this hypothesis in a large sample, longitudinally. We will examine variati ....The development of feedforward mechanisms of motor control: The role of efference copy in motor skill development. Our work provides preliminary evidence that deficits in efference copy (or feedforward planning) underlie impaired motor skill development in children (or Developmental Coordination Disorder - DCD). The aim of this project is to advance our understanding of normal and abnormal motor development by examining this hypothesis in a large sample, longitudinally. We will examine variations in the presentation of clumsiness, cognitive deficit(s) in different subtypes, and changes in presentation with age. We predict that deficits in efference copy will explain departures from normal motor skill development in most children. We also predict that imagery training will ameliorate the deficit.Read moreRead less
Development of rapid, online motor control in children. Movement is the primary means by which young children develop understanding of the world. The studies described in this project will provide important insights into the development of movement skill in children and the underlying causes of motor impairment. In particular we aim to understand how thought and action are coordinated in children, supporting the ability to perform more efficient movements. Hence, our work will inform the traini ....Development of rapid, online motor control in children. Movement is the primary means by which young children develop understanding of the world. The studies described in this project will provide important insights into the development of movement skill in children and the underlying causes of motor impairment. In particular we aim to understand how thought and action are coordinated in children, supporting the ability to perform more efficient movements. Hence, our work will inform the training and practice of movement educators and physical therapists, transcending some of the myths of clinical theory. This work will have important implications for identifying and training children at risk for motor impairment. Read moreRead less
A biopsychosocial model of exercise dependence, steroid use and disordered eating among adolescent boys. Recent evidence suggests that hazardous body change strategies adopted by adolescent boys are a major problem. This study validates a biopsychosocial framework to explain the development of exercise dependence, steroid and food supplement use, and disordered eating among at risk adolescent boys. A longitudinal experimental design will be employed. Late maturing boys, who are also less popular ....A biopsychosocial model of exercise dependence, steroid use and disordered eating among adolescent boys. Recent evidence suggests that hazardous body change strategies adopted by adolescent boys are a major problem. This study validates a biopsychosocial framework to explain the development of exercise dependence, steroid and food supplement use, and disordered eating among at risk adolescent boys. A longitudinal experimental design will be employed. Late maturing boys, who are also less popular with peers, are expected to demonstrate high body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem and high negative affect and maladaptive body change strategies. The result of this study will inform treatment programs for these behaviours.Read moreRead less
Implicit transmission of embodied culture. Is a culturally diverse, yet socially integrated community possible? In multicultural societies such as Australia, this is a pressing and significant question. To form and maintain a vibrant and prosperous community in the face of globalization, it is essential to understand the fundamental processes by which cultures are formed and transformed in everyday social activities. This project examines one such process, implicit cultural transmission, propose ....Implicit transmission of embodied culture. Is a culturally diverse, yet socially integrated community possible? In multicultural societies such as Australia, this is a pressing and significant question. To form and maintain a vibrant and prosperous community in the face of globalization, it is essential to understand the fundamental processes by which cultures are formed and transformed in everyday social activities. This project examines one such process, implicit cultural transmission, proposed to function in the nonconscious transmission of cultural information. Understanding the dynamics of this subtle, yet pervasive, mode of cultural influence is central to a full appreciation of how one's own culture and those of others' integrate and flourish.Read moreRead less
Knowledge sharing in teams. There is considerable interest in understanding principles governing effective management and sharing of knowledge in organisations. Members of organisations acquire much knowledge from external sources, other staff, practice, and experience, which, if shared efficiently, makes a significant difference to performance. This project focuses on the team, the basic unit in modern organisations. Four studies are proposed to examine antecedents of knowledge sharing, the re ....Knowledge sharing in teams. There is considerable interest in understanding principles governing effective management and sharing of knowledge in organisations. Members of organisations acquire much knowledge from external sources, other staff, practice, and experience, which, if shared efficiently, makes a significant difference to performance. This project focuses on the team, the basic unit in modern organisations. Four studies are proposed to examine antecedents of knowledge sharing, the relationship between amount and type of knowledge shared and team performance, identification of different knowledge-sharing roles taken by team members, and the effect of several highly active knowledge sharers on team performance. The findings will add to the literature on communication and information exchange in organisations, and will point to strategies for implementing effective knowledge sharing practices.
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Does phonological awareness help children learn to read? An almost universally-accepted view in the field of reading acquisition is that phonological awareness, or the ability to perceive and manipulate speech sounds, causes a child to be good at learning to read. We argue that, despite the voluminous literature on this issue, it has not been conclusively established that such a causal link exists. To do so requires a project, proposed here, in which completely pre-literate children are selec ....Does phonological awareness help children learn to read? An almost universally-accepted view in the field of reading acquisition is that phonological awareness, or the ability to perceive and manipulate speech sounds, causes a child to be good at learning to read. We argue that, despite the voluminous literature on this issue, it has not been conclusively established that such a causal link exists. To do so requires a project, proposed here, in which completely pre-literate children are selected, their phonological awareness measured, and its relationship with subsequent literacy acquisition followed. Settling this issue will have significant consequences for both theory and practice in reading acquisition and dyslexia.Read moreRead less
Incorporating contested social values into native forest management. This project aims to relate social values to forest management criteria and indicators, and to incorporate social values in ecological modelling of management scenarios. For agencies, like the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment, it will predict the likely ecological outcomes and public acceptance of diverse management scenarios.
Using written language to probe speech recognition models. Speech recognition models fall into two principal classes, with fundamentally different processing architectures. Feedback models (e.g. TRACE, McClelland & Elman, 1986) allow lexical knowledge to exert top-down control over phonemic analysis. Feedforward models (e.g. Merge, Norris, McQueen & Cutler, 2000) assume that information flow is entirely bottom-up. Our project adopts an innovative approach to testing between these model classe ....Using written language to probe speech recognition models. Speech recognition models fall into two principal classes, with fundamentally different processing architectures. Feedback models (e.g. TRACE, McClelland & Elman, 1986) allow lexical knowledge to exert top-down control over phonemic analysis. Feedforward models (e.g. Merge, Norris, McQueen & Cutler, 2000) assume that information flow is entirely bottom-up. Our project adopts an innovative approach to testing between these model classes, by examining the influence of written-word knowledge on speech perception. To distinguish the models, contrasts must test different processing levels and examine strategy effects. TRACE favors broad effects with limited strategic influence; Merge favors lexical effects that are necessarily sensitive to strategic factorsRead moreRead less