Understanding the mechanisms underpinning complex sociality. This project aims to investigate the mechanisms underlying the formation of complex social systems in vertebrates. Our understanding of these mechanisms is strongly biased towards a few model systems. We have identified a novel Australian model system with a wide range of sociality for this purpose. This project expects to generate new knowledge on how the social environment interacts with the brain during social organisation. Expected ....Understanding the mechanisms underpinning complex sociality. This project aims to investigate the mechanisms underlying the formation of complex social systems in vertebrates. Our understanding of these mechanisms is strongly biased towards a few model systems. We have identified a novel Australian model system with a wide range of sociality for this purpose. This project expects to generate new knowledge on how the social environment interacts with the brain during social organisation. Expected outcomes include the refinement of social theory and capacity building via international collaboration and postgraduate training. This work will provide significant benefits by increasing our understanding of how the brain and social environment interact to moderate aggression and enhance social associations.Read moreRead less
Developing a Unified Theory of Episodic Memory. This project aims to develop a model of episodic memory and to apply the model to both adult and child development data. Unlike current approaches, the model is expected to address multiple memory tasks including item recognition, associative recognition, source recognition and cued recall, and also aims to address reaction time data, allowing different sources of interference causing forgetting in adults to be identified. By addressing both encodi ....Developing a Unified Theory of Episodic Memory. This project aims to develop a model of episodic memory and to apply the model to both adult and child development data. Unlike current approaches, the model is expected to address multiple memory tasks including item recognition, associative recognition, source recognition and cued recall, and also aims to address reaction time data, allowing different sources of interference causing forgetting in adults to be identified. By addressing both encoding and retrieval processes, the model can assess how changes in different sources of interference modulate performance through the trajectory of early development. Hierarchical Bayesian estimation aims to enable a simultaneous account of multiple tasks and support future deployment in applied contexts.Read moreRead less
Rapid decisions: from neuroscience to complex cognitions. A succession of rapid decisions supports our daily life - run or walk? Fish or steak? This project will integrate three different approaches to understanding these decisions, from neuroscience, mathematical psychology and experimental psychology. This research will provide insights about normal human functioning, and problems such as occur in healthy ageing.
Improving the diagnosticity of eyewitness memory choices. Eyewitness identification error is common and costly. This project aims to improve the quality of information provided by eyewitnesses, and the ability of police officers and triers of fact (e.g., juries, judges) to evaluate this information. Laboratory investigations will determine how best to test memory and confidence to achieve this aim. A new class of cognitive models will provide a unified account of response accuracy, response time ....Improving the diagnosticity of eyewitness memory choices. Eyewitness identification error is common and costly. This project aims to improve the quality of information provided by eyewitnesses, and the ability of police officers and triers of fact (e.g., juries, judges) to evaluate this information. Laboratory investigations will determine how best to test memory and confidence to achieve this aim. A new class of cognitive models will provide a unified account of response accuracy, response time, and confidence, suitable for application to computerized testing scenarios. The models and testing methods validated in the laboratory will be refined for application in eyewitness memory settings, facilitating better evaluation of identification evidence, and potentially reducing wrongful convictions.Read moreRead less
Quantitative psychological theories for a dynamic world. . The dynamic world around us means we need to constantly adjust our decisions in light of ever-changing influences, both external (weather, traffic ...) and internal (fatigue, learning ...). This project aims to understand how these changes affect performance. This will have significance for basic science, and also practical benefits for applied psychology. This project will examine the dynamic nature of psychological processes in a range ....Quantitative psychological theories for a dynamic world. . The dynamic world around us means we need to constantly adjust our decisions in light of ever-changing influences, both external (weather, traffic ...) and internal (fatigue, learning ...). This project aims to understand how these changes affect performance. This will have significance for basic science, and also practical benefits for applied psychology. This project will examine the dynamic nature of psychological processes in a range of settings: simple decisions, consumer decisions, human-machine interactions, and team performance. Theory development will lead to improved understanding of underlying cognitive processes, and transforms the measurement of decisions, which is important for applied psychological investigations. Read moreRead less
ARC/NHMRC Research Network in Ageing Well. The ARC Research Network on Ageing Well will support interdisciplinary, high quality research in the National Research Priority Goal of Ageing Well, Ageing Productively. It will build scale and focus on Australia's notable research strengths in ageing, promote collaborative research, and extend research capacities. The Network will link outstanding researchers from many disciplines, nurture developing researchers, relate social to health researchers, s ....ARC/NHMRC Research Network in Ageing Well. The ARC Research Network on Ageing Well will support interdisciplinary, high quality research in the National Research Priority Goal of Ageing Well, Ageing Productively. It will build scale and focus on Australia's notable research strengths in ageing, promote collaborative research, and extend research capacities. The Network will link outstanding researchers from many disciplines, nurture developing researchers, relate social to health researchers, strengthen international collaboration, and involve and inform end-point users. It will foster research which responds to the aspirations and needs of older Australians and informs action that can improve experiences of individual and population ageing.Read moreRead less
Ready, steady, go: Infant motor development and cognition. This project aims to examine the changes in and relationships between cognition and motoric abilities during infancy. The project will utilise well-established and innovative measures of memory flexibility and motor development to generate new knowledge about the complex relationship between action, perception, and cognition. The expected outcomes will provide significant benefits such as increased scientific and public knowledge on earl ....Ready, steady, go: Infant motor development and cognition. This project aims to examine the changes in and relationships between cognition and motoric abilities during infancy. The project will utilise well-established and innovative measures of memory flexibility and motor development to generate new knowledge about the complex relationship between action, perception, and cognition. The expected outcomes will provide significant benefits such as increased scientific and public knowledge on early development and an evidence base on the normal stages of infant development, relevant for health policy.Read moreRead less
Perceiving and tracking moving objects. Processing and tracking moving objects poses challenges for human perception. To succeed, visual processing must accumulate analyses of the object from its different positions. Perceptual experiments will reveal human limits and yield insights into the underlying mechanisms, providing a basis for understanding object tracking in tasks like driving.
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR120200004
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$30,000,000.00
Summary
Australian Synchrotron Access Program. The Australian Synchrotron epitomises scientific research excellence in Australian and New Zealand. Its impact spans nearly every research sector. This proposal brings together over 30 Australian universities working together to ensure that world-class peer-reviewed science continues to be performed at the Australian Synchrotron.
Micro-electrofluidic platforms for monitoring 3D human biological models. The ability to study living cells and human biological models (cell cultures) delivers greater understanding of basic biological function and response to applied (bio)chemical stimuli. Creating the physical environments to sustain biological models, and mimic natural conditions and fluidic pathways, is immensely challenging, yet essential to deliver meaningful observational data. This project will deliver this capability t ....Micro-electrofluidic platforms for monitoring 3D human biological models. The ability to study living cells and human biological models (cell cultures) delivers greater understanding of basic biological function and response to applied (bio)chemical stimuli. Creating the physical environments to sustain biological models, and mimic natural conditions and fluidic pathways, is immensely challenging, yet essential to deliver meaningful observational data. This project will deliver this capability through the convergence of expertise and innovation in analytical chemistry, materials science and cellular biology, ultilising the latest technology and understanding of 3D micro/electrofluidics, to enable the study and stimulation of advanced biological models, sustained within precisely controlled 3D micro-environments.Read moreRead less