The emotional psychology of blood donors: understanding and using the affective key to donor return. Every week in Australia 27,000 blood donations are required to meet medical needs. Though donors are continually recruited, each year around 40per cent of Australian donors fail to re-donate. Why this occurs and how to prevent this is not well understood. Using an approach grounded in psychology and affective science, this project comprises a program of studies that aims to advance understanding ....The emotional psychology of blood donors: understanding and using the affective key to donor return. Every week in Australia 27,000 blood donations are required to meet medical needs. Though donors are continually recruited, each year around 40per cent of Australian donors fail to re-donate. Why this occurs and how to prevent this is not well understood. Using an approach grounded in psychology and affective science, this project comprises a program of studies that aims to advance understanding of the affective factors that contribute to blood donor return and translate that understanding into interventions to increase donor return. The project aims to advance the psychological conceptualisation of blood donation by integrating insight from affective science, while also enabling the Blood Service to meet the nation's demand for blood products.Read moreRead less
How pain shapes our social world. Pain is an important source of human experience. Traditionally it has been defined by its social and psychological costs and treated as a problem that needs to be ‘fixed’. This project represents the first systematic study of the ways in which pain may motivate social and behavioural responses that serve to enhance affiliation, communication, solidarity, and group formation. In this way, pain may serve to connect people with their social worlds - it may act as s ....How pain shapes our social world. Pain is an important source of human experience. Traditionally it has been defined by its social and psychological costs and treated as a problem that needs to be ‘fixed’. This project represents the first systematic study of the ways in which pain may motivate social and behavioural responses that serve to enhance affiliation, communication, solidarity, and group formation. In this way, pain may serve to connect people with their social worlds - it may act as social glue - bringing people together and strengthening social connection. The findings will help to to provide a broader perspective on physical pain and will lead to insights that are important when treating pain.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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101071
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Does obesity alter the associations to food related cues, contexts and responses? Obesity is increasing dramatically in the developed world. The reasons for this are unclear, however the abundance of cheap, palatable food is clearly a contributing factor. Studies suggest differences arise in the processing of food rewards between overweight and lean individuals and the way they respond to food associated cues. This indicates that food associated cues may be more likely to evoke feeding behaviour ....Does obesity alter the associations to food related cues, contexts and responses? Obesity is increasing dramatically in the developed world. The reasons for this are unclear, however the abundance of cheap, palatable food is clearly a contributing factor. Studies suggest differences arise in the processing of food rewards between overweight and lean individuals and the way they respond to food associated cues. This indicates that food associated cues may be more likely to evoke feeding behaviours in absence of metabolic needs, therefore contributing to over eating that leads to obesity. This project will determine how rats, exposed to a model of our obesogenic western diet, process distinct cues and contexts associated with food rewards and control value driven responses to gain food rewards.Read moreRead less
Hunger flexibly modifies hypothalamic neural circuits responding to threat. Animal and human behaviour frequently involves a choice between actions or goals with conflicting positive and negative outcomes. However, the appropriate action or goal in conflicting situations often depends on physiological pressures like hunger, stress and mating opportunities. For example, the need for resources within an environment, such as food, drives approach behaviour, whereas threats to survival, such as pred ....Hunger flexibly modifies hypothalamic neural circuits responding to threat. Animal and human behaviour frequently involves a choice between actions or goals with conflicting positive and negative outcomes. However, the appropriate action or goal in conflicting situations often depends on physiological pressures like hunger, stress and mating opportunities. For example, the need for resources within an environment, such as food, drives approach behaviour, whereas threats to survival, such as predator cues, enhance avoidance behaviour. This project will uncover the neural circuitry and endocrine mechanisms through which hunger influences hypothalamic threat-detecting circuits that suppress food intake. These studies provide a new hypothalamic model to understand risk/reward decision in the brain.Read moreRead less
The Role of Colour and Luminance in Spatial Location. How does the brain form our impression of the world? Black and white images appear normal to us. However, colour images without luminance variation have little depth, suggesting that the brain does not process colour in the same way as luminance. A series of fresh experiments examine how colour and luminance are utilised for seeing the depth and position of objects. The results will help us to understand how the first stages of visual process ....The Role of Colour and Luminance in Spatial Location. How does the brain form our impression of the world? Black and white images appear normal to us. However, colour images without luminance variation have little depth, suggesting that the brain does not process colour in the same way as luminance. A series of fresh experiments examine how colour and luminance are utilised for seeing the depth and position of objects. The results will help us to understand how the first stages of visual processing in the brain shape our sense of the world, and help develop theories of human vision, as well as animal and machine models of vision.Read moreRead less
Co-evolution of Cooperation, Mindreading, and Morality. The project aims to investigate the evolutionary and cultural–historical underpinnings of human cooperation. Human cooperation is critical to meet contemporary challenges to humanity such as climate change and humanitarian emergencies. Yet, when cooperation incurs some cost to benefit others, how can cooperation emerge? The project’s main contention is that human cooperation co-evolved with the human capacities to read each other’s minds an ....Co-evolution of Cooperation, Mindreading, and Morality. The project aims to investigate the evolutionary and cultural–historical underpinnings of human cooperation. Human cooperation is critical to meet contemporary challenges to humanity such as climate change and humanitarian emergencies. Yet, when cooperation incurs some cost to benefit others, how can cooperation emerge? The project’s main contention is that human cooperation co-evolved with the human capacities to read each other’s minds and to monitor and sanction each other’s deeds in the social context of pursuing a collective goal for a greater good. The project plans to tests the theoretical integrity of this contention through computer simulations and its empirical validity through laboratory experiments and cross-cultural studies.Read moreRead less
Understanding secrecy in everyday life. This project aims to undertake the first systematic investigation of secrecy in everyday life. Secrecy is often vital in professional and personal life, but current scientific understanding of the costs and processes of secrecy is limited. This project proposes using innovative methodologies to estimate the psychological costs of secrecy and test an intervention to reduce these costs. Expected outcomes include developing theory, advancing methodology, and ....Understanding secrecy in everyday life. This project aims to undertake the first systematic investigation of secrecy in everyday life. Secrecy is often vital in professional and personal life, but current scientific understanding of the costs and processes of secrecy is limited. This project proposes using innovative methodologies to estimate the psychological costs of secrecy and test an intervention to reduce these costs. Expected outcomes include developing theory, advancing methodology, and building research capacity in supporting exceptional scholars. Significant benefits include educating community members about how to combat the harmful effects of secrecy.Read moreRead less
The Heart of Health Care: Advancing Emotional Well-being, Engagement and Performance in Hospitals. This research will improve our understanding of the drivers of effective health care delivery and will identify practical ways to improve the well-being, performance, retention and engagement of health care professionals and improve patient care, satisfaction and safety. In light of significant staffing shortages of health care professionals, the knowledge created will have substantial benefits in ....The Heart of Health Care: Advancing Emotional Well-being, Engagement and Performance in Hospitals. This research will improve our understanding of the drivers of effective health care delivery and will identify practical ways to improve the well-being, performance, retention and engagement of health care professionals and improve patient care, satisfaction and safety. In light of significant staffing shortages of health care professionals, the knowledge created will have substantial benefits in developing more effective models of quality care. In addition this research will enable health care professionals to build holistic, adaptable and multidisciplinary approaches to patient care in order to ensure a sustainable health care system for the future.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100125
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$385,536.00
Summary
Human visual perception: Connecting genes, brain and behaviour. This project aims to reveal the relationship between genes, brain and behaviour in visual perception, where underlying brain activity can be decoded from electrical signals. Modern molecular genetics promises unprecedented insights into human psychology. But progress has been slower than expected because the brain mechanisms linking genes to behaviours are incredibly complex. Project results are expected to show how common variation ....Human visual perception: Connecting genes, brain and behaviour. This project aims to reveal the relationship between genes, brain and behaviour in visual perception, where underlying brain activity can be decoded from electrical signals. Modern molecular genetics promises unprecedented insights into human psychology. But progress has been slower than expected because the brain mechanisms linking genes to behaviours are incredibly complex. Project results are expected to show how common variations in genes affect our brain's response to visual stimulation, and how this in turn alters our perceptual experience and behavioural reactions. These discoveries aim to cast new light on the architecture and development of the mind, and provide a new model for investigating the genetic basis of other psychological traits.Read moreRead less