Reconciling perceptual and cognitive accounts of dyslexia: The neural rate deficit hypothesis. The proposed research will form part of a co-ordinated program to understand the causes of dyslexia, a disorder that affects a large number of children and often persists into adulthood. It complements parallel efforts to elucidate the genetic basis of dyslexia, the heterogeneity and subtypes of dyslexia, and the developmental precursors to the disorder. This research will inform early intervention and ....Reconciling perceptual and cognitive accounts of dyslexia: The neural rate deficit hypothesis. The proposed research will form part of a co-ordinated program to understand the causes of dyslexia, a disorder that affects a large number of children and often persists into adulthood. It complements parallel efforts to elucidate the genetic basis of dyslexia, the heterogeneity and subtypes of dyslexia, and the developmental precursors to the disorder. This research will inform early intervention and remediation efforts and will also assist in the understanding of the normal process of reading acquisition in children.Read moreRead less
A longitudinal study of language learning to assess early intervention outcomes in pre-school children with impaired hearing. Overseas research suggests that young children with impaired hearing and normal non-verbal cognition can develop normal language if hearing aid fitting and intervention occur before 6 months of age. Australian studies show considerable language delays in most hearing-impaired children of primary-school age. We will study the spoken language learning of hearing-impaired ....A longitudinal study of language learning to assess early intervention outcomes in pre-school children with impaired hearing. Overseas research suggests that young children with impaired hearing and normal non-verbal cognition can develop normal language if hearing aid fitting and intervention occur before 6 months of age. Australian studies show considerable language delays in most hearing-impaired children of primary-school age. We will study the spoken language learning of hearing-impaired children up to age 6 years in Victoria. The project will investigate crucial factors in achieving normal language learning in hard-of-hearing children and the role of early intervention. Normal language outcomes would enhance the educational and career prospects of hearing-impaired children and result in community cost savings.
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Assessment and treatment software for developmental disabilities based on neuroscientific theories for information processing. Performance on tasks relating to fluency of reading, language and sensory motor integration is impaired to some degree in children with dyslexia, ADHD, autism, and intellectual disability (ID). Thus our aim is to develop and test, to the point of commercial release, software for assessment of visual and auditory performance relating to social, language and literacy diff ....Assessment and treatment software for developmental disabilities based on neuroscientific theories for information processing. Performance on tasks relating to fluency of reading, language and sensory motor integration is impaired to some degree in children with dyslexia, ADHD, autism, and intellectual disability (ID). Thus our aim is to develop and test, to the point of commercial release, software for assessment of visual and auditory performance relating to social, language and literacy difficulties for young children. Furthermore software which aims to train attention and improve speed of visual object recognition will be developed and if effective as a treatment to improve reading and social interactions in ID, will be released by Fildes Foundation as an easily accessible multi-media based home/school therapy.Read moreRead less
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
Determinants of Audio-Visual effects in degraded and non-degraded speech. Seeing a speaker's face can affect the perception of their speech in a number of ways. This project proposes a detailed comparison of factors that affect Audio-Visual (AV) facilitation of degraded speech detection and identification. Detection-based tasks should be more sensitive to signal based correlations whereas identification-based effects more sensitive to complementary information. The significance of the current pr ....Determinants of Audio-Visual effects in degraded and non-degraded speech. Seeing a speaker's face can affect the perception of their speech in a number of ways. This project proposes a detailed comparison of factors that affect Audio-Visual (AV) facilitation of degraded speech detection and identification. Detection-based tasks should be more sensitive to signal based correlations whereas identification-based effects more sensitive to complementary information. The significance of the current proposal is that it offers both a strategy and a connected series of experiments for determining key behavioural constraints on AV speech integration. Understanding AV interactions will build links between neurophysiological processes and coherent perception and have important implications for AV application.Read moreRead less
Stochastic, Neurally-Plausible Models for Selective Attention and Decision Making. An understanding of the basic cognitive processes involved in attention and decision making is the goal of international research effort in a number of disciplines. The benefits expected from such understanding include improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of cognitive deficits and improved occupational safety and efficiency in settings involving interaction with complex systems, such air traffi ....Stochastic, Neurally-Plausible Models for Selective Attention and Decision Making. An understanding of the basic cognitive processes involved in attention and decision making is the goal of international research effort in a number of disciplines. The benefits expected from such understanding include improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of cognitive deficits and improved occupational safety and efficiency in settings involving interaction with complex systems, such air traffic control, airline cockpits, motor vehicles, and process management. By developing mathematical models of these processes and the neural mechanisms that underlie them, this project will contribute to this understanding. It will also provide international postdoctoral opportunties for Australian-trained Ph.D. graduates.Read moreRead less
An Integrated Theory of Attention and Decision Making. Biologically, the fundamental computational task carried out by the human brain is the translation of perception into action. To perform this translation, attentional processes select relevant stimuli from the environment and decision processes then identify the selected stimuli. This project develops an integrated theory of attention and decision making in simple visual tasks, which will help us understand how these tasks are carried out i ....An Integrated Theory of Attention and Decision Making. Biologically, the fundamental computational task carried out by the human brain is the translation of perception into action. To perform this translation, attentional processes select relevant stimuli from the environment and decision processes then identify the selected stimuli. This project develops an integrated theory of attention and decision making in simple visual tasks, which will help us understand how these tasks are carried out in the brain. Understanding how these tasks are performed biologically will aid in the design of autonomous information-gathering and decision-making agents whose actions simulate human behaviour. Read moreRead less
The Stochastic Dynamics of Visual Attention. This project develops and tests a class of mathematical models of how information is represented statistically in the human visual system and how that representation is modified by selective attention. These models synthesise current theories about how the visual system encodes information and how people make judgements on the basis of that information. The domain of application of the existing class of models will be extended to allow them to predi ....The Stochastic Dynamics of Visual Attention. This project develops and tests a class of mathematical models of how information is represented statistically in the human visual system and how that representation is modified by selective attention. These models synthesise current theories about how the visual system encodes information and how people make judgements on the basis of that information. The domain of application of the existing class of models will be extended to allow them to predict performance in more complex settings than has hitherto been the case. A program of experimental studies will test the models by measuring human performance in response to computer-generated stimuli.
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Remembering that things have changed: A behavioural, pharmacological and biochemical examination of the differences between consolidation and re-consolidation in the day-old chick. This project has five national benefits. 1) It addresses a fundamental scientific and practical problem: to determine whether re-consolidation is actually a repetition of consolidation or in fact a distinct process; 2) it will provide a comprehensive account of how the two processes compare at a biochemical level; 3) ....Remembering that things have changed: A behavioural, pharmacological and biochemical examination of the differences between consolidation and re-consolidation in the day-old chick. This project has five national benefits. 1) It addresses a fundamental scientific and practical problem: to determine whether re-consolidation is actually a repetition of consolidation or in fact a distinct process; 2) it will provide a comprehensive account of how the two processes compare at a biochemical level; 3) it may ultimately provide a pharmacological and behavioural approach to modifying troubling or unwanted memories such as the concerns which may result in post-traumatic stress disorder; 4) it will contribute to Australia's international reputation in behavioural neuroscience and 5) it will provide outstanding training opportunities for Australian undergraduate and postgraduate research students in behavioural neuroscience.Read moreRead less
Diagnosing cross-cultural communicative ability in English as a second language to improve language learning and social integration. This project benefits a number of stakeholders. Its main long-term benefit will be to second language learners of English in Australia, particularly migrants and international students, who are most in need of training in cross-cultural communication to facilitate their settlement in the Australian community. As a consequence, the project benefits Australia as a wh ....Diagnosing cross-cultural communicative ability in English as a second language to improve language learning and social integration. This project benefits a number of stakeholders. Its main long-term benefit will be to second language learners of English in Australia, particularly migrants and international students, who are most in need of training in cross-cultural communication to facilitate their settlement in the Australian community. As a consequence, the project benefits Australia as a whole by making migrants' skills more quickly and readily available to the labour market, and allowing them to contribute more fully to the community. The project outcomes can also be adapted for other languages and address the national research priority of safeguarding Australia by helping to enhance understanding of the region.Read moreRead less