Multidimensional unfolding: the latitude of acceptance and the structure of the single peaked response process in a multidimensional space. The latitude of acceptance and the operational function that structures the single peaked response process have only recently been understood as central to unidimensional models for the measurement of attitude, preference and choice. They have been neglected in multidimensional models. This project will formalise these two central components in a multidimens ....Multidimensional unfolding: the latitude of acceptance and the structure of the single peaked response process in a multidimensional space. The latitude of acceptance and the operational function that structures the single peaked response process have only recently been understood as central to unidimensional models for the measurement of attitude, preference and choice. They have been neglected in multidimensional models. This project will formalise these two central components in a multidimensional space. The operational function governs the relationship between any item-person distance and the latitude of acceptance defines a multidimensional hyper-sphere within which the more positive response is more likely. The project will articulate and operationalise these models for a range of typical response formats from ranking to pairwise preferences.Read moreRead less
Evidence-based improvement of statistical inference practices in psychology and other disciplines. The commonest ways that many researchers currently draw conclusions from their data have been shown to be inefficient, and often used incorrectly. This project will develop new, better statistical representations and software tools for data analysis. It will evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness of these. Wide adoption of these techniques and tools will enhance the international reputation ....Evidence-based improvement of statistical inference practices in psychology and other disciplines. The commonest ways that many researchers currently draw conclusions from their data have been shown to be inefficient, and often used incorrectly. This project will develop new, better statistical representations and software tools for data analysis. It will evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness of these. Wide adoption of these techniques and tools will enhance the international reputation and competitiveness of Australian psychological science. Adoption by Australian researchers across the social and behavioural sciences, and in other disciplines including medicine, economics and ecology, will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Australian research, with consequential wide-ranging benefits to the Australian community.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354799
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Complex networked social systems. A recurring contemporary theme across many social science disciplines is the significant role of social networks in shaping the course of interpersonal interactions and their cascading social consequences. The aim of this Initiative is to build a multi- disciplinary Research Network spanning the social and mathematical sciences that can develop a new interdisciplinary science of networks and network-based social processes. The Network's aims will be twofold: f ....Complex networked social systems. A recurring contemporary theme across many social science disciplines is the significant role of social networks in shaping the course of interpersonal interactions and their cascading social consequences. The aim of this Initiative is to build a multi- disciplinary Research Network spanning the social and mathematical sciences that can develop a new interdisciplinary science of networks and network-based social processes. The Network's aims will be twofold: first, an interactive and accessible state-of-the-art research capacity in theory, methods and models for network processes; and, second, the capacity to apply new forms of network understanding to the design and evaluation of innovative intervention strategies for system-level community change.Read moreRead less
Do director board appointments predict whether CEO pay is in line with company performance? Increasing pay differences between CEOs and the average working Australian have resulted in a less equitable and economically divided society. This issue has reached a critical point as taxpayer money is now needed to fund stimulus packages and finance companies facing insolvency while CEO pay on average has remained unchanged or increased. This inequity has the potential to cause social and political ins ....Do director board appointments predict whether CEO pay is in line with company performance? Increasing pay differences between CEOs and the average working Australian have resulted in a less equitable and economically divided society. This issue has reached a critical point as taxpayer money is now needed to fund stimulus packages and finance companies facing insolvency while CEO pay on average has remained unchanged or increased. This inequity has the potential to cause social and political instability. This research will provide much needed knowledge of how to address this issue including pay benchmarks, knowledge derived from international practice, corporate governance indices as well as understanding of how widespread pay norms have developed.Read moreRead less
The development of refined and validated Language Australia ESL Bandscales for improved assessment, reporting and outcomes of English-as-a-second-language learners in schools. One in four school students (migrant-background and indigenous) are non-English speaking background, many speaking English-as-a-second-language or dialect (ESL/ESD). Since many are 'at risk' according to Literacy Benchmarks testing, optimal ESL-informed teaching, reporting and assessment is needed. The ESL Bandscales, wid ....The development of refined and validated Language Australia ESL Bandscales for improved assessment, reporting and outcomes of English-as-a-second-language learners in schools. One in four school students (migrant-background and indigenous) are non-English speaking background, many speaking English-as-a-second-language or dialect (ESL/ESD). Since many are 'at risk' according to Literacy Benchmarks testing, optimal ESL-informed teaching, reporting and assessment is needed. The ESL Bandscales, widely used for 8 years, will be empirically validated using quantitative (Rasch modeling) and qualitative techniques to provide a more trustworthy teaching/reporting map. A team of researchers, including 3 APAIs, will draw on and improve understandings and assessment of Industry Partner teachers of migrant-background and indigenous learners, resulting in a new map(s) of ESL/ESD learning, published as ESL Bandscales II.Read moreRead less
The structure and dynamics of social contact for human disease transmission models. The methodological advances of this project will enable new insights in important social research. They will not only add significantly to national capacity in the modelling of complex social systems but they will also yield practical scientific outcomes in a significant policy domain in Australia and overseas. In Australia, response to diseases such as HIV, HCV and TB need new approaches, and the threat of pan ....The structure and dynamics of social contact for human disease transmission models. The methodological advances of this project will enable new insights in important social research. They will not only add significantly to national capacity in the modelling of complex social systems but they will also yield practical scientific outcomes in a significant policy domain in Australia and overseas. In Australia, response to diseases such as HIV, HCV and TB need new approaches, and the threat of pandemic influenza is significant. Read moreRead less
Categorization and Working Memory: Bridging two Pillars of Cognition. Categorization is a fundamental cognitive skill that underlies much expert behavior, including medical diagnosis. A given task often gives rise to widely divergent strategies across individuals, and flawed strategies have been implicated in prediction errors of experts (e.g., bush fire fighters). This project seeks to identify the underlying variables that determine an individual's strategy acquisition by relating working memo ....Categorization and Working Memory: Bridging two Pillars of Cognition. Categorization is a fundamental cognitive skill that underlies much expert behavior, including medical diagnosis. A given task often gives rise to widely divergent strategies across individuals, and flawed strategies have been implicated in prediction errors of experts (e.g., bush fire fighters). This project seeks to identify the underlying variables that determine an individual's strategy acquisition by relating working memory performance to categorization. Working memory is a core cognitive construct that is quite well understood, but its relationship to category learning has so far remained unexplored. Being able to predict the development of categorization strategies can help maximize expert performance.Read moreRead less
A new kind of dynamics for psychology. In order to remain efficient in real-world decisions, people must dynamically monitor and adjust their cognitive processes. This project aims to develop innovative methods and analyses for dynamics in experimental psychology, using standard paradigms in which task parameters are dynamically manipulated. The development of models of dynamic behaviour will advance the science of psychology and serve as a practical measurement tool for individuals.
Are two processes one too many? An investigation of the viability of the dual-process model of recognition memory. Memory is the glue that holds together our lives and personal identities. While psychologists are developing better and more sophisticated accounts of how it works, many deep questions remain. The present research examines some of these questions in relation to how memory can be decomposed into its component processes and how we are to understand these processes. An appropriate unde ....Are two processes one too many? An investigation of the viability of the dual-process model of recognition memory. Memory is the glue that holds together our lives and personal identities. While psychologists are developing better and more sophisticated accounts of how it works, many deep questions remain. The present research examines some of these questions in relation to how memory can be decomposed into its component processes and how we are to understand these processes. An appropriate understanding of these questions is vital to the development of interventions (both psychological and pharmacological) designed to halt or even reverse memory decline associated with normal aging and age-associated brain disease (such as Alzheimer disease).Read moreRead less
Australian Jurors' Perspectives on Expert Evidence. This inter-state, industry and research collaborative project will shed light on how courts, lawyers and experts can best work together to assist juries in their decision-making task. With the cost of a criminal jury trial running well in excess of $20,000 per day, policy-makers are keen to find ways of improving the efficiency of criminal trials. Improving the performance of the jury system will benefit the Australian community by enhancing th ....Australian Jurors' Perspectives on Expert Evidence. This inter-state, industry and research collaborative project will shed light on how courts, lawyers and experts can best work together to assist juries in their decision-making task. With the cost of a criminal jury trial running well in excess of $20,000 per day, policy-makers are keen to find ways of improving the efficiency of criminal trials. Improving the performance of the jury system will benefit the Australian community by enhancing the quality and reducing the cost of the criminal justice system. By intimately involving the judges and forensic scientists in this project we maximise the potential for the results of our research to be adopted by those in a position to improve the jury system.Read moreRead less