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
Gendered engagement and participation in sciences and mathematics. This project aims to identify the reasons for the declining numbers of girls (and boys) studying sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects during secondary school. This project will conduct complementary longitudinal studies in Australia, in collaboration with leading international scholars, analysing declining motivations, especially for girls/women, to show how this predicts different STEM career choices ....Gendered engagement and participation in sciences and mathematics. This project aims to identify the reasons for the declining numbers of girls (and boys) studying sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects during secondary school. This project will conduct complementary longitudinal studies in Australia, in collaboration with leading international scholars, analysing declining motivations, especially for girls/women, to show how this predicts different STEM career choices and actual occupational outcomes, to yield theoretical developments and inform policy to improve the participation of girls/women (and boys/men) in these fields. Expected outcomes of this project include the provision of comprehensive evidence-informed recommendations to Federal and State government, industry and education stakeholders, which will enable the coordinated development of intervention programs to address these issues.Read moreRead less
Language processing in children with high functioning autism: Evidence from eye tracking. The language abilities in people with autism predict their response to intervention and their cognitive outcome. Young children with autism with poor language abilities are severely disadvantaged. Yet we understand little about what impedes their language development and their interpretation of what others say. The research findings will make a significant contribution by enriching our understanding of why ....Language processing in children with high functioning autism: Evidence from eye tracking. The language abilities in people with autism predict their response to intervention and their cognitive outcome. Young children with autism with poor language abilities are severely disadvantaged. Yet we understand little about what impedes their language development and their interpretation of what others say. The research findings will make a significant contribution by enriching our understanding of why and how comprehension may go astray, as well as helping us to identify subgroups within the autism population.Read moreRead less
Determining the neural mechanisms of visual stimuli and motor responses. This project aims to determine how we select actions to visual cues rapidly, unconsciously and automatically. Learning associations between visual stimuli and motor responses is part of normal development and continues throughout life. Rapid deployment of these actions is often critical for safety yet we have limited knowledge of how the human brain does this. This project will use neuroimaging tools to characterise the spa ....Determining the neural mechanisms of visual stimuli and motor responses. This project aims to determine how we select actions to visual cues rapidly, unconsciously and automatically. Learning associations between visual stimuli and motor responses is part of normal development and continues throughout life. Rapid deployment of these actions is often critical for safety yet we have limited knowledge of how the human brain does this. This project will use neuroimaging tools to characterise the spatial and temporal neural architecture underlying these processes and determine how the dorsal and ventral streams of visual processing, specialised for motor control and recognition respectively, interact in vision-based actions as these actions become learned.Outcomes will provide new frameworks for driving improvement in any domain in which goal-directed actions depend on the rapid processing of visual information, including human-machine interfaces for defence, economic development, education, health, science and technology.Read moreRead less