Expecting the unexpected: how people prioritise predictability. This project aims to investigate how people represent and use information about unpredictability in their environment. Seeing too much predictability is problematic, but seeing too little can also be a problem, for example inappropriate "learned helplessness" can occur, whereby people feel disempowered because the world is seen as random. Recent findings demonstrated a bias in fundamental learning that may maintain these inappropria ....Expecting the unexpected: how people prioritise predictability. This project aims to investigate how people represent and use information about unpredictability in their environment. Seeing too much predictability is problematic, but seeing too little can also be a problem, for example inappropriate "learned helplessness" can occur, whereby people feel disempowered because the world is seen as random. Recent findings demonstrated a bias in fundamental learning that may maintain these inappropriate beliefs about unpredictability. This bias is not anticipated by formal theories of learning. The project will investigate how this bias is brought about by first formalising a novel theory of fundamental learning and then systematically testing its assumptions.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100292
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$380,868.00
Summary
From known to unknown: Individual differences in associative generalisation. This project aims to investigate how and why individuals differ in the way that they generalise from past experiences to novel situations. The goal of the project is to develop an innovative and formal model capable of predicting how a given individual will generalise based on their beliefs and personal traits, and to better understand how people behave when there are multiple conflicting ways to generalise. The expecte ....From known to unknown: Individual differences in associative generalisation. This project aims to investigate how and why individuals differ in the way that they generalise from past experiences to novel situations. The goal of the project is to develop an innovative and formal model capable of predicting how a given individual will generalise based on their beliefs and personal traits, and to better understand how people behave when there are multiple conflicting ways to generalise. The expected outcomes of the project are a better understanding and measurement of generalisation, a fundamental psychological process. The outcomes of this project can be used to benefit the development of clinical treatment for anxiety disorders, of which overgeneralisation of fear responses is a defining feature. Read moreRead less
The role of inductive reasoning in generalization of associative learning. This project seeks to develop a better understanding of how learning is generalised to novel stimuli. Learning about associations around us helps us to obtain resources and minimise threat. A critical task for the learner is how far to extrapolate this knowledge: too little generalisation reduces the benefits of learning and too much risks distraction and maladaptive responding. Recent evidence has shown an important role ....The role of inductive reasoning in generalization of associative learning. This project seeks to develop a better understanding of how learning is generalised to novel stimuli. Learning about associations around us helps us to obtain resources and minimise threat. A critical task for the learner is how far to extrapolate this knowledge: too little generalisation reduces the benefits of learning and too much risks distraction and maladaptive responding. Recent evidence has shown an important role for reasoning processes in human associative learning. This project aims to apply insights from the inductive reasoning literature to study the role of hypothesis and category induction in generalisation of associative learning. The results are expected to have important implications for our understanding of associative learning and generalisation which may inform techniques to promote adaptive generalisation in fields such as education, training and clinical practice.Read moreRead less
Cognitive and neural causes of language impairment in autism. Autism affects around 1 in 200 of the Australian population. The social costs of autism are huge, both for people with the disorder and for their relatives and carers. The cost to the Australian economy is estimated at $5-7 billion each year. The proposed research will lead to better understanding of the causes of autism, from brain structure and functioning through to cognitive mechanisms and symptoms. This will in turn inform geneti ....Cognitive and neural causes of language impairment in autism. Autism affects around 1 in 200 of the Australian population. The social costs of autism are huge, both for people with the disorder and for their relatives and carers. The cost to the Australian economy is estimated at $5-7 billion each year. The proposed research will lead to better understanding of the causes of autism, from brain structure and functioning through to cognitive mechanisms and symptoms. This will in turn inform genetic research. The comparison of autism and specific language impairment (SLI) will help determine whether remediation strategies for SLI are likely to be applicable to autism. The project will establish Macquarie University as Australia's first centre for neuro-cognitive autism research.Read moreRead less