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Last Feed Sample: Next Tuesday 2nd December Tracy Huang will be presenting her confirmation talk entitled,
Role of External Cues in the Maintenance of Time-Based Prospective Memory Intentions
Date: 2nd Dec
Time: 2pm – 4pm
Room 306
Fri, 28 Nov 2008 6:38:56 PST
Congratulations and best wishes to Dr James Allen (and his supervisor Nerina Jimmieson) on the award of his PhD. Another excellent achievement.
Fri, 28 Nov 2008 6:38:56 PST
The Psychosocial Characteristics of Children and Families With and Without Feeding Difficulties: An Intervention Study. Presented by Michelle Adamson - PhD Candidate PFSC
Feeding difficulties commonly emerge during toddlerhood. Indeed, some 25 - 45% of children under the age of four will demonstrate difficulties at mealtimes including eating only a very limited range of foods, refusing new foods or not eating enough. Sequelae for the child and family can be significant, and may include impaired growth, malnutrition, parental stress and reduced social participation. Behavioural interventions have been shown to be efficacious in ameliorating feeding difficulties; however the literature to date has consisted primarily of case study methodology, focused on children with medical and/or developmental comorbidity, and using therapists as primary agents of change. In contrast, training parents in behavioural techniques is more likely to result in change in the home environment, may be more cost-effective, and addresses maladaptive parenting strategies identified amongst parents of children with feeding difficulties, including the provision of less specific instruction, negative comments about eating and little or poorly timed praise. Group delivery of parenting interventions may provide further advantage in facilitating reciprocal support and feedback between parents, and normalising parent concerns. The literature is yet to provide compelling evidence of the efficacy of group-based, behavioural parent training for normally developing toddlers with feeding difficulties, particularly with regard to outcomes beyond child feeding behaviours. The current research will thus comprise: a) piloting of a newly-developed measure of toddler feeding difficulties; b) investigation of the psychosocial correlates of toddlers and families with and without feeding difficulties; and c) a randomised controlled trial of Fuss-Free Mealtimes Triple P � a group-based parent training program for parents of children aged 18 - 48 months with feeding issues. Preliminary data from piloting of the newly-developed Parent and Toddler Feeding Assessment (PATFA) will be presented.
Date: Tues 25/11/08 at 12pm
Where: The Parenting and Family Support Centre training room (Building: 24, Room: s227)
Fri, 28 Nov 2008 6:38:56 PST
Congratulations to Troy Visser, who has received a UQ Early Career Researcher grant for Identifying sequential objects: The whys and hows of avoiding capacity limits. This is an excellent outcome.
Fri, 28 Nov 2008 6:38:56 PST
Congratulations to the following people, who have received extremely well deserved promotions in the latest round
John McLean and Nerina Jimmieson have been promoted to Associate Professor.
Derek Arnold and Paul Harnett have been promoted to Senior Lecturer.
Helena Purkis has been promoted to Level B Research Academic.
These promotions all represent many years of very hard work and a high standard of excellence. Congratulations all round.
Fri, 28 Nov 2008 6:38:56 PST
Congratulations to School staff who received teaching awards at today's Faculty event.
Vanessa Cobham received an SBS Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence
Mark Nielsen and Jason Tangen received a UQ Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning for their excellent work on the Wash U program over the past years.
Congratulations to all on these well-deserved awards.
Fri, 28 Nov 2008 6:38:56 PST
The Psychonomics Seminar Series 2008
Next MONDAY, at 3pm in room 302, we have the great pleasure to announce that the one and only Susannah Whitney will present a talk titled A Controlled Study using a Serious Game for Training Infantry Teams Please note the different day!
Dr Whitney gained her PhD here at UQ in our very own beloved school of Psychology. She is now gainfully employed as a Cognitive Scientist in the Land Operations Division, Defence Science and Technology Organisation.
Abstract:
Computer games are increasingly being used by armed forces around the world to complement conventional training methods. This is because many computer games can be customised to provide military personnel with unique training experiences that are too costly or hazardous to conduct in the field. While such games are being used for serious applications there have been few empirical studies evaluating the extent to which these games provide measurable training benefits to military personnel in the environment where it matters most – in the field. This case study presents the methodology and results of a controlled study conducted by researchers from the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation which examined the use of a computer game to train infantry team skills.
The aim of the study was to determine if game-based training conducted with the computer game Virtual Battle Space 2 (VBS2) would provide a measurable transfer of training benefit to a representative sample of infantry personnel. VBS2 is a first person shooter simulation that is currently used by the Australian Defence Force and other armed forces for experimentation and training. It is highly customisable and allows users to create scenarios for specific purposes. VBS2 allows users to conduct networked missions and is suited for low-level tactical land force activities.
Twenty-two military personnel from the Australian Army took part in the study. Participants were allocated into two groups - an experimental group (which received game-based training with VBS2) and a control group (which received field-based training) - on the basis of their computer game experience using stratified random sampling. Both groups received equal amounts of training (approximately 8 hours) on an infantry activity under the direction of an experienced section commander. Each commander provided their group with performance feedback throughout the training sessions in accordance with Army training practices. A pre-and post-test study design was employed to examine the transfer of training from the game environment to the field. Both groups completed the infantry task in the field (prior to receiving training) to assess their baseline skill levels. Pre- and post-training performance was assessed using a set of measures developed by the researchers in conjunction with military subject matter experts (SMEs). To reduce bias and improve objectivity, four military SMEs who were not involved in the training completed the assessments.
Findings from the study indicated that both groups’ performance improved during training. However, it was found that the performance of the control group was significantly better than the experimental group on measures of post-training performance. Limitations with using VBS2 as an infantry training tool were identified, which provided some explanation for the study findings. Overall, the study provided much needed empirical data on the pros and cons of using computer games for team training, and was an excellent case study of how to conduct applied research in the field. The implications of the findings for using serious games for training will be discussed along with possible areas for future research.
Fri, 28 Nov 2008 6:38:56 PST
This Friday, at 1pm in room 306, we have an excruciatingly exciting confirmation talk...
Warrick Roseboom will be presenting a talk titled, Temporal ventriloquism is relatively repulsive!
An abstract follows:
It is well established that that different sensory events can become attracted toward one another across space and time. This can facilitate a sense of relatedness between cues arising from different sensory modalities. Humans, however, exist in cluttered environments, with many unrelated sensory events occurring in close spatial and temporal proximity. Accordingly, it is reasonable to conceive not only of integrating processes, which enhance a sense of relatedness across time, but also of temporally segregating processes. By simulating a temporally cluttered environment, we have shown that timing perception is shaped by interactions that can exaggerate the apparent temporal distance between discrete sensory events. We found that the point of perceptual synchrony for audio and visual events can be shifted away from the presence of additional, preceding or succeeding, audio or visual events. We establish that this effect is driven by a shift of audio-visual timing, rather than by a probabilistic analysis, and that it can enhance the sensitivity of timing judgments. These data suggest the existence of perceptual processes that segregate unrelated sensory events across time. These effects are likely to be integral to daily life, as humans exist in cluttered environments wherein many unrelated events occur in close temporal proximity.
Fri, 28 Nov 2008 6:38:56 PST
Congratulations and well done to Dr Christina Samios (and her supervisor Ken Pakenham) on the award of her PhD.
Further congratulations and very best wishes to Dr Susan Conway (and her supervisor Emeritus Professor Pat Noller) on the award of her PhD. This is an excellent achievement of which she can be proud.
Fri, 28 Nov 2008 6:38:56 PST
The school seminar series continues this Friday with a presentation by Dr Judith Reinhard, Qld Brain Institute.
DATE: Friday, 24 October
LOCATION: Room 302/303 McElwain, 3-4 pm
TITLE: Vision, olfaction, and memory: Lessons from the honeybee
ABSTRACT:
The honeybee’s brain contains less than 1 million neurons, but this tiny insect nevertheless displays an impressive capacity for processing, learning and recalling environmental cues to orientate in its surroundings and successfully forage for food. Honeybees are able to discriminate between thousands of different odours, and form long-term memories of food sources associated with a particular scent. They easily learn colours, patterns and shapes of objects. Bees are also able to perform complex ‘cognitive’ tasks: they can categorize and group similar objects, learn rules, transfer rules to a new context, and master abstract inter-relationships. I will talk about some of the ‘cognitive’ performances honeybees are capable of, including selective attention and associative recall of visual and olfactory memories.
BIOSKETCH:
Dr Reinhard has a research background in invertebrate neuroscience and behavior. Following the award of her PhD from the University of Bayreurth, Germany, Dr Reinhard has held research positions at CSIRO Entomology (Canberra), CNRS Neurobiology (Marseille, France) and ANU. She has been a Senior Research Fellow at QBI since 2007.
Fri, 28 Nov 2008 6:38:56 PST
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