Attention, Memory, Perception, & Action

Our members conduct research to understand how information processing and subsequent actions are shaped by goals, knowledge, individual differences, health, and experience. Across our group, we have expertise in auditory, object and face perception, attentional control and working memory, learning and long-term memory, action planning, and motor learning. Our work spans the fundamental to applied spectrum and brings together sensitive behavioural, eye-tracking, motion-capture and electrophysiological techniques. The ultimate goal of our research is to understand how attention, memory, perception and action shape our interactions with the world around us and how those processes differ with age, neurodiversity and psychopathology. 

 

Current Research Programmes: 

 

Attention, memory, perception, and action through the life span 

The ability to process and act on information changes with age. Our research in this programme has focused both on understanding children's information processing abilities and the impact ageing has on cognitive performance. This work stream also explores the factors that may mitigate age-related changes in thinking skills, including lifelong musical experience. Such fundamental understanding then informs opportunities for early intervention and treatment.  

Examples of recent work: 

Assessing the Effect of Musical Experience on Cognitive Function in Older Age: A Coordinated Analysis. 

Comparable rest-related promotion of spatial memory consolidation in younger and older adults. 

 

Attention, memory, perception, and action for wellbeing 

Optimal cognitive functioning is integral to healthy living, and efforts to improve wellbeing benefit from research on sources of and support for maladaptive cognition as well as how diversity in cognitive abilities can be understood and supported. Our research in this programme has focused on understanding the nature of perceptual hallucinations in clinical and non-clinical populations, the potential for short bouts of exercise and wakeful rest as a memory-promoting interventions, and the cognitive bases of neurodiversity. 

Examples of recent work: 

Correlates of Hallucinatory Experiences in the General Population: An International Multisite Replication Study. 

Higher intensity exercise after encoding is more conducive to episodic memory retention than lower intensity exercise: A field study in endurance runners. 

 

Attention, memory, perception, and action in different social and environmental contexts 

Humans operate in diverse social and environmental contexts on a day-to-day basis. Our research in this programme has focused on how social dimensions -- ownership over objects and space, cooperative and competitive orientations, and perception of facial characteristics -- influence basic cognitive mechanisms and how that translates to behaviour. 

Examples of recent work: 

Affective compatibility with the self modulates the self-prioritisation effect 

Methodological issues when using face prototypes: A case study on the Faceaurus dataset

 

Attention, memory, perception, and action with technology 

As technology is increasingly integrated into our society and culture, it is important to understand the cognitive processes that support use of technology as well as the cognitive consequences of technology use. Our research in this programme has focused on the use of artificial intelligence in learning, human augmentation and robotics, esports performance, and effects of screen use. 

Examples of recent work: 

Maximising Coefficiency of Human-Robot Handovers Through Reinforcement Learning 

The paradox of information abundance: Answers provided by popular information-seeking tools lead to differences in trust, memorability and desire for more information