PSYC3023: Special Topics in Psychology – Semester 2, 2104
Title of project
Eye movements in driving
Supervisor
Dr Vanessa Beanland
Contact details
Vanessa.Beanland@anu.edu.au
Project background
Driving is a highly visual task: we must constantly scan the
environment for information, including behavioural cues (e.g.,
traffic lights, signs) and potential threats (e.g., vehicles that may
come into conflict with us). As such, considerable research has
been devoted to understanding how drivers detect and process
visual information, including examining their eye movements.
This project will involve using an ASL Mobile Eye XG headmounted eyetracker with an integrated scene camera to study
drivers’ eye movements in a driving-related visual task.
Students will be required to collect data using the ASL system
and to keep detailed records of the data collection process,
noting any problems that arise during the data collection and/or
analyses phases, in order to develop a lab manual that describes
the best practice that should be followed in future studies.
Pre-requisites
Applicants must have achieved a mark of 75% or higher in
PSYC2007 Biological Basis of Behaviour.
Proposed Assessment
Assessment will be formalised after discussion with the students,
but will include:
 attendance at regular meetings with Dr Beanland;
 data collection and maintenance of lab notebooks;
 written report or lab manual describing the optimised
data collection processes; and
 oral presentation to the Cognition & Perception Group.
Places available
2-3
PSYC3023: Special Topics in Psychology – Semester 2, 2104
Title of project
Supervisor
Contact details
Project background
Personality and driving
Dr Vanessa Beanland & Dr Martin Sellbom
Vanessa.Beanland@anu.edu.au
Personality traits are meaningful predictors of many significant
life outcomes, including mortality. Several studies have
investigated the relationship between specific personality traits
and driving behaviours, e.g., aggression and speeding, in an
attempt to identify traits associated with elevated crash risk.
These studies, while valuable, are limited in that they examine
only a narrow range of personality constructs and thus do not
necessarily reveal which traits in constellation best predict
aberrant driving behaviours.
This project involves collecting data from a range of measures of
driving behaviour, attitudes towards driving and road safety, and
comprehensive measures of personality, in order to better
explore the relationship between these variables in young
drivers.
Pre-requisites
Proposed Assessment
Places available
Students will be required to collect survey-based data, attend
weekly lab meetings, and conduct a literature review on
personality and driving.
Applicants must have achieved an average mark of 70% or higher
across all of their psychology courses.
Applicants must have successfully completed, or be concurrently
enrolled in PSYC3026 (Personality).
Assessment will be formalised after discussion with the students,
but will include:
 attendance and participation at regular lab meetings with
the Personality, Psychopathy and Measurement Group;
 data collection and data entry; and
 a systematic literature review.
2-4
PSYC3023: Special Topics in Psychology – Semester 2, 2104
Title of project
Recovery of content suppressed from visual awareness: Insight
into the mechanisms of conscious object perception
Supervisor
Dr Stephanie Goodhew
Contact details
stephanie.goodhew@anu.edu.au
Project background
When we look at a scene, we are conscious of only a small
fraction of the available information at a given point in time. It is
important to understand, therefore, the mechanisms that
determine what we consciously perceive, and when, and also the
extent to which stimuli can influence behaviour in the absence of
awareness.
This individual research project will investigate such questions
using behavioural visual masking techniques, in which the
conscious perception of one stimulus is lost due to the
presentation of another close in space and time. In particular, it
will focus on how content that would otherwise be suppressed
from awareness can be recovered, with a view to enhancing our
understanding of the mechanisms that render perceptual inputs
to the brain consciously accessible.
Pre-requisites
Applicants must have achieved a mark of 75% or higher in
PSYC2008 Perception & Cognition.
Proposed Assessment
Assessment will be formalised after discussion with the students,
but will include:
 attendance at regular meetings with Dr Goodhew;
 contribution to experimental design
 data collection
 data analysis
 written report in the form of a scientific article (including
introduction, method, results and discussion)
Places available
1
PSYC3023: Special Topics in Psychology – Semester 2, 2104
Title of project
Online research: It's not just surveys anymore
Supervisor
Lisa Stewart
Contact details
Lisa.Stewart@anu.edu.au
Project background
Psychological research on the web has exploded in recent years.
However academics are largely unaware of the range of online
opportunities available to them or the potential pitfalls. This
project oriented course will focus on developing the practical
skills and learning the core concepts used to design and conduct
independent web-based research studies. Course topics will
include: currently available and emerging technologies and
resources; privacy, data security and ethical issues; study
planning; key technology concepts; basic online study
development and troubleshooting skills; data cleaning, analysis
and reporting methods.
Pre-requisites
Applicants should have completed PSYC2009, Quantitative
Methods in Psychology.
Proposed Assessment
Assessment will be formalised after discussion with the students,
but will include:
 attendance at regular meetings;
 development of an online study, data collection and
analysis;
 written report; and
 oral presentation.
Places available
5-6