Distinguished Professor Anne Castles from the Department of Cognitive Sciences, along with two of her UK-based collaborators, have won this year’s Economic and Social Research Council Celebrating Impact Prize in the category of ‘Outstanding International Impact,’ based on their highly regarded 2018 paper about bringing the science of reading to reading instruction in classrooms around the world.

The paper, titled, Ending the Reading Wars: Reading Acquisition From Novice to Expert has had over 150,000 views and downloads since its release. The other two winners who were part of the research team were Professor Kathy Rastle of Royal Holloway, University of London and Professor Kate Nation of the University of Oxford.

^{Distinguished Professor Castles is Scientific Director of the Macquarie University Centre for Reading.}

The Celebrating Impact Prize, now in its eighth year, is an annual opportunity to recognise and celebrate the success of ESRC-funded researchers in achieving and enabling outstanding economic or societal impact from excellent research.

The team’s finalist nomination had received letters of endorsement from global and local organisations including The World Bank, Deans for Impact and NSW Department of Education.

ESRC Executive Chair Professor Jennifer Rubin says the winners have very clearly demonstrated the relevance and importance of their work to improving lives. 

“All of these outstanding researchers are already contributing to policy debates in their specialist areas and their influence will likely be felt for many years to come.”

The winners were formally celebrated in a virtual announcement on 12 November. All finalists had a film professionally made about their work and its impact, and the winners were awarded £10,000 ($18,000 AUD) for further research.

Together with colleagues in the Department of Psychology and Department of Educational Studies, Emily is currently working on a research project to better understand what happens in the brain when people socialise with robots. View Emily’s research profile >>

1) In a nutshell, my job is…
To develop research projects that span social robotics, human neuroscience and art/aesthetics. I also lead a brilliant team of PhD students and postdocs, helping them build their own research careers. Additionally, I teach classes that cover these topics to our fantastic cognitive science students.

2) My definition of success is…
Having a job where you get to think creatively, work with awesome collaborators and students, travel the world learning from and teaching others, and share your work with people who might not come into contact with academic research regularly.

3) A person at Macquarie that inspires me is…
Even though I’ve been here less than a year, there are already so many! But one who deserves special mention is Chandi Jayanath, the manager and educational leader of Banksia Cottage childcare centre. My partner and I feel super lucky that our one-year-old son got a place at Banksia, and that is largely because of the warmth, competence, and enthusiasm Chandi exudes in droves – she is a world-class professional and Macquarie is lucky to have her!

4) This year I want to…
Run the New York City Marathon. I finally have a place to run, which is very exciting as it’s the 50th anniversary of the race and will be my 10th marathon. Here’s hoping November’s weather in NYC isn’t too unkind this year.

5) The scariest thing I’ve ever done is…
Go for a very quick dip in the Antarctic Ocean amidst a herd of cantankerous Antarctic fur seals. I was a wimp and just ran in, dived under the water, and then scrambled out of the frigid waters as fast as I could, but some other dude donned a wetsuit and swam a few lengths, pursued by a belligerent bull seal. No thanks!

6) As a kid, I was…
Obsessed with Australia! Seriously. I had to write an essay when I was 10 and growing up in small-town Ohio on the topic of what my life would look like in 2020. I wrote that I would be a vet living in a treehouse in the Tasmanian bush and would travel to Hobart on the weekends to do stand-up comedy. The dreams of the young…!

7) My guilty pleasure is…
An endless appetite for fresh sourdough bread and pungent olive oil. And sure, add a glass of a big, bold Barossa Valley shiraz to the table too, and I won’t complain.

8) I’m scared of…
All the fauna that can kill you here Australia. My partner and I met our first huntsman when driving to campus last week – let’s just say we are lucky that it was only a ‘small’ one and there wasn’t so much traffic when it came out to say hello from under the sun visor!

9) I’m happiest when…
Swimming in the clear blue sunshine in Macquarie’s 50m pool, or taking my baby swimming at the pool or beach.

10) If I had the day off today, you would find me…
Baking cinnamon rolls from scratch in the morning, and then trekking out to the coast to explore one of Sydney’s ocean pools.

Alongside their colleagues in the Department of Cognitive Science, Dr David Kaplan and Dr Matthew Crossley spends their days investigating one of the most complex systems in the known universe – the human brain.

We sat down with them to learn more about the cognitive science behind multi-tasking – that seemingly essential job skill that comes easily to some (hello parents!), but can be a struggle for others.

We’ll start with the obvious question. Is being good at multi-tasking something you’re born with, or is it a skill that can be learned?

Matt: Whether cognitive ability is innate or learned is an instance of the classic – and often controversial –nature versus nurture debate.

Although it’s reasonable to suppose that some aspects of cognitive ability may be innate, the overwhelming story in cognitive science is that the brain has remarkable plasticity – that is, it has a remarkable capacity to change. This means that the opportunities for new learning, memory, and corresponding skill acquisition is immense.  From this point of view, it seems likely that nearly all people are capable of learning just about anything.

Having said that, it’s clear people have individual characteristics and preferences ­– just because the brain is plastic and is likely capable of learning just about anything, that doesn’t mean that it won’t be predisposed to learn some skills over others.

‘Ability to multi-task’ and ‘ability to focus on a single task’ are two ­– ­seemingly opposing – skills that often feature in job ads. Do people usually have a strong tendency to one or the other, or is the human brain flexible enough to switch ‘modes’? 

Matt: This relates to the area of cognitive science that is called cognitive control. Cognitive control research aims to understand how the brain supports flexible and goal-directed plans and actions.

People can certainly multi-task, but it is often unclear how much of this is truly parallel processing versus rapid switching between different tasks. Whatever the case may be, it seems clear that doing one thing with focus will usually result in better performance than dividing attention between many things.

Is there any way to get better at multi-tasking?

Matt: There are several things people can do to facilitate multi-tasking performance. They usually involve making the context and switching cues as salient and distinct as possible.

For instance, a computer programmer might have to program a remote machine from their desktop machine, switching back and forth between the two. Because the two machines might be set up differently, it’s easy to make an error by using the syntax appropriate for one machine while interacting with the other machine. One way to reduce errors would be to make the context of these two consoles as distinct from each other as possible – for example, making the desktop background colours different on the two machines.

So, we can do things differently to re-wire our brain.  But what if we’re an ‘old dog’? Is it true we can’t be taught new tricks?

David: Although cognitive development occurs specifically during infancy, early childhood and adolescence, various forms of learning and skill development occur across the entire lifespan.

Researchers are increasingly appreciating that different plasticity mechanisms are effective at different periods during our lifetime. Some types of plasticity mechanisms only operate during early development — during so-called critical or sensitive periods. Human vision is a good example – if a child is born with a cataract that remains uncorrected for the first few months of life, the child will suffer permanent vision loss in that eye, even if the cataract is eventually removed. This is because the critical connections between that eye and the brain never get properly formed. By contrast, if an adult with normal vision develops a cataract and has it removed, their vision will typically be fully restored, regardless of how long they wait to undergo the surgery. Since the critical developmental window has already passed, no detrimental effects on wiring between eye and brain will occur.

 Yet other plasticity mechanisms operate throughout life, including adulthood (although there is a growing body of research suggesting some of these might start to deteriorate as we age). So, the saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is likely not true based on the current science. While it may be more difficult, it should not be impossible to do so.

 What about all those ‘brain training’ apps? Do they work?

David: The idea of a brain training app is obviously highly appealing – play a quick, simple game on your phone on a routine basis and you’ll improve your memory, attention, or other cognitive skills.

Unfortunately, as good as this sounds, the evidence suggests otherwise. Researchers have consistently found that repeating a cognitive task — such as reacting to objects on a screen as rapidly as possible — will (unsurprisingly) improve performance on that trained task. But it doesn’t transfer to general performance gains in memory or attention, or other cognitive capacities in everyday life.

In a nutshell, there aren’t any short cuts or simple interventions for enhancing general cognitive performance that are backed by evidence from cognitive science or neuroscience.

So, no hacks then?

David: There is one very easy and simple thing you can do. Decades of research have established that sleep has important benefits for memory consolidation and retention. During sleep, newly encoded memory representations in the brain are repeatedly reactivated and this helps to consolidate them and protect them from future forgetting.

So, if you want to enhance your cognitive skills at work, the best thing you can do is stop playing that brain training app in bed, and go to sleep!

And although we might grumble through the late-night book parade costume creation, we also stop to appreciate the importance of reading and the transformative power of books throughout our lives – as reflected in this year’s Children’s Book Week theme, ‘Reading is my secret power’.

We asked some well-known Macquarie staff to share (1) a favourite childhood book and (2) a book on their shelf that gives them ‘secret power’.

Professor S Bruce Dowton
Vice-Chancellor

The Magic Pudding. The combination of Norman Lindsay’s wonderful story and his enduring illustrations including on the cover is indelibly imprinted as a childhood memory. In reflecting over the years on why this is so for me, I think it is the combination of the quintessentially Australian characters, a storyline of going out in search of adventure in a wider world, the repeated attempts to thwart the travellers’ progress and eventual achievement to a state of personal satisfaction.

Lanterns – Mentors in My Life by Marian Wright Edelman. In this treasured volume, the African-American lawyer and founder/CEO of the American organization, the Children’s Defense Fund (a Washington DC based organisation established to lobby for and defend the rights of children in American society, as they do not vote) details her early life experiences with her mentors. For me, this frames the absolute importance of how the small number of mentors have helped me along my own personal and professional journey.  I remind myself regularly of her writings when I contemplate the notion of personal gratitude and when I step into a role of being a mentor for Macquarie students and staff.

Professor Dominique Parrish
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching)

The Naughtiest Girl in the School series by Enid Blyton. I think I loved the restorative justice that was portrayed, with students helping a very spoilt, naughty, only child to flourish in a boarding school and become an exemplary student who ends up as a school monitor.

Developing Emotionally Intelligent Leadership in Higher Education. It’s a book that I have had published, so most of the secret power comes from the sense of achievement that I finished this endeavour! It reminds me that Emotional intelligence (EI) is strongly linked to effective leadership in the higher education setting. And that there is a link between EI, leadership and job satisfaction so making the effort to be an emotionally intelligent leader can enhance job satisfaction.

Professor Marc De Vos
Dean, Macquarie Law School

Jules Verne and Karl May – their books transported me to another time and into many adventures.

Biographies of Winston Churchill – resilience, grit, never give up. Whenever you think life is hard, think about life then and about the challenges he, and humanity, faced back then.

Jennifer Bremner
Manager, Library Planning and Administration

As a teenager, I loved The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.  I loved it because it was a bit forbidden – when I borrowed it, the librarian made sure my Mum knew I had it and that it was ‘a bit racy’.  I also loved it because it was the first book for me that challenged an established story – the Arthurian legend – and presented gender and religion in ways that, at 14, I had never considered.  I still have a copy today and it is the only library book I have ever been tempted to steal.

Mindfulness in Plain English by Henepola Gunaratana. This book has refreshed my meditation practice and gives me ‘secret power’ by reminding me that mindfulness, compassion, focus and kindness are achievable even in a hectic life.

My mantra about books and the secret powers they hold is: “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss

The reading experts

Every day, Macquarie is helping children and adults discover the power of reading. The Macquarie University Reading Clinic is transforming lives by providing intervention for people with reading and spelling difficulties, while researchers in the Macquarie University Centre for Reading are making new discoveries about how we learn to read, and how we can treat reading disorders.

Professor Genevieve McArthur
Director, Reading Clinic and Organisational Director, Macquarie University Centre for Reading

The Secret Garden by Frances Burnett. I liked this book because it was a rags-to-riches kind-of story, but with happiness instead of money. Two young children and a garden ­­– all neglected and lonely – who found each other and discovered that the best way to happiness is by supporting others, and letting them support you.

The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday. It provides modern interpretations of the teaching of the ancient Stoics who aimed to improve people’s lives by reflecting on what is (and is not) important, and what should (and should not) be acted upon, and how. It was thousands of years ahead of all the self-help books that people buy today.

Distinguished Professor Anne Castles
Scientific Director, Macquarie University Centre for Reading

Read Anne’s recent interview in the Sydney Morning Herald: ‘New chapter in teaching children to read’

I loved Heidi by Johanna Spyri. Unlike many kids, I was never interested in fantasy books as a child – I wanted to read stories about real families, relishing in simple pleasures. I loved the detailed minutae of Heidi’s daily life in the Swiss Alps with her grandfather. And of course, when fresh mountain air and lots of bread and cheese made a girl in a wheelchair get up and walk again, that was the icing on the cake!

Oliver Sachs’ The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat inspired my interest in the mind and brain and I still pick it up quite often. I am continually fascinated by the way the mind works and ­– in the cases of neurological disorders covered in the book – the very specific ways in which it breaks down. Although in some ways these cases are sad, I nevertheless find the book empowering: it reminds me of the wonder of what I do for a living, and of how fortunate I am to be able to learn more about the mind every day and use that knowledge to help others.

But imagine if we could help preserve or protect our mental capacities throughout our lives and as we age by relying on the people and things around us?

We live our lives surrounded by internal and external, social and material supports or “scaffolding” – such as the people we love, technology we use, and objects and the landscape around us. These resources can become an integral component of the workings of our mind.

Cognitive scaffolding is so common as to appear unremarkable, but recently it has become the subject of new theory and research across philosophy, cognitive psychology and neuropsychology. Scaffolding may have benefits across the lifespan, but especially for individuals who need additional cognitive support. This includes people experiencing both normal age-related cognitive decline and pathological decline as seen in dementias.

Professor Simon Handley, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Human Sciences recently announced a new Faculty Research Centre for Scaffolding the Ageing Mind. This new enterprise will be led by Dr Celia Harris, an ARC Discovery Early Career Research Awardee. She is joined by her colleagues and collaborators from across the Faculty including Professor John Sutton, Dr Amee Baird, Professor Amanda Barnier, Dr Monique Crane, Professor Greg Savage and Professor Bill Thompson.

“This new Research Centre for Scaffolding the Ageing Mind will bring together researchers to understand how different kinds of internal and external scaffolding can be used to enhance memory, cognition, identity and wellbeing in older adults. This is important and timely research,” says Professor Simon Handley.

“We will study how older adults can benefit from social memory supports when they engage in activities such as remembering with their spouse, listening to music or dancing”, says Dr Harris. “We also will map how older adults draw on their own resources of resilience to overcome any challenges of ageing”.

This new Faculty Centre will enhance the innovation and productivity of Macquarie’s contributions to research on ageing. By revealing the ways in which individuals benefit cognitively from their social world, Dr Harris and her colleagues will help us understand how we all can lead healthy and happy lives, not just long lives.

To learn more about the Centre and how you can become involved, please contact Dr Celia Harris directly.

While lifespans are increasing, attitudes to the aged and ageing have not kept pace, with incorrect and often harmful stereotypes colouring public perceptions and potentially contributing to cognitive decline in older people. At the Macquarie Minds Showcase, Katya Numbers will be discussing common myths around ageing and how we all benefit from a re-think on growing older.

“My research broadly aims to describe and understand the process by which ageing stereotypes are internalised in younger adults and then later become harmful self-stereotypes in older adults.

Numerous examples exist in the literature of a general tendency to dismiss information believed to have come from an older adult, even if that information is mostly correct. This is likely due to pervasive negative stereotypes of ageing, which characterise older adults as mentally slower than the general population. Thus, if we believe a source is less credible or untrustworthy, we are more likely to dismiss information they are providing.

Not only is this stereotype incorrect, it negatively impacts older adults’ perceptions of their own memory abilities, and in some cases, can disrupt their actual memory performance. My other area of research explores how older adults view the ageing process, and in turn, how they embody or reject negative age stereotypes. For these studies I visit older adults in their homes, and collect data on a series of subjective and objective memory measures. This allows me to assess the difference between older adults’ beliefs about their memory abilities and their actual memory performance.

Of all of the stereotyped and sub-stereotyped groups that exist in our culture, “senior” is the group we are most likely to join during our lifetimes. That is, we are unlikely to change our race, gender, sexual orientation or even religious affiliation during our lives. However if we are lucky, we are all likely to become old.

Consider the harmful effect of belonging to a group that is discriminated against on a daily basis, and the urgency to change negative beliefs about ageing become obvious. I hope my research is a small step towards this change.”

Register for Katya’s workshop New ways of growing older: Rethinking healthy ageing as part of the Macquarie Minds Showcase, 13-14 December.