Psychology

Chae Rose

Lecturer, Psychology
chae.rose@jcu.edu.au

Lucy Bird

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
lucy.bird@jcu.edu.au

Nerina Caltabiano

Adjunct Professor
nerina.caltabiano@jcu.edu.au

Kannan Singaravelu Jaganathan

Lecturer Psychology
kannan.singaravelujaganathan@jcu.edu.au

Janine Lurie

Lecturer, Psychology
janine.lurie@jcu.edu.au

Liza van Eijk

Senior Lecturer, Psychology
liza.vaneijk@jcu.edu.au

Marie Caltabiano

Adjunct Professor
marie.caltabiano@jcu.edu.au

Kerry McBain

Associate Professor
kerry.mcbain@jcu.edu.au

Becoming a soldier: A Qualitative Study into Construction of the Army Identity and its Impact on Mental Health

Wendy Li - Psychology

20 Nov 2024 - 31 Jan 2029

Student-led project (PhD) - agreement sought between JCU and DoD to allow access to current serving members (Army personnel) for the purpose of qualitative interviews and focus groups. Access to DoD policy documents including personnel manuals, Defence health policy/manuals, standard operating procedures

Comparing the proteins expressed within the ischaemic penumbra between two common rodent models of ischaemic stroke

Liza van Eijk - Psychology

31 May 2025 - 30 Jun 2027

This is a small grant offered by Brain Australia. We seek to leverage JCU seed funds and extend our experiments to include a model of mild cortical stroke. This will utilise magnetic resonance imaging (in collaboration with the University of Queensland), and mass spectrometry imaging (in collaboration with the university of South Australia) to provide a spatial proteomic snapshot of treatable tissues. This will provide preliminary data to support subsequent applications to develop novel therapeutics and diagnostics.

Enhanced network of real-time tropical cyclone monitoring weather stations

Connar McShane - Psychology

01 Jan 2025 - 31 Dec 2026

This project seeks to build a fully functional mobile weather station network for disseminating real-time, community-based, weather data during tropical cyclones. The second aspect to this program is to relate the measured wind data against community perceptions.

Project Smiling Gecko CAMBODIA - What Gaps can we impact?

Connar McShane - Psychology

21 Oct 2025 - 23 Oct 2025

JCU's mission is to create a brighter future for life in the Tropics, and this project aims to increase JCU's impact on livelihoods in remote communities in SE Asia. By working with NGO Smiling Gecko Cambodia (SGC) which supports the needy population in Cambodia, the team can contribute to their self sustaining, ecologically and economically vibrant activities that aligns with UN SDG goals 4(quality education), 12 (responsible consumption & production), 14 (life below water) and 17 (partnerships for the goals). SGC runs a school for 500 students, a farm house resort that employs several hundred employees, grows food crops, and runs tilapia ponds at their 105-hectare site that benefits 30,000 Cambodians in surrounding villages. SGC is committed to continuing growth and seeking partnerships with universities to develop programs for the continuing education of its young community. The team seeks to identify how we can partner with SGC to identify gaps where we can make a difference to the local population, and where we can make an impact on their operation by building capacity. We propose a 3 days/ 2 nights site study and stakeholder engagement in October 2025. The immediate output will be a blue print for our future work with SGC and other remote communities, how we participate in their continual growth and showcase as a working model for other remote communities in SE Asia. We will seek suitable future funding opportunities from international financial institutions such as the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank.

Conceptualisation and measurement of maternal-fetal bonding

Sam Teague - Psychology

01 Jul 2025 - 31 Dec 2025

The purpose of this work is to build evidence relating to the (lack of) suitability of existing measures of maternal-fetal bonding for clinicians and researchers. Evidence of this nature will support our pitch for an ARC Discovery Project application to validate and test a new measure of the construct that is suitable for use in various populations (including CALD and Indigenous women).

Exploring Student Perspectives on Generative artificial intelligence Integration in Education

Klaire Somoray - Psychology

Students are increasingly using GenAI, but institutional practices and educator approaches to GenAI integration remain varied and sometimes restrictive. Understanding how students navigate these tensions is critical to informing effective and ethical educational practices. This project investigates CHS students’ perspectives on the integration of GenAI into their education. Specifically, it will explore: 1) Student GenAI use in learning: This includes their usage patterns, challenges faced, and their views on current institutional policies and practices. and 2) Educator GenAI use in teaching: This covers student perceptions of GenAI-generated educational materials, its role in assessments, and their views on how GenAI should be effectively integrated into teaching and learning practices.

Leveraging AI simulations for allied health education: Pilot study for Psychology

Klaire Somoray - Psychology

Healthcare students require hands-on experience to develop critical clinical competencies. Recent advances in Large Language Models (LLMs) enable virtual simulations where students can practice their skills in a safe environment. While commercial options exist, they often raise safety concerns and restrict features behind paywalls. IDA (Interactive Dialogue Agent) is a customisable LLM-powered virtual patient simulator with speech capabilities. IDA is specifically designed for healthcare education with built-in safety measures. This project will test IDA with psychology students to determine its effectiveness before expanding to other healthcare disciplines, ultimately providing students college-wide (and university-wide) dynamic and scalable simulations.

GenAI in the classroom: Transforming Assessment Practice

Klaire Somoray - Psychology

Our project will examine both the student and educator perspectives, aiming for high-impact outcomes: • Phase 1-2 will assess AI's impact on students’ learning and assessment, informing AI literacy frameworks, assessment reforms and development of OER guides for ethical and critical use of AI. • Phase 3 will focus on educator’s perspectives, guiding future professional development programs. A resource toolkit for educators will be developed to teach AI literacy to staff and reduce bias in evaluating AI-assisted student work. • Findings from all phases will be presented at conferences and published in academic journals positioning JCU as a leader in AI-integrated assessment reform.

Developing a psychology resource library (TAP Grant)

Klaire Somoray - Psychology

https://www.jcu.edu.au/library/open/textbook-affordability-project-2024-2025/2024-textbook-affordibility-project-tap-grants

GenAI in the classroom: Transforming Assessment Practice

Brian Law - Psychology

01 Jan 2025