Researchers at the Centre for Applied Cognitive Research are involved in a wide range of applied and basic research projects. The Centre hosts visitors for the short- or long-term and has various national and international collaborators.

Current Projects

Advanced Cognitive Engineering

Plane in the sky

The mission of the VSIM ACE Lab is to discover fundamental principles of human perception and cognition and to apply these principles to the design, implementation and evaluation of advanced human-machine systems.

CACR Researcher: C. Herdman

Math Cognition

The Math Cognition project studies the role of Working Memory in arithmetic and variability in adults’ solutions to arithmetic problems.

CACR Researchers: J.LeFevre.

Speech Processes in Adults and Children

Our research has focused on several basic and applied projects in the area of spoken word recognition. Our goal has been to understand the representation and processing of acoustic/phonetic information in children and adults using behavioral, electro-physiological and modeling techniques.

CACR Researcher: J.Logan.

Cognitive Modelling Suite (CCMS)

The Carleton Cognitive Modelling Suite is a collection of software tools dedicated to supporting the development of computational models within cognitive science. This includes everything from the creation of models, the analysis of the effects of parameter variation, comparisons to real-world, high-level data analysis, and much more. It also provides web-based access to all resources, allowing other researchers full access to the modelling data.

CACR Researcher: R. West

Completed Projects

Count Me In

Children counting

We are investigating the predictors of mathematical achievement in young children. In 2006, SSHRC awarded a second grant to Count Me In for the longitudinal study of 500 children across 3 Canadian cities.

CACR Researchers: J. LeFevre, D. Kamawar with J.Bisanz, University of Alberta, S.Skwarchuk, University of Winnipeg, B.Smith-Chant, Trent University.

Cybercartography

Cybercartography is a new theoretical approach that is part of the innovative evolution of cartography. The Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre (GCRC) is an official Research Centre in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies.

CACR Researchers: C.Herdman, J.LeFevre

Distributed Modeling and Simulation

This research involved assessing situational awareness and performance in individuals and in crew/team contexts using distributed simulation. Industry teaming includes the HFE Group (Ottawa) and CMC Electronics for DND (Canada).

CACR Researchers: C.Herdman, J.LeFevre

Early French Immersion: Literacy Development

As a follow up to earlier work on home literacy in English speaking children, we explored the role of home experiences in the literacy and numeracy development of children in Early French Immersion.

CACR Researcher: J.LeFevre with M. Senechal.

Human Attention and HUDs

Man using simulator

The ACE lab conducted a series of laboratory and applied projects to isolate, examine and model attentional mechanisms underlying cognitive tunneling in HUD displays. This research has been important in identifying object layering as an important perceptual/cognitive mechanism in dynamic situations.

CACR Researcher: C. Herdman

Individual Differences in Reading Skill

This research was designed to identify sources of individual differences in adult readers. The focus was on specifying the nature of the underlying codes that are used by skilled vs. less-skilled readers to recognize and name single words.

CACR Researchers: C. Herdman