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Dr Evan Livesey

Position: Senior Lecturer

Office: GT502
Ph: +61 2 9351 2845
Fax: +61 2 9036 5223
Email:

Postal Address:
School of Psychology
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006
Australia





Qualifications

  • PhD (Experimental Psychology), University of Cambridge, 2006.
  • BSc (Hons) (Psychology), University of Sydney, 2002.

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Research Interests

My research focuses on the mechanisms responsible for learning and attention. Within this broad area, I have specific interests in associative learning mechanisms in humans and other animals, the relationship between learning and visual attention in humans, and how learning is influenced by conscious knowledge, reasoning, and executive control.

Key areas of interest:

Associative Learning Mechanisms

  • how are stimuli represented during associative learning? (e.g. elemental vs configural processing)
  • what role do associative processes play in discrimination and generalisation?
Learning and Attention
  • how do discrimination learning and Pavlovian conditioning affect attention?
  • how does learning affect attentional processing of visual stimuli?
Learning and Reasoning
  • how does instance-based learning interact with rule abstraction?
  • does learning require awareness?
  • how does performance of a learned response relate to conscious expectancy?
Temporal dynamics of visual attention
  • how do we attend to or ignore rapidly presented information?
  • to what extent do we process distracting information that we are trying to suppress?

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Publications

  • Natal, S. D. C., McLaren, I. P. L. & Livesey, E. J. (in press).  Generalisation of Feature- and Rule-Based Learning in the Categorization of Dimensional Stimuli: Evidence for Dual Processes Under Cognitive Control. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes.
  • Kwok, D. W. S., Livesey, E. J. & Boakes, R. A. (2012).  Serial overshadowing of taste aversion learning by stimuli preceding the target taste. Learning & Behavior, 40, 427-438.
  • Lee, J. C. & Livesey, E. J. (2012).  Second-order conditioning and conditioned inhibition: Influences of speed versus accuracy on human causal learning. PLoS ONE, 7(11): e49899.
  • Thorwart, A., Livesey, E. J. & Harris, J. A. (2012).  Normalisation between stimulus elements in a model of Pavlovian conditioning: Showjumping on an elemental horse. Learning & Behavior, 40, 334-346.
  • Harris, J. A., Andrew, B. J. & Livesey, E. J. (2012).  The content of compound conditioning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 38, 157-166.
  • Livesey, E. J., Thorwart, A., & Harris, J. A. (2011).  Comparing positive and negative patterning in human learning. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64, 2316–2333.
  • Livesey, E. J. & Harris, I. M. (2011).  Target sparing effects in the attentional blink depend on type of stimulus. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 73, 2104-2123.
  • Livesey, E. J., Thorwart, A., De Fina, N. L., & Harris, J. A. (2011).  Comparing learned predictiveness effects within and across compound discriminations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 37, 446-465.
  • Colagiuri, B., Livesey, E. J., & Harris, J. A. (2011).  Can expectancies produce placebo effects for implicit learning? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 18, 399-405.
  • Livesey, E. J. & McLaren, I. P. L. (2011).  An elemental model of associative learning and memory, in E. Pothos & A. J. Wills (Eds). Formal Approaches in Categorization. Cambridge University Press (pp. 153-172).
  • Barrett, L. C. & Livesey, E. J. (2010).  Dissociations between expectancy and performance in simple and two-choice reaction-time tasks: a test of associative and non-associative explanations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 36, 864–877
  • Mayberry, C. R., Livesey, E. J., & Dux, P. E. (2010).  Rapid Learning of Rapid Temporal Contexts. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 17, 417-420.
  • Livesey, E. J. & Barrett, L. C. (2010).  Dissociating the effects of automatic facilitation and event expectancy on the control of attention and performance. In W. Christensen, E. Schier, & J. Sutton (Eds). ASCS09: Proceedings of the 9th Conference of the Australasian Society for Cognitive Science. Sydney: Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science.
  • Harris, J. A. & Livesey, E. J. (2010). An Attention-Modulated Associative Network. Learning & Behavior, 38, 1-26.
  • Pasalich, D. S., Livesey, D. J. and Livesey, E. J. (2010). Performance of Stroop-like assessments of inhibitory control by 4- and 5-year-old children. Infant and Child Development, 19, 252-263
  • Livesey, E. J. & McLaren, I. P. L. (2009). Discrimination and Generalization Along a Simple Dimension: Peak Shift and Rule-Governed Responding.  Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 35, 554-565.
  • Livesey, E. J. & Harris, J. A. (2009). Is there room for simple links in a propositional mind?: Commentary on Mitchell, De Houwer and Lovibond.  Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32, 212-213.
  • Livesey, E. J., Harris, I. M., & Harris, J. A. (2009).  Attentional Changes During Implicit Learning: Signal Validity Protects a Target Stimulus from the Attentional Blink.  Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory & Cognition, 35, 408-422
  • Harris, J. A., Livesey, E. J., Ghareai, S., & Westbrook, R. F. (2008).  Negative patterning is easier than a biconditional discrimination.  Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 34, 494-500
  • Harris, J. A. & Livesey, E. J. (2008).  Comparing Patterning and Biconditional Discriminations in Humans. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 34, 144-154.
  • Livesey, E. J. & Harris, J. A. (2008).  What are Flexible Representations?: Commentary on Melchers, Shanks and Lachnit.  Behavioural Processes, 77, 437-439.
  • Livesey, E. J. & McLaren, I. P. L. (2007).  Elemental Associability Changes in Human Discrimination Learning.  Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 33, 148-159.
  • Mitchell, C. J., Livesey, E. J., & Lovibond, P. (2007). A dissociation between causal judgement and the ease with which a cause is categorised with its effect. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 60, 400-417.
  • Livesey, E. J., Mansi, C., & McLaren, I. P. L. (2006).  Dual Processes Mediate Discrimination and Generalization in Humans. Proceedings of the XXVIIIth Annual Convention of the Cognitive Science Society. (pp. 1699-1704)  Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Livesey, E. J., Broadhurst, P. J. C., & McLaren, I. P. L. (2005).  Discrimination and generalization in pattern categorization:  A case for elemental associative learning.  Proceedings of the XXVIIth Annual Convention of the Cognitive Science Society.  (pp. 1296-1301)  Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Livesey, E. J., Pearson, L. S., & McLaren, I. P. L. (2005).  Spatial variability and peak shift: A challenge for elemental associative learning?  Proceedings of the XXVIIth Annual Convention of the Cognitive Science Society.  (pp. 1302-1307)  Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Livesey, E. J. & Boakes, R. A. (2004).  Outcome additivity, elemental processing and blocking in human causality judgements.  Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 57B, 361-379.


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Grants Awarded

  • 2013-2015 Learning whether and learning when: rate and timing in human associative learning; ARC Discovery Project, JA Harris and EJ Livesey; $366,000
  • 2012-2014 Unpacking the effects of stimulus exposure in human learning; ARC Discovery Project, EJ Livesey and CJ Mitchell; $139,000
  • 2012 Learning to attend to signals of reward and loss; University of Sydney Bridging Support Grant, EJ Livesey; $10,000
  • 2008-2010 Attentional Processes in Human Associative Learning; ARC Discovery Project and Australian Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, EJ Livesey; $201,000