Jason Bell

2013-current: Senior Lecturer, School of Psychological Science, the University of Western Australia, Australia.

2011-current: Australian Research Council (ARC) Post-doctoral research fellow.

2011-2013: Lecturer, Research School of Psychology, the Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

2008-2010: Post-doctoral research fellow, McGill Vision Research Unit, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

2008: Graduated with a PhD from the University of Western Australia

2003: Graduated with a BA, Honours (Psychology) from the University of Western Australia.

Director of Undergraduate Education

2017: UWA central, ARC Near Miss Scheme/ 20k

2013-2017: ARC LP grant “Attention and hazard perception while driving: How experts see the scene” >$300k

2011-2015: ARC Australian Post-doctoral Fellowship (APD) awarded. >$250k

Psychology 1101 (Unit coordinator)
Sensory Perception
Cognitive Neuroscience

Sensory Neuroscience Attention and Perception (SNAP) Lab

i) Perception research
-My research considers how the human visual system processes shapes and objects for recognition. Recognition is accomplished through the coordinated activation of distinct brain regions. Projects seek to discover what information is represented at each stage of processing.

I am interested in:

-Studying the role of hemispheric specialization in the processing of symmetry.

-The time course of visual perception. How fast and for how long do discrete visual mechanisms process content?

-The properties of the mechanisms processing visual number

-Serial dependencies in visual perception. How and when is past information used in the processing of the present?


ii) Clinical research
Together with Associate Professors Elizabeth Rieger (ANU) and Sue Byrne (UWA) I am undertaking research to understand the relationship between biases in perception and or attention, and eating disorder symptomology, or obesity.

I am interested in studying abnormalities of perception within particular groups. Current research interests include:

-Attentional biases to high and low calorie foods or to particular body shapes.

-Biases in the perceived healthiness of foods, or in the perceived size of female bodies.

-Attentional retraining procedures to reduce or null maladaptive processing strategies in relation to the above visual cues.

Together with Associate Professor Carmela Pestell (UWA) I am conducting studies to better our understanding of the relationship between ADHD and altered time perception.

Current research interests include:

-Studies retraining timing abilities

-Studies examining the role of emotional regulation in ADHD symptomology and time perception


iii) Sensory neuroscience
Understanding functional specialization in the brain is a fundamental goal of Neuroscience and Psychology. My lab currently offers opportunities to study the effects neuro-synchronization and of non-invasive cortical stimulation on perception, and behaviour.

Current research projects and collaborations are utilising:

- neuroscience techniques such as transcranial direct current stimulation, or tDCS to investigate the correlates of attention and perception.

-Neuro-synchronization techniques to understand the role of rhythmic brain activity in various aspects of attention, perception and action, with a focus on theta and alpha bands.