PROFILE
Professor Shayne Loft
Started at UWA: 2009
Uncovering the cognitive processes behind workplace performance
I have always been interested in aviation and the military, and my interest in psychology began during my undergraduate days. I am enthusiastic about strengthening the link between basic research science and practice, and value the transfer of knowledge and skills back to industry Professor Shayne Loft
Professor Shayne Loft is Director of UWA’s Human Factors and Applied Cognitive Psychology Laboratory (HuFAC). He conducts theory-driven experiments to understand human cognitions underlying performance in work such as air traffic control, unmanned vehicle control and submarine control rooms. Outcomes from his research inform training and job design.
After studying his undergraduate psychology degree in Melbourne and Queensland, Associate Professor Loft undertook his PhD in psychology at the University of Queensland, where he received an Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, and was awarded a University of Queensland Research Fellowship.
Professor Loft provides world-class research training opportunities to students and early career postdoctoral fellows. Many now hold senior positions in academia and industry. Professor Loft also has extensive experience providing consultancy services at both national and international levels in industries such as aviation (air traffic control, airside safety, piloting), military settings (submarine warfare, army, air force), and resource sectors (gas and mining).
His research includes:
- optimising the balance between task automation and human manual control
- human performance in the submarine command team
- modelling human decision making in complex environments
Awarded 26 grants totalling $8.3M
Keynote Presentation at Heidelberg University, Germany, Prospective Memory Conference/Workshop, 2018
Invited by the US Defence Department to present human factors research to the Naval Undersea Warfare Centre and the Naval Research Medical Laboratory in Austin, Texas, 2017
American Psychological Society Rising Star Award, 2011
Funding
2017-2019
The Defence Science and Technology Group of the Department of Defence
- ‘Human performance in the submarine command team’
- Shayne Loft, Troy Visser
2016-2018
ARC Discovery
- ‘Optimising the balance between task automation and human manual control’
- Shayne Loft
ARC Discovery
- ‘Modelling human decision making in complex environments’
- Andrew Heathcote, Andrew Neal, Shayne Loft, Robin Martin, and David Strayer
Teaching
Professor Loft applies teaching methods and materials that bridge theory and application, which provides students with a strong theoretical foundation and an appreciation of the significance of the material they are learning.
He currently teaches the following units:
Supervisor opportunities
