The purpose of this thesis was to compare the contributions of attentional resources relevant to postural control between fall-fearful and non-fearful older adults. Levels of postural challenge and instructions of task prioritization were manipulated to obtain this goal. Results indicated that fall-fearful subjects demonstrated a reorganization of attentional resources when challenge to upright standing was imposed. Additionally, only non-fearful subjects demonstrated flexibility in the prioritization of the cognitive task. However both fall-fearful and non-fearful subjects demonstrated flexibility in the prioritization of the postural task. Findings suggested that fall-fearful older adults reorganize the allocation of attentional resources differently than non-fearful counterparts, potentially placing them at greater risk for falling as their awareness of the external environment and threats to balance may be compromised. / xii, 80 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm

Workshop educators have a legal duty with regard to health and safety in the school workshop for the protection of the learners in their care. It is expected of the workshop educators to look after the learners placed in their care as a conscientious and solicitous parent would. The workshop educator's discretion and conduct should always be based on predictable and preventable action. Because learners cannot possibly have the discernment of adults concerning more or less dangerous situations, the workshop educator should make provision for this possibility in the health and safety management of the school workshop. Common law principles such as duty of care, predictability and preventability, in addition to requirements for delictual liability (an act, unlawfulness, fault, causality and damage) demarcate and elucidate the role of the workshop educator who is responsible for the safety management of the school workshop. Workshop educators should ascertain that they are familiar with all these principles. A literature survey was undertaken with regard to these matters. Although workshop educators are responsible for the health and safety of the learners in their care, the literature survey revealed that health and safety in workshops in general is addressed and made compulsory by legislation, but that the specific needs of the school workshop are not adequately addressed. The aims of the empirical research were to determine: • the functioning of health and safety management in the contemporary school workshop and • to what extent the workshop educator is equipped for his duty of care responsibility with regards to the health and safety of the learners placed in his care. Questions were asked on the knowledge and execution of health and safety rules laid down by legislation, as well as the knowledge and execution of safety rules which are not necessarily laid down by legislation. Questions on safety rules devised by the respondents to improve the health and safety in the school workshop were also included in the questionnaire. The empirical study lead to the following: • The respondents seemed to have a reasonable knowledge of general health and safety rules laid down by legislation but in questions asked to verify the above mentioned answers, it seemed that the respondents were in some cases ignorant about these health and safety rules. Some of the respondents seem to ignore the safety rules in the execution of the health and safety rules. • A small number of the respondents seem to have a good knowledge of health and safety rules which are not necessarily laid down by legislation. • Quite a number of the respondents reported health and safety rules specifically devised for school workshops by their respective schools. Specific recommendations have been made and a model for health and safety management in the school workshop has been devised. This model should lead to better health and safety management in the school workshop and should thus ensure a safer school workshop for learners. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2003.

No description available.

Thesis (MPsy(Clinical))--University of South Australia, 2001.

This thesis describes original research that examines the extent to which organisational culture, and psychosocial aspects specifically, relate to individuals??? ???normal??? performance within Australian Defence Force (ADF) aviation. The primary rationale for the research relates to the ???safety record??? of ADF aviation, whereby more than fifty ???peace time??? fatalities have occurred in ADF aviation accidents since 1990 and many of these have links to organisational culture attributes. The secondary rationale relates to a more general perspective: previous research identifies human functioning in military aviation ??? more than any other aviation domain ??? as being dependent upon psychosocial attributes including interpersonal collaboration, communication and coordination. However, the depth to which such qualities impact the safety of a sociotechnical system remains substantially uncharted. This thesis firstly examines both scientific and Australian military literature on organisational behaviour, culture and human factors. Subsequently, it describes the design and implementation of a new 45-item questionnaire ??? the Australian Defence Force Aviation Questionnaire (ADFAQ). More than four hundred ADF aircrew and engineers completed the ADFAQ. The data analysis involved quantitative and qualitative consideration of survey responses and comparisons between numerous demographic criteria. Following this, the thesis describes the design and implementation of an interview study that was designed to both cross-examine key ADFAQ results and explore more deeply other issues that were only superficially identified by the (largely psychometric) composition of the ADFAQ. The research results offer three main contributions to scientific knowledge. These relate to: (1) the efficacy of triangulated and contextualised methodology in building an understanding of organisational culture; (2) the nature of the safety culture concept and its relationship with organisational culture; and (3) rank-based homogeneity of attitudes. This research shows that survey methodologies are not a panacea, but they can illuminate the nature of attitudes to safety and provide empirical guidance for other methods to explore more deeply the cultural roots of such attitudes and associated behaviours.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2005. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2004. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wollongong, 2005. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 251-287.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2005. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 148-159) Also available in print.