Sleep is known to influence basic tasks concerning working memory, reaction time and executive functioning (Silva, Wang, Ronda, Wyatt, & Duffy, 2010; Nebes, Buysse, Halligan, Houck, & Monk, 2009). However, the amount that sleep influences these functions varies from study to study possibly due to differences in age and task design. Aim 1A of this study is to determine if sleep quality affects working memory. Aim 1B of this study is to determine if age affects sleep quality and working memory in comparison of young and old adult populations. Finally, Aim 2 of this study is to determine if there is a relationship between sleep quality, working memory, and decision making in the younger adults. These aims were researched using a validated and commonly used sleep questionnaire: the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). In addition, the study utilized an n-back test to measure working memory and executive functioning, and an economic decision task to measure decision making accuracy. Results show that sleep quality did not significantly influence accuracy on an n-back test in either age group, but age was significantly correlated with accuracy on an n-back test in the older adults. The study also found a relationship between working memory performance and complex decision making among younger adults, but this relationship was not modulated by sleep quality. Our findings suggest that self-reported sleep quality is not a strong predictor of working memory or complex decision making, particularly in early adulthood. Future research on this topic may benefit from a more objective measure of sleep quality and from larger samples across different phases of the lifespan.

Stigma about mental illness is often identified as one of the most prominent obstacles to seeking mental health services. This seems to be particularly true among first responders. Unfortunately, the research regarding stigma in first responders is lacking. This may be due, in part, to the absence of appropriate measurement tools to allow such research. Stuart’s Police Officer Stigma Scale (POSS) has recently been developed to address this issue, but its psychometric properties have gone largely untested. Therefore, this study sought to identify the underlying factor structure and internal consistency of the POSS. This paper used a sample of one hundred and thirty-five first responders. This paper used a sample of one hundred and thirty-five first responders. Sixty participants were police officers, forty-eight were firefighters/EMTs, three were dispatchers, and twenty-four did not complete some portion of the scale/training and were omitted. Using factor analysis with an orthogonal rotation on Stuart’s eleven-item POSS, the participant’s results revealed two main components. Component one is “maltreatment of colleagues with a mental disorder,” and component two is “fear of disclosing a mental disorder.” Findings from this research are similar to the results of previous studies with components such as unwillingness to disclose a mental health condition, fear of how the public will treat an individual with a mental disorder, and anger towards those who decide to seek treatment or get diagnosed with a mental illness. These findings imply that Stuart’s POSS is reliable but needs to include two components rather than one. With the two main components, further research can now be conducted to understand why and ultimately mitigate maltreatment or stigma against first responders with a mental health condition.

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Detta kandidatarbete i psykologi undersöker motstånd mot förändringar på arbetsplatsen med fokus på cynism gentemot förändringar genom en jämförande studie mellan svenska offentliga organisationer och en tidigare genomförd australiensisk studie. Studien använder begreppet cynism för att analysera medarbetarnas attityder gentemot förändringar och utforskar dess två underdimensioner: pessimism och dispositionell tillskrivning. Studien visar på att det finns en skillnad mellan det svenska och det australienska urvalet, där det svenska urvalet är mer cyniskt inställt gentemot förändringar än det australiensiska. Däremot identifierar studien inte att det finns en skillnad mellan personer med högre utbildningsnivå jämfört med lägre utbildningsnivå eller med personer med mer arbetlivserfarenhet jämfört med lägre arbetslivserfarenhet rörande hur cyniska de är gentemot förändringar på arbetsplatsen. / This undergraduate thesis in psychology explores resistance to changes in the workplace, focusing on cynicism towards changes through a comparative study between Swedish public organisations and a previously conducted Australian study. The study utilises the concept of cynicism to analyse employees' attitudes towards changes and explores its two sub-dimensions: pessimism and dispositional attribution. The study indicates that there is a difference between the Swedish and Australian samples, where the Swedish sample is more cynical towards changes than the Australian one. However, the study does not identify a difference between individuals with higher levels of education compared to those with lower levels of education, or among individuals with more working life experience compared to those with less working life experience in terms of how cynical they are towards workplace changes. Keywords:

In this companion dissertation findings are reported of applied case study research on four community college organizational units that consistently meet or exceed standard performance measures. Ample prior evidence confirmed that performance extended significantly beyond what might be explained by available tangible resources alone. The case study contexts are common in higher education in general: a) an external partnership, (b) an ad hoc team, (c) a traditional, cross-divisional service unit, and (d) a grant-funded student service unit. Emerging positive organizational theory and research shows promise for revealing performance-influencing phenomena and behaviors that are not adequately represented in standard measures. Therefore, this collaborative case study research was designed to explore positive influences on the success of the four community college units. The companion dissertation consists of three manuscripts. Chapter 2, a technical report, is a collaboratively-written synthesis of findings from the four individual case studies. Key findings across the units suggest the influence on performance of: (a) a people-first culture, (b) authentic, trusting, inclusive leadership, and (c) resource richness beyond constrained tangible resources. In Chapter 3, the author presents in journal article format one of the case studies that contributed to the findings reported in Chapter 2. The academic library chosen for this research serves an urban community college campus near the geographic center of its city. The research asks how the library consistently performs well despite severe budget and staffing constraints and a series of disruptive events. Key findings in Chapter 3 include the following influences on performance: (a) valuing people and building relationships; (b) a culture of service that shares duties, resources, and expertise; and (c) leadership that effectively translates formal goals into an enabling matrix of behaviors and phenomena. In Chapter 4, a scholarly narrative, the author reflects on transformative aspects of the doctoral experience on learning and life. Practical recommendations are offered. Additional research is needed to explore causal relationships, how to influence greater resource amplification, and how to increase awareness of positive organizational dynamics.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:57:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carmem Lucia Arruda Rittner.pdf: 586905 bytes, checksum: b39b58d4c5a9efc5ab3b9e5a298ff106 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-09-30 / The aim of this research was to find out how do students understand the action field concept of Organizational Psychologists. Also how students in their professional practices represented the possibility of making interventions concerned to the improvement of social organizations as well as individuals This research has been developed with Psychology students from private university in Sao Paulo Brazil and it was based on the Social Representation Theory. To understand the Organizational Psychology phenomenon, as the social representation object, meant, above all, to identify the mechanisms that certain groups use to integrate this object (action field concept of Organizational Psychologists) and other mechanisms already presented in their knowledge (anchorage) as well as to identify the images and expressions that the groups materialize in their object s communication process (objetivação).The data were obtained from questionnaires and from an exercise of free associations evocations from three words were analyzed : Psychology, Psychologist and Organizational Psychology The content analysis of students response to the questions was made by the processing of the ALCEST (Alceste Computer Program) .and the analysis of frequency and order of evocations realized by the EVOC software . The results show that the social representation of Organizational Psychology by the students of Psychology is homogeneous and suggests a concept based in helping and listening attitude. Ethical considerations are nuclear to the speech of students. Conventional practices are peripheral of such representation. Conclusions point out that, although the results show in some extent that the social representation, by students of Psychology is been built in the direction of a more significant social participation, those improvements shall be accelerate to cope with the transformation of organizations in a globalized world / Este projeto tem como objetivo investigar a Representação Social de alunos de Psicologia sobre a Psicologia Organizacional, e a partir dessa representação social procurar entender como se apropriaram do conceito de campo de atuação do psicólogo e de oportunidades de atuação profissional e, ainda, como representam, na sua prática, a possibilidade de uma contribuição motivada por uma responsabilidade social transformadora. Assume como foco de investigação o discurso desses alunos e fundamenta-se na teoria das Representações Sociais. A coleta dos dados, a partir de um questionário com 3 (três) perguntas abertas, teve a análise de conteúdo desenvolvida pelo Programa ALCESTE. Um exercício de associação livre com as palavras indutoras Psicologia, Psicólogo e Psicologia Organizacional teve seus dados analisados pelo programa EVOC. Os resultados apontam para uma consistência e homogeneidade do discurso deste grupo de alunos e sugerem uma visão de psicologia que é claramente voltada para a atuação clínica numa função de ajuda e por uma predisposição à escuta. As considerações éticas se fazem presentes, assim como as referências aos aspectos de posicionamentos ideológicos, embora de maneira superficial. Finalmente aparecem alusões às práticas convencionais de psicologia organizacional e perifericamente às atuações mais sociais e com alcance ao maior número de indivíduos. Os dados sugerem que a representação social de psicologia organizacional está em construção na direção de uma atuação social mais relevante e a uma vinculação ao contexto globalizado e dinâmico, e as conclusões procuram estabelecer alguns parâmetros para a revisão dos tópicos de formação deste profissional