The Five-Factor Model (FFM) is one of the most dominant and widely acceptedframeworks of personality, however it has been criticised for its primarily Eurocentric individualistic focus on aspects of personality as a result of its development within the English lexicon (McCrae &Terracciano, 2005).The use of imported etic inventories presents an array of difficulties for personality assessment within South Africa, as indigenous and collective personality traits are absent from these measures of personality (Nel, 2008). This study, therefore, aimed to explore the collective dimension of personality using the South African Personality Inventory (SAPI) and the Cross-cultural Personality Assessment Inventory-2 (CPAI-2) in a non-probability convenience sample of 489 South African first-year Psychology students from the University of the Witwatersrand. A quantitative section was conducted to investigate the internal consistency reliability, construct validity and construct biasof the collective dimension of the two instruments. From the results it was evident that both instruments had adequate internal consistency reliability for the scales and subscales of the collective dimensions of personality, but some reliability coefficients were low; particularly for Social Desirability and its sub-clusters, as well as Ren Qing, Discipline and Thrift vs Extravagance. Construct validity for the SAPI was found to be problematic in that the five factor structure proposed by Nel (2008) did not replicate; however a three factor structure was found to be the best fit. Construct validity for the CPAI-2 was found to be good in that the six factor structure of the Interpersonal Relatedness factor proposed by Cheung et al. (2008) was replicated. Evidence for construct bias across gender, race and home language was found in both instruments. Finally a qualitative thematic content analysis of data obtained from two focus groups of 19 first year Psychology students from the original sample was conducted and issues related to a general understanding of personality, the innate existence of personality vs the overt expression of personality, collectivism in personality, a national identity, culture, psychometric testing and social desirability were explored. This study thus contributed to both the local and international context in terms of personality theory and assessment in organisations, as well as theoretically to the etic-emic debate.

Šiuolaikiniame technikos pasaulyje vis didesnę prasmę įgauna kalbos technologijos, tokios kaip kalbos atpažinimas, kalbos signalų sintezė, bei kombinuoti jų variantai. Pasaulyje visada buvo jaučiamas didelis poreikis kalbos atpažinimo sistemų, programų. Tokios sistemos labai populiarios dėl plataus savo pritaikymo spektro: karinė pramonė, įvairių prekių ar paslaugų užsakymų priėmimas, žmonių su įvairia negale darbo palengvinimas, telekomunikacijų, bankų sfera ir t.t. Kalbos atpažinimas kelia skirtingus uždavinius kiekvienai kalbai, nes kiekviena kalba turi savo specifiką. Pastaruoju metu kitose šalyse yra sukurta daug įvairių atpažinimo sistemų, tačiau jos nėra naudojamos lietuvių kalbos atpažinimui. Todėl yra būtina eksperimentuoti bei kurti savai kalbai pritaikytas tokio tipo sistemas naudojant kitų kalbų atpažinimui pritaikytus produktus. Darbo objektas: Lietuviškų balso komandų atpažinimas naudojant kitų kalbų atpažinimo priemones. Tyrimo tikslas: Ištirti lietuviškų balso komandų atpažinimo galimybę, naudojant nelietuviškas atpažinimo priemones (Microsoft Speech Application Programming Interface). Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Apžvelgti kalbos atpažinimo metodus; 2. Ištirti kalbos atpažinimo metodus, išskiriant jų privalumus ir trūkumus; 3. Apžvelgti kalbos atpažinimo paketą SAPI; 4. Atlikti komandų išskyrimo, iš kalbos signalo, metodo kiekybinę analizę; 5. Atlikti lietuviškų komandų atpažinimo eksperimentą, naudojantis SAPI varikliu; 6. Pateikti siūlymą kaip perrašyti... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In the contemporary world of techniques, voice technologies, such as speech recognition, synthesis of speech signals and their combined versions, acquire more and more significance. These technologies are very popular for wide practical use: telecommunications, banking, army and so on. The aim of the research paper is to analyze opportunity to adapt others languages speech recognition engine for Lithuanian language recognition using voice detection in speech signal and signal pre-emphasis methods. Microsoft SAPI English recognition engine was used for experiments in his paper. P. Kasparaitis has offered how Lithuanian phonemes can be transcribed using English phonemes, but not all Lithuanian phonemes has been analyzed. So this paper also replenish P. Kasparaitis paper (P. Kasparaitis (2008). Lithuanian Speech Recognition Using the English Recognizer.) by offering new ways how some Lithuanian sounds can be transcribed by English phonemes.

M.A. (Industrial Psychology) / The South African Personality Inventory (SAPI) project is an attempt to develop an indigenous personality measure that can be applied within the South African context. Such a measure is important as test developers and users are required to meet the requirements stipulated in South African legislation. The Extraversion cluster is one of the nine factors that make up the SAPI measure. The main aim of this study was to validate the Extraversion cluster for use within South Africa which included testing for equivalence and bias amongst the Germani, Nguni and Sotho language groups. A quantitative, cross-sectional research design was used within the current study. Data was gathered from working South Africans (N= 891) within the Gauteng province. The preliminary Extraversion scale consists of 31 items that yielded a three factor structure, namely Sociability, Talkativeness and Positive Emotionality. The Talkativeness factor was not found to be reliable although the overall Extraversion scale was identified as reliable. It was also found that Extraversion, as the higher order factor, was valid and reliable and had greater explanatory power than that of the individual factors. The results of the study also indicated that some of the language groups viewed the factors differently and that bias did occur for several of the items across the groups.

Cultural intelligence (referred to as CQ) has gained increasing attention from research. This is because of the modern-day relevance to globalisation, international management and work diversification. Demographical shifts towards a more diverse South African population contribute to various challenges for successful cross-cultural interactions for young Afrikaans-speaking South Africans. Selective perception, social categorisation, stereotyping, attribution and diversity among South Africa‟s different cultures (race, gender, language, vocabulary, content, accent and appearances) are barriers that must be overcome. The study was a quantitative study. A cross-sectional survey was used to collect the data and to achieve the research objectives. Convenience and quota sampling methods were used to include a sample of young South Africans from a higher education institution (N=252). The participants were young South African students, white, Afrikaans speaking and between the ages of 18 and 22. Questionnaires were distributed, and the participants completed the questionnaire during class and were given 2 hours to complete the questionnaires. The statistical analysis was carried out with the IBM SPSS statistics and the Mplus 7.11 programme. Product-moment correlation coefficients were used to specify the relationships between the variables and multiple regressions to determine which dimensions of personality and identity predicted CQ. The general objective of this research is to determine the relationship between Identity, Personality and Cultural Intelligence among young South Africans. The Erickson Psychosocial Stage Inventory (EPSI) and the Multi-Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) was used to measure personal, ethnic and religious identity. The SAPI-questionnaire was used to measure the constructs, conscientiousness, extraversion, openness, soft-heartedness, relationship-harmony, intellect, integrity and facilitating. Furthermore, the Four Factor Model of Cultural Intelligence Scale was applied to measure the dimensions of CQ, namely, meta-cognitive CQ, cognitive CQ, motivational CQ and behavioural CQ. This study indicated a positive relationship between cognitive CQ and the other three components of CQ. Conscientiousness, emotional stability, extroversion, facilitating, intellect and openness related positively to meta-cognitive CQ. Facilitating, intellect and openness were found to be positively related with motivational CQ. Furthermore, conscientiousness, emotional stability, extroversion, intellect, relationship harmony and soft-heartedness related positively with behavioural CQ. Religious identity has a negative effect on cognitive CQ. Furthermore, intellect, facilitating and ethnic identity predicted meta-cognitive CQ. Soft-heartedness, facilitating, extroversion and religious identity had a positive effect on motivational CQ, influencing young Afrikaans speaking South Africans interest and drive in adapting to cultural differences. Furthermore, soft-heartedness and conscientiousness had a positive effect on behavioural CQ. Recommendations were made for future research and for practise. / MCom (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Cultural intelligence (referred to as CQ) has gained increasing attention from research. This is because of the modern-day relevance to globalisation, international management and work diversification. Demographical shifts towards a more diverse South African population contribute to various challenges for successful cross-cultural interactions for young Afrikaans-speaking South Africans. Selective perception, social categorisation, stereotyping, attribution and diversity among South Africa‟s different cultures (race, gender, language, vocabulary, content, accent and appearances) are barriers that must be overcome. The study was a quantitative study. A cross-sectional survey was used to collect the data and to achieve the research objectives. Convenience and quota sampling methods were used to include a sample of young South Africans from a higher education institution (N=252). The participants were young South African students, white, Afrikaans speaking and between the ages of 18 and 22. Questionnaires were distributed, and the participants completed the questionnaire during class and were given 2 hours to complete the questionnaires. The statistical analysis was carried out with the IBM SPSS statistics and the Mplus 7.11 programme. Product-moment correlation coefficients were used to specify the relationships between the variables and multiple regressions to determine which dimensions of personality and identity predicted CQ. The general objective of this research is to determine the relationship between Identity, Personality and Cultural Intelligence among young South Africans. The Erickson Psychosocial Stage Inventory (EPSI) and the Multi-Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) was used to measure personal, ethnic and religious identity. The SAPI-questionnaire was used to measure the constructs, conscientiousness, extraversion, openness, soft-heartedness, relationship-harmony, intellect, integrity and facilitating. Furthermore, the Four Factor Model of Cultural Intelligence Scale was applied to measure the dimensions of CQ, namely, meta-cognitive CQ, cognitive CQ, motivational CQ and behavioural CQ. This study indicated a positive relationship between cognitive CQ and the other three components of CQ. Conscientiousness, emotional stability, extroversion, facilitating, intellect and openness related positively to meta-cognitive CQ. Facilitating, intellect and openness were found to be positively related with motivational CQ. Furthermore, conscientiousness, emotional stability, extroversion, intellect, relationship harmony and soft-heartedness related positively with behavioural CQ. Religious identity has a negative effect on cognitive CQ. Furthermore, intellect, facilitating and ethnic identity predicted meta-cognitive CQ. Soft-heartedness, facilitating, extroversion and religious identity had a positive effect on motivational CQ, influencing young Afrikaans speaking South Africans interest and drive in adapting to cultural differences. Furthermore, soft-heartedness and conscientiousness had a positive effect on behavioural CQ. Recommendations were made for future research and for practise. / MCom (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Staphylococcal phage 80α can serve as a helper bacteriophage for a family of mobile genetic elements called Staphylococcus aureus pathogenicity islands (SaPIs). The prototype island, SaPI1, is able to hijack the 80α capsid assembly process and redirect capsid formation to yield smaller, phage-like transducing particles carrying SaPI DNA. Capsid size redirection is accomplished through two SaPI1-encoded gene products, CpmA and an alternate scaffold protein, CpmB. The normal 80α scaffold and the SaPI1 CpmB scaffold share a small block of conserved residues at their C-termini, several of which had been shown to be essential for CpmB function. This led to the hypothesis that the C-termini of both the phage and SaPI scaffolds interact in similar ways with the major capsid protein. The goal of this study was to test this hypothesis and to identify the amino acid residues at the capsid-scaffold interface, using a genetic approach.

A limited number of culturally appropriate personality assessments are currently available in South Africa due to the mass importation of psychometric assessments in the past. The South African Personality Inventory (SAPI) project was initiated as a result of the growing demand for culturally appropriate assessment instruments as well as the change in South African legislation regarding psychometric testing (Section 8 of the Employment Equity Act, No. 47 of 2013). The SAPI project aims to identify universal and culture-specific personality traits for all 11 language groups in South Africa. The project’s central research objectives are to develop a personality instrument that complies with South African legislation, meets all the regular criteria for adequate assessment as formulated in psychology, and is relevant for South-African institutions. The SAPI project consists of multiple studies that are aimed at enabling the use of the SAPI within the open market in order to allow practitioners to validly assess personality within the South African context. This study forms part of the quantitative body of work within the SAPI project and builds on the literature of the SAPI, resulting in a more acceptable instrument. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether block– or random-item sequencing provides the best factorial replication within the framework of the SAPI. This was investigated by comparing the results obtained by administering both block- and random versions of the SAPI to a total sample of N=429 respondents at multiple private nursing education institutions. Both the block– and random-SAPI versions consisted of 262 closed-ended questions that were administered using a pen-and-paper methodology. The data preparation indicated that four block- and 19 random-items were problematic and could not be included in the analysis. After removing the problematic items, a strategy was used to formulate a conclusion pertaining to the superior item sequence. This strategy included performing an exploratory factor analysis on each of the nine factors for both the random- and block-response sets. The factor loadings were analyzed, interpreted and presented separately. The researcher looked at the most plausible sub-cluster structure for each of the nine factors, followed by assessing the structural similarity between the two response sets by comparing them to the conceptual qualitative personality structure to identify which response set was more closely related. The reliability of all the factors and sub-clusters for both response sets were also analysed and reported. The final conclusion was derived from an overall comparison made between the block- and random response sets. By utilizing the strategy it was determined that the block response set provided for a better structurally and factorially valid framework when applied to the conceptual personality structure of the SAPI. However, upon closer inspection, the differences between the block- and random response sets seem to be trivial. The findings therefore indicate that the random response set can also be used as only minor differences were noticed when compared to the block response set. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Human Resource Management / MCom / Unrestricted

In a multicultural society such as South Africa, there is a need for valid and reliable instruments measuring personality. Most personality instruments currently used in South Africa are imported from abroad and therefore have limited utility in the South African context as they have been developed for a specific group. The introduction of technology has resulted in personality measuring instruments increasingly being administered by means of computer-based assessments. The dramatic increase in computer-based assessments has sparked debate regarding the use of various response scale categories in personality assessment. The present study, which forms part of the broader South African Personality Inventory (SAPI) project, focused on the preliminary qualitative personality structure produced by the SAPI project, which is categorised into nine clusters. The current study aimed to determine whether a dichotomous or a polytomous response scale administered by means of computer-based assessments would be more suitable for measuring the preliminary personality structure of the SAPI. The participants were first- and second-year undergraduate students enrolled at a tertiary institution (N = 490). The inventory consisted of 262 closed-ended personality statements and was administered in both the dichotomous (“agree” and “disagree”) and polytomous (“strongly agree”, “agree”, “somewhat agree/disagree”, “strongly disagree” and “disagree”) response scale form. The results, which were based on an exploratory factor analysis, revealed that 37.2% of the items in the dichotomous response scale were problematic, whereas only 3.6% of the items in the polytomous response scale were problematic. By comparing the factor structures of the dichotomous and polytomous response scales, the polytomous response scale was determined to be more suitable for measuring the preliminary personality structure of the SAPI. The conclusion was based on two specific criteria. Firstly, the factor structure across the polytomous response scale loaded similarly to the qualitative personality structure that was conceptualised in the first phase of the SAPI project. Secondly, Cronbach alpha coefficients, ranging from 0.60 to 0.87 across the nine factors, with the exception of the Integrity and Openness clusters with values of 0.45 and 0.53 respectively, for the polytomous response scale were higher than those yielded by the dichotomous response scale. / Mini Dissertation (MCom (Industrial Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Human Resource Management / MCom (Industrial Psychology) / unrestricted

Thesis (MComm (Industrial Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: An urgent need exists for the development of a locally, multicultural personality instrument for South Africa. The South African Personality Inventory (SAPI) project was launched with the specific aim of developing a comprehensive personality questionnaire for all eleven South African language groups that covers all major aspects of personality deemed relevant in the South African context. The current study focused on developing an experimental instrument for the integrity cluster, one of the 9 SAPI clusters. This study forms part of the second phase of the SAPI project (quantitative phase). In this phase the experimental integrity instrument was administered to a sample of police reservists of the South African Police Service (SAPS; N = 1023). Findings revealed that certain items should be removed (30 of 132 items were removed). The first-order factor analysis confirmed one factor per facet that should be retained (specifically: Honest, Loyal, Pretending, Responsible, Trustworthy, Truthful, and Fair) for most of the facets. The exceptions were the Morally Conscious facet where two factors emerged and the Discriminative facet where no significant factor emerged. With the exception of the Discriminative facet (low reliability coefficient) and the Fair facet (average reliability coefficient) all the facets demonstrated acceptable levels of reliability. The study concluded that the underlying dimensionality of the data confirmed the structure of the integrity cluster and the experimental integrity instrument. This first draft instrument can thus be applied to multi-cultural groups. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Suid-Afrika het ʼn dringende behoefte aan die ontwikkeling van plaaslike, multikulturele persoonlikheidstoetse. Die Suid-Afrikaanse Persoonlikheidsinstrument projek is geloods met die spesifieke doel om ʼn volledige persoonlikheidsvraelys vir al elf Suid-Afrikaanse taalgroepe te ontwikkel, wat betrekking het op alle belangrike aspekte van persoonlikheid wat relevant is tot die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks. Die fokus van die huidige studie was om ʼn eksperimentele instrument op een van die SAPI se 9-kluster modelle te ontwikkel, naamlik die integriteitskluster. Dit vorm deel van die tweede fase van die SAPI projek (kwantitatiewe fase) waar die eksperimentele integriteitsinstrument op ʼn steekproef van intreevlak polisie-kandidate van die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens (SAPD), afgelê is (N = 1023). Die bevindinge het getoon dat sekere items verwyder moes word (30 van 132 items is verwyder). Die eerste-orde faktor analise het bevestig dat een faktor per faset behou moet word (meer spesifiek, Eerlik, Lojaal, Skynheilig, Verantwoordelik, Betroubaar, Waarheid, en Regverdig). Twee faktore het na vore gekom in die Moreel Bewuste faset en geen betekenisvolle faktor was verkry vir die Diskriminerende faset nie. Alle fasette het aanvaarbare vlakke van betroubaarheid geopenbaar, behalwe vir ʼn lae betroubaarheidskoëffisiënt vir die Diskriminerende faset, en ʼn gemiddelde betroubaarheidskoëffisiënt vir die Regverdigheidsfaset. Die gevolgtrekking was dat die onderliggende dimensionaliteit van die data die struktuur van die integriteitskluster en die eksperimentele integriteitsinstrument, bevestig het, asook dat die eerste proef-instrument toegepas kan word op multikulturele groepe.

Thesis (MComm (Industrial Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In psychology literature Conscientiousness forms part of a model that describes personality. Conscientiousness is defined by characteristics such as hard-working, determined, dutiful and perseverance. Conscientiousness is also a strong indicator of work performance and is often used for psychometric assessments during selection. However, in South Africa psychometric assessment, and especially personality testing, has been scrutinized to ensure that it is fair and unbiased in a multicultural society. This study focused on the development of a Conscientiousness questionnaire based on a South African model of conscientiousness, which forms one factor of the South African Personality Inventory (SAPI) nine cluster model. The study aimed to investigate whether this conscientiousness questionnaire measures conscientiousness in South Africa. The study formed part of the second phase of the SAPI project (quantitative phase). An experimental conscientiousness instrument consisting of 255 items was administered to a sample of South African Police Service (SAPS) police reservists (N = 1051). Following various analysis 88 of the 255 items were removed. The facets also increased to 26. Cronbach alpha coefficient scores showed acceptable levels of reliability for 21 of the 26 facets. Factor analysis indicated that one factor should be retained. 19 facets loaded on this factor. The findings thus confirm the underlying dimensionality of the conscientiousness cluster. However, the findings also indicate that some facets may have to be re-defined. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In die sielkunde literatuur is konsensieusheid deel van 'n model wat persoonlikheid beskryf. Dit word gedefinieer deur eienskappe soos hardwerkendheid, determinasie, pligsgetrouheid en uithouvermoë. Konsensieusheid is ook 'n sterk aanwyser van werkprestasie en word dikwels gebruik vir psigometriese assessering gedurende seleksie. Maar die gebruik van psigometriesetoetse en veral die gebruik van persoonlikheids toetse in Suid Afrika is egter onder die vergrootglas geplaas om te verseker dat hierdie toetse billik en onsydig toegepas kan word in Suid Afrika. Hierdie studie fokus op die ontwikkeling van 'n konsensieheusheids-persoonlikheidsvraelys wat gebaseer is op die Suid Afrikaanse model van konsensieusheid en wat deel uitmaak van die Suid Afrikaanse Persoonlikheids-Inventaris (SAPI) se nege faktor model. Hierdie studie is deel van die tweede fase van die SAPI projek (kwantitatiewe fase) en stel ondersoek in of hierdie persoonlikheidsvraelys wel die konstruk van konsensieusheid meet in Suid Afrika. Die eksperimentele konsensieusheidsinstrument, wat bestaan uit 255 items, was aan 'n steekproef van intreevlak polisieaansoekers van die Suid Afrikaanse Polisie Dienste (N=1051) toegedien. Na verskeie analises, is 88 van die 255 items verwyder. Die fasette het ook vermeerder na 26. Verder het die Cronbach Alpha koëffissiënttellings gunstige vlakke van betroubaarheid aangedui vir 21 van die 26 fasette. Faktoranalise het aangedui dat een faktor onttrek moet word en 19 fasette het hierop gelaai. Dus is die onderliggende dimensie van die konsensieusheid faktor bevestig. Daar sal egter van die fasette herdefineer moet word. / jfl2011