No description available.

No description available.

Recently, studies in performance appraisal have focused more on the process of performance appraisal rather than on the mechanics of performance appraisal. This study focused on the individual differences among raters and the effect these differences have on recognition accuracy and rating accuracy. Specifically, individual differences were examined through individual constructs (personal prototypes) of different performance levels and individual levels of knowledge for a particular job. Furthermore, the effect of a competing task on recognition accuracy and rating accuracy were examined. The present study employed a 2 (presence/absence of competing task) X 2 (high family resemblance prototype/low family resemblance prototype) between subjects design with level of knowledge as a covariate. Eighty experienced carpentry workers and construction laborers from Southern Virginia were the subjects. The subjects were tested on their individual level of knowledge with a carpentry knowledge exam. Personal prototypes for each subject were obtained by individual interviews with each subject. The competing task manipulation consisted of subjects in the competing task condition receiving a task to complete while viewing the videotape while subjects in the no competing task condition did not receive a task. After the knowledge exam and prototype interview, the sample viewed a videotape of three carpenters performing four different woodworking tasks (sanding, sawing, hammering and staining) and completed a recognition and performance appraisal measure after observation. It was expected that subjects, regardless of their level of knowledge, with a competing task to perform during observation would make less accurate ratings than subjects with no competing task to perform. It was also hypothesized that raters with higher job knowledge would recognize more behaviors consistent with their personal prototypes and falsely recognize more behaviors from their personal prototypes than lower knowledge raters. Further, it was hypothesized that lower job knowledge raters should be more accurate in their recognition of ratee behaviors than would higher job knowledge raters. Further, it was hypothesized that higher knowledge raters would falsely recognize behaviors consistent with their personal prototype when there was a competing tasks than when was no competing task. There should be no difference for lower knowledge raters. Finally, it was hypothesized that high job knowledge raters would make less accurate performance appraisal ratings because of their reliance of their personal prototypes under increased processing conditions whereas there should be no such differences for lower job knowledge raters. The competing task did serve to divide the subjects attention in viewing the videotape as compared with subjects without a competing task. Little support was obtained for the hypotheses. These findings suggest that the presence/absence of competing task did not significantly effect rater accuracy and that subjects’ personal prototypes did not effect neither their recognition accuracy nor rating accuracy. Future implications for research study will be offered. / Ph. D.

<p>This study examines the effects of a person's appearence on grading. 80 teachers in Swedish have assessed a text, illustrated with a picture of the supposed author. The pictures were varied by attractiveness, personality in looks, and gender. Furthermore, a text illustrated by a drawing and an unillustrated text were also used in the study. The texts were sent to the teachers by e-mail and assessed on a scale from 1-10 and the Swedish grading scale IG-MVG (Did not pass – Passed – Passed with credit - Passed with great credit). The photos used had been assessed by university students with regards to attractiveness, intelligence, sympatethicness and ambitiousness. The later three categories were put together in a category named Personality in Looks. No significant effects of looks on grading were found in this study. However, substantial differences indicated that attractiveness seems to have a slight negative effect on grading and that the category Personality in Looks seems to have a slightly positive effect. Gender differences were nearly significant, in favour of the male authors.</p>

This study examines the effects of a person's appearence on grading. 80 teachers in Swedish have assessed a text, illustrated with a picture of the supposed author. The pictures were varied by attractiveness, personality in looks, and gender. Furthermore, a text illustrated by a drawing and an unillustrated text were also used in the study. The texts were sent to the teachers by e-mail and assessed on a scale from 1-10 and the Swedish grading scale IG-MVG (Did not pass – Passed – Passed with credit - Passed with great credit). The photos used had been assessed by university students with regards to attractiveness, intelligence, sympatethicness and ambitiousness. The later three categories were put together in a category named Personality in Looks. No significant effects of looks on grading were found in this study. However, substantial differences indicated that attractiveness seems to have a slight negative effect on grading and that the category Personality in Looks seems to have a slightly positive effect. Gender differences were nearly significant, in favour of the male authors.

M.Ed. (Psychology of Education) / Although the learning disabled pupil has an average to above average intellectual ability, he does not perform accordingly. Not only does he reveal academic deficiencies, but social and emotional deficiencies are also part and parcel of his problem. Furthermore he experiences problems in meeting social demands that are made in his every day life. These deficiencies in his social abilities in turn imply an insufficient recognition of social demands. Research has shown that a learning disabled pupil's social perceptions are weaker than those of a normal pupil. Although the learning disabled pupil's academic short-coming are at first recognised by the teacher, his social problems are normally neither identified nor understood. The learning disabled child should .be assisted to acquire social skills. In this process the teacher could playa vital role. From previous studies, insight regarding the learning disabled pupil, has been gained. The etiology and manifestations of learning disabilities have been discussed and the characteristics of deficient social skills have also been scrutinised. The purpose of this research is to determine certain disorders regarding the social perceptions of a learning disabled child. Criteria as well as guidelines that a social-perceptual education programme should meet, are also suggested. The study was conducted with 60 learning disabled pupils forming the experimental group and 60 non-learning disabled pupils forming the control group. The "Coding of Emotional Responses Test" was used in this study. In this study it became apparent that the learning disabled pupils made significantly more errors than the control group (nonlearning disabled pupils). Therefore the learning disabled pupil experiences difficulty in interpreting non-verbal behaviour patterns such as facial expressions, body language and gestures correctly, as a result of his deficient social perceptions. Criteria programme research. and guidelines for a social-perceptual education have been determined as a result of this...

Although it is understood that stigma about mental ill-health emerges in middle childhood, and that parental communications are highly influential in children’s developing attitudes, almost nothing is known about the messages parents communicate to young children about mental health problems and how these might contribute to the perpetuation of stigma. This study aimed to address this gap in the literature by exploring parents' communications to their primary-school aged children around mental health and ill-health. Semi structured interviews were carried out with ten parents of children aged 7-11. Data collection and analysis was performed according to a Grounded Theory approach; a theoretical model was developed. The model highlights factors that govern parents’ communications to children about mental health issues, and the impact of this on communication purpose and approach. Parents’ communications were governed by the extent to which parents’ representations of ‘Them’ (mental illness) and ‘Us’ (mental health) overlapped or remained distinct. Communications about mental health were deliberate, comfortable, and aimed to promote child wellbeing, whilst unconscious processes driven by taboo meant communications about mental illness were characterized by avoidance, awkwardness, and ambivalence. Factors such as parent experiences, communication context, and child characteristics, fluidly influenced parents’ overlap of ‘Them’ and ‘Us’, and hence the purpose and approach of their communications to their children. Parents’ context-dependent conceptualizations of mental health and ill-health mean children are receiving complex verbal and non-verbal messages from parents, which may contribute to children’s development of stigmatized views via conscious and unconscious processes. Interventions and policy that harness parents’ existing understandings of mental wellbeing to promote a spectrum model of mental health and ill-health may lead to more open parent-child communication, increased help-seeking, and reduced stigma.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1985 K63 / Master of Science

Section A reviewed 18 empirical behavioural studies on empathy and mental state inference (MSI) skills in those meeting Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) criteria. The review was situated within Mentalization theory (MBT), which posits a central link between such skills and complex needs presentation. Firm conclusions about BPD mentalization skills are difficult as deficits, enhanced abilities and no differences from non-patients are reported. None of the reviewed papers stimulated attachment system arousal, as warranted by mentalization theory. Economic game research was highlighted as offering value in assessing self-directed mentalization, an under-researched area. Section B sought to test MBT and other model’s claim that empathy and Mental State inference (MSI) skills are differentially degraded in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). 27 people meeting BPD criteria and a matched non-patient group had empathy assessed with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task and MSI assessed with a modified economic game. This was done before and after a novel attachment system intervention. Empathy skills were less accurate in the BPD group. Other findings including game behaviour, fairness ratings and a social cue selective prioritisation in non-patients only are discussed. The theoretical links and suggestions for clinical innovation and research development are provided.

Individuals with high functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) stand an increased risk of experiencing mental health problems during adolescence. The present study aimed to develop a better understanding of interpersonal relationships in the lives of adolescents with high functioning ASD. Eight adolescents with a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome or ASD without an identified intellectual disability engaged in a structured interview based on a personal construct psychology exercise exploring constructs about interpersonal relationships. Interviews were transcribed and subjected to a thematic analysis. Four themes were identified: 1) Relationships as a source of support, 2) Perceptions of similarity and difference, 3) Valued qualities in self and others and 4) The development of and maintenance of relationships. Whilst this exploratory study highlighted some commonality in terms of perceptions of family support and friendships as protective and desirable, the participant group differed in their ability to establish and maintain peer relationships. However, peers were seen by participants as being very important in the development of social skills - a finding which has implications for the delivery of social skills training and other supportive interventions. The personal construct exercise provided an accessible and useful platform for the exploration of the social worlds of adolescents with ASD.