Research on the estimation of age at death, sex and stature from skeletal remains has received more attention than methods used to evaluate ancestry. While this may be due to the stigma attached to classifying people into groups, the application, interpretation and precision of non-metric methods used to predict ancestry need to be examined; as these variables are routinely applied to forensic case work in South Africa. The aim of this study was to score fifteen non-metric cranial traits, namely nasal bone structure, nasal breadth, nasal overgrowth, anterior nasal spine, inferior nasal margin, interorbital breadth, zygomaxillary suture shape, malar tubercle, alveolar prognathism, mandibular and palatine tori, shovelshaped incisors, Carabelli’s cusps and the transverse palatine suture shape on a South African sample, with the intent to assess the influence of sex, ancestry and age at death on these facial features. A total of 520 crania were obtained from the Pretoria Bone, Raymond A. Dart and Kirsten Collections in South Africa and included 237 (135 males, 102 females) Africans, 158 (94 males, 63 females) Europeans and 125 (87 males, 38 females) persons of Coloured origin. Data were analyzed using SPSS v.11.5 for Windows. Ordinal regression was used to evaluate the effect the independent variables (age, sex and ancestry) had on the dependent variable (non-metric traits). Results showed that all the variables were associated with ancestral differences among and within groups. Interorbital breadth, nasal bone structure, nasal breadth and shovel-shaped incisors exhibited statistically significant interactions with sex and ancestry, whereas the appearance of the anterior nasal spine, alveolar prognathism, incisor shovelling of the upper incisors, and Carabelli’s cusp morphology were correlated with age at death. If traditional classification methods are used, then these non-metric traits are not a valid prediction of ancestry in South African populations. Future research is to focus on several statistical approaches, including multi-variate analysis, for the classification of non-metric traits. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Anatomy / unrestricted

A survey of literature has revealed that there is a need for a reliability and validity study of the Personal Orientation Inventory in South Africa. The two major objectives of this research where therefore to determine firstly, the test-retest reliability of the Personal Orientation Inventory and secondly, to establish the construct validity, in other words, how well the Personal Orientation Inventory correlates with other measures purporting to measure similar traits. The total sample of 317 individuals used in this research, consisted of both male and female school leavers such as students and national servicemen, ranging in age from 17 to 22 years. The results of this introductory study regarding reliability and validity of the Personal Orientation Inventory in South Africa demonstrated clear support for similar research done overseas and showed to be compatible with the humanistic psychology movement's original concept of self-actualization. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial Psychology)

A survey of literature has revealed that there is a need for a reliability and validity study of the Personal Orientation Inventory in South Africa. The two major objectives of this research where therefore to determine firstly, the test-retest reliability of the Personal Orientation Inventory and secondly, to establish the construct validity, in other words, how well the Personal Orientation Inventory correlates with other measures purporting to measure similar traits. The total sample of 317 individuals used in this research, consisted of both male and female school leavers such as students and national servicemen, ranging in age from 17 to 22 years. The results of this introductory study regarding reliability and validity of the Personal Orientation Inventory in South Africa demonstrated clear support for similar research done overseas and showed to be compatible with the humanistic psychology movement's original concept of self-actualization. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial Psychology)

A survey of literature has revealed that there is a need for a reliability study of the Denison Organisational Culture Survey (DOCS) for use in a financial institution in South Africa. The major objective of this research was therefore to determine the internal consistency reliability of the DOCS - in other words, to determine the accuracy or consistency with which the set of survey items measures one particular scale. The total sample of 2 735 individuals used in this research consisted of both male and female full-time employees of a financial institution in South Africa. The results of this introductory study on the reliability of the DOCS in South Africa demonstrated clear support for similar research conducted abroad and proved to be compatible with the cognitive-behaviouristic psychology movement's original concept of organisational culture. The reliability of the DOCS, as applicable to this South African sample, reflects statistical significant internal consistency. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Comm.

Research into the reminiscence bump aims to improve our understanding of how the memories formed during our adolescence and early adulthood subsequently influence our autobiographical recollections later in life. The purpose of this study was to investigate the temporal dynamics of autobiographical memory in a sample involving two different age groups of adult South African participants. The main objective of the research was to explore the participants’ memories for salient events and to determine whether these memories exhibit the typical reminiscence bump that has been found in autobiographical memory research. This sample consisted of two sets of cohorts, totalling 48 research participants. The first group comprised participants ranging between the ages of 40 and 59 years, and the second group involved participants ranging between the ages of 60 to 79 years. A convergent parallel mixed method approach was adopted in this study. Both quantitative and qualitative data, on the distribution, valence and life domain importance of the reminiscence bump, were collected through the lifeline interview method. The results confirmed that reminiscence bumps are reflected in the memories of both age groups between the ages of 10 and 30 years. Most life events recalled were of positive affect thus confirming the positivity bias in older adults. The family and home life domains were indicated as the most important life domains in the autobiographical memories of both groups. The main conclusion drawn from the study was that there was not a significant difference in the dynamics of the autobiographical memories between the two groups, as reflected in the temporal characteristics of their reminiscence bumps. Future research could further explore the patterns of memories, and researchers could in particular investigate the semantic and affective aspects of these autobiographical memories in more depth. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

A survey of literature has revealed that there is a need for a reliability study of the Denison Organisational Culture Survey (DOCS) for use in a financial institution in South Africa. The major objective of this research was therefore to determine the internal consistency reliability of the DOCS - in other words, to determine the accuracy or consistency with which the set of survey items measures one particular scale. The total sample of 2 735 individuals used in this research consisted of both male and female full-time employees of a financial institution in South Africa. The results of this introductory study on the reliability of the DOCS in South Africa demonstrated clear support for similar research conducted abroad and proved to be compatible with the cognitive-behaviouristic psychology movement's original concept of organisational culture. The reliability of the DOCS, as applicable to this South African sample, reflects statistical significant internal consistency. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Comm.