A longstanding folk belief suggests that 'busy' people possess the ability to get more done than others. Busyness, defined as the demands of everyday life, has been shown to generate cognitive load, which has been called 'cognitive busyness.' Although most cognitive theory would deny the possibility that cognitive load may enhance performance, some recent research may support the possibility. Cowan's 1988 information-processing model was used to study how measures of everyday busyness correlated with performance on cognitive tasks. The research question addressed whether any combination of such measures, in combination with working memory, could predict performance on such tasks. 92 participants, paid workers with Amazon Mechanical Turk, engaged in an online process, starting with completion of a validated self-report instrument to measure busyness. They then participated in 2 activities, structured as games and designed to measure working memory and cognitive performance. Multiple regressions, linear and nonlinear, were used to identify significant predictors of performance. Results of the analyses did not reveal any evidence for significant relationships between the variables. Additionally, 'volitional busyness' did not appear to enhance, or even affect, performance on a planning task. Further research exploring the effect of these variables on a working memory-based task may be worthwhile, if only to confirm the present findings. This project might benefit linguists tracking semantic change, showing how a term may adopt an entirely different meaning and suggesting further refinement in identifying such shifts over the years; psychologists exploring cognitive load and its effects; and social psychologists interested in making corrections to popular perceptions of the value of tradition gender-associated tasks.

The thesis analyzes the relationship of the perceived happiness level and the level of work busyness of full time employees. For this purpose, a questionnaire was built which mapped happiness and busyness with considering both subjective and objective variables. 205 employees participated in the questionnaire survey. The sample showed above-average education, a high level of busyness and above-average salary (or wages). It has been shown that the work happiness level depends on the level of workload: the unbusy employees are the least happy ones. Influence of ambitions or influence of the importance of work area to the relationship of happiness level and workload level has not been confirmed.

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The behaviour of zoo animals can come to anticipate temporally predictable feeding times. However, there is a lack of consensus over the effects of such routines on behaviour and welfare. Few studies have been published in this area, perhaps in part due to methodological challenges. The current programme of work therefore aimed to extend knowledge on the effect of predictable feeding routines, and to develop a suitable methodology to overcome challenges. Prior to predictable feeding, tigers showed patterns of increased ‘active’ behaviours such as locomotion and pacing, and decreased inactivity. Geckos also showed increased ‘active’ behaviours such as locomotion and ‘stationary but moving head’ prior to predictable, compared to unpredictable feeding times, with significant differences between conditions (RSS = 0.059 and 0.047, p < .05). However, anticipatory patterns were not demonstrated for meerkats, which highlighted that other environmental factors may affect an animal’s response to temporal predictability (such as obtaining other food during the day, or signalled predictability). Studying patterns of behavioural change over time requires long periods of observation which is often not possible for researchers. The current programme of work argues that a measure which can be reliably used by many, relatively untrained observers is necessary to study predictability. The measure of ‘busyness’, a subjective rating of animal behaviour, was tested for reliability and validity. Busyness ratings showed good inter-observer reliability (ICC > .72) and correlated with traditional measures of behaviour. Busyness ratings demonstrated clear patterns related to feeding time and gave a useful compound measure of behavioural change. The use of multiple observers was extended to a citizen science approach, where useful data on anticipation in fish were obtained from aquarium visitors using a touch screen. The current programme of work successfully investigated the effects of predictable feeding routines on patterns of animal behaviour, alongside the development of suitable methods. The qualitative techniques developed here offer potential to increase the data obtained in future research into predictability and many other topics.

Baigiamajame magistro darbe pateiktos užimtumą apibūdinančios sąvokos ir gyventojų užimtumo kitimo priklausomybė nuo gamybinių jėgų išsivystymo lygio, ekonominių-socialinių ir politinių veiksnių, taip pat analizuojama diskriminacija ir lyčių padėtis darbo rinkoje. Baigiamajame darbe nagrinėjamos moterų užimtumo problemos Lietuvoje ir trumpai apžvelgiamas moterų užimtumas Europos Sąjungoje. Nustatytos pagrindinės moterų užimtumo problemos ir jas lemiantys veiksniai. Pateikti galimi nustatytų priežasčių mažinimo būdai. Atlikus sociologinę apklausą, darbo pabaigoje pateiktas moterų užimtumo didinimo Lietuvoje principinis modelis. Išnagrinėjus teorinius ir praktinius užimtumo aspektus, pabaigoje pateikiamos išvados ir siūlymai. / The bachelor theses describe the notions of business and how residents businesses depend on relations of production development, economics, socials and political factors. The theses also analyse the discrimination and sexual equality at work. The bachelor theses describe the problems of women business in Lithuania and European Union. The reasons of the problems, women face in business, are specified and the way to reduce them is described. Furthermore, the model of women busyness in Lithuania was created in refer to sociological research. Finally, the conclusions and suggestions are drawn.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:21:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paulo Rogerio Bonini.pdf: 1329908 bytes, checksum: 092335a6fbd369b8c866b9b62a51d415 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-10-18 / The juridic institut of injury has always avoided that one of the parties of the busyness relationship have a not proportional gain, takes advantage of the other. The balance among obligations reachs collective goals, resulting of observation of the good will and social function of contracts. The needs of hiring and lack of business knowledge take away willness conscience, considering the lesion like a bad conscience. The cancellation of the business isn t its general purpose, trying to make its conservation with the necessary corrections. There is variability of the effects of injury busyness, sometimes causing absolute nullity, sometimes causing relative nullity, sometimes causing the rescission of the busyness / O instituto jurídico da lesão sempre buscou evitar que uma das partes da relação negocial obtivesse um ganho desproporcional em relação à contraprestação devida, aproveitando-se da necessidade da outra parte. O equilíbrio das prestações atende interesses coletivos, como decorrência da observação do princípio da boa-fé e da função social do contrato. A necessidade de contratar e a inexperiência negocial retiram a plena consciência da vontade, enquadrando a lesão como vício do consentimento. A anulação do negócio lesvio não é seu fim primordial, devendo-se buscar a sua conservação com as correções necessárias. Há variação dos efeitos da lesão no negócio, ora gerando a nulidade absoluta, ora gerando a nulidade relativa, ora constituindo-se como causa de resolução do negócio.

Forskning har visat att kognitiv belastning påverkar stereotyper och fördomar och hur människan agerar på dem. Då mobiltelefoni är en variant av kognitiv belastning som ökar undersöktes huruvida kognitiv belastning i form av mobiltelefonliknande input påverkar implicita fördomar samt om effekten skiljer sig beroende på kön och ålder. Deltagare var 162 studenter (94 kvinnor) i åldrarna 19–59 år (Md = 24) från en medelstor mellansvensk stad. Under studiens första del läste deltagarna, med eller utan mobiltelefonliknande störning, en vinjettext om en arbetslös man från antingen Västmanland eller Somalia och skattade därefter sin uppfattning om mannen i syfte att exponera implicita fördomar. Studiens andra del mätte explicita fördomar genom Modern Racial Prejudice scale. Resultatet bekräftade inte hypotesen att mobilstörning medför ökade implicita fördomar. En tendens att uppfatta invandraren mindre och svensken mer som belastning vid mobilstörning erhölls. Resultatets indikationer för stereotypbilden av invandraren och förändrade fördomar i samhället diskuterades.

Increasingly there is debate concerning the number of board memberships a person can hold before loss of quality in their work. Previous research has not reached consensus regarding the effect of busy directors on firm performance. We therefore hypothesize there are modifying factors affecting that relationship, namely firm size and the presence of concentrated ownership. We designed a quantitative study to study first the effect of busyness on firm performance in Swedish listed companies, and secondly, to study the effect of the modifying factors on that relationship. It was found that busyness is positively related with firm performance measured by Tobin’s Q, and that concentrated ownership affects that relationship such that companies with more concentrated ownerships also have higher Tobin’s Q values. There was however partial support that firm size is a negative modifier on the relationship between busyness and firm performance. Overall our results indicate that more regulation that limits board busyness is not currently warranted. / Det debatteras alltmer hur många styrelseuppdrag en styrelseledamot kan ha innan det börjar påverka kvaliteten på deras arbete negativt. Tidigare forskning har inte nått ett enhetligt svar på frågan om effekten av många styrelseuppdrag och ett företagets prestation. Vi tror därför att det finns modifierande variabler som inverkar på detta förhållande, nämligen företagets storlek och om företaget har en koncentrerad ägarkrets. Vi genomförde en kvantitativ studie för att undersöka effekten av många styrelseuppdrag på företagens prestation bland Svenska bolag noterade på Stockholmsbörsen. Våra resultat tyder på att ledamöter med många uppdrag har en positiv inverkan på måttet Tobin’s Q och att bolag med en hög ägarkoncentration påverkar detta samband än mer positivt. Det fanns delvis underlag för att företagets storlek påverkade sambandet negativt. Överlag indikerar våra resultat att utökad reglering som begränsar antalet styrelseuppdrag inte är motiverat i dagsläget.

Product placement has been intensely studied in almost every mass communications medium. One notable exception is in children's picture books where scholarship on the placement of products and brands has been severely underserved despite a steady presence in a medium integral to socialization and society. The present study recognizes the unique characteristics of the shared reading that takes place in this medium and explores its effects on memory for and attitudes toward product placements within children's picture books. Using a laboratory experiment, quantitative statistical analysis of resulting data, and qualitative exploration of themes resulting from subjects' responses, the present study demonstrates that the practice of shared reading positively affects both recollection and attitudes toward product placement in children's picture books. It also discusses the results in the context of their ethical and practical applications and implications.

過去探討影響員工正向情緒表達之前因的實證研究，已累積相當豐富，但在前因變數間之交互作用，以及情緒表達概念上，仍有以下兩大類議題尚未處理：首先，鮮少研究同時探討個體內層次 (交易層次)與個體間層次 (員工個人層次)之跨層次研究，即檢視單一員工服務多位顧客時之巢狀的影響 (nested effects)，故本研究提出的理論模型包含兩個層次變數之間的關係：個體內層次 (交易忙碌程度、顧客負向情緒表達)與個體間層次 (知覺工具型主管支持、知覺情感型主管支持、情緒穩定性特質)，以試圖彌補此研究缺口。再者，過去有關情緒表達之研究，大多探討員工於每筆交易時所展現之正向情緒表達之強度，因此，本研究另一個研究興趣探討員工個人變數與員工正向情緒表達之平均強度間的關係。 本研究以76位中華郵政第一線儲匯服務人員，及與其互動之434位顧客為研究對象，階層線性模式分析結果發現顧客負向情緒表達與員工正向情緒表達具有顯著負向關係；而在員工個人變數之跨層次干擾效果探討上，本研究結果發現，當員工知覺工具型主管支持較高時，會削弱顧客負向情緒表達與員工正向情緒表達之間的負向關係；且當員工情緒穩定性特質較高時，也會使交易忙碌程度與員工正向情緒表達間之負向關係減弱。最後，階層迴歸分析結果亦指出員工知覺情感型主管支持與員工正向情緒表達之平均具有顯著正向關係。整體而言，本研究所提之研究假說部分符合理論預期，而研究結果可對情緒表達、情緒勞動、與社會支持相關研究提供理論貢獻與實務意涵。 / Although most of previous studies have explored the antecedents of employee positive affective displays, the issues of examining the main effects of transaction cues and the moderating effects of employee characteristics on employee positive affective displays from the perspective of within-person and between-person analysis remain relatively unexplored so far. Therefore, this study examined whether transaction defining cues (ex., transaction busyness and client negative affective displays) affected employee positive affective displays. Besides, this study examined whether employee characteristics would moderate the relationships between transaction defining cues and employee positive affective displays. Results from 76 postal clerks of 32 post offices and 434 clients partially supported our hypotheses and showed that client negative affective displays negatively predict employee positive affective displays. With regard to the moderating effects of employee characteristics, when the postal clerks perceived high level of supervisor instructmental support, the negative effect of client negative affective displays on employee positive affective displays was minimized. Moreover, employee with high level of emotional satbility would weaken the negative relationship between transaction busyness and employee positive affective displays. In addition, the study also indicate that employee perceived high level of supervisor emotional support would increase the employee average performance of positive affective displays. In conculsion, these findings provide not only further understanding how to improve employee affective displays, but also guidance for the organizations to select and train appropriate emoployees.