Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychological Sciences / Patrick A. Knight / The present study examined onboarding information acquisition and the mediated impact of shared mental model on newcomers' organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intentions to quit. Onboarding is the initial stage of the socialization process that provides information pertinent to facilitating newcomers' transition into the organization. Previous research stated that a dearth in the socialization literature existed pertaining to intra-individual cognitive mediators. As a result, the present study identified and evaluated the variable, shared mental model, as an underlying mechanism through which information acquisition operated within the onboarding process. The study postulated that newcomers actively evaluated for perceived congruency their own mental models with those espoused by the organization with these perceptions influencing individual organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intentions to quit. Data were collected via Qualtrics from 305 full-time employees who were experiencing onboarding at the time of study. Participants completed a series of scales relevant to newcomer information seeking behavior, clarity of job role and work processes, and specific organizational outcomes (e.g., organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intentions to quit) through an online data collection hub. A confirmatory factor analysis supported the factor structures for each of the latent variables (the antecedent, mediator, three socialization outcomes) evaluated in the present study. The proposed mediated socialization process was then examined by way of structural equation modeling. Results showed that shared mental models did mediate the relationships between newcomer employee behaviors and specific socialization outcomes. Furthermore, relationships between the antecedent, newcomer employee behaviors, and two of the socialization consequences, organizational commitment and job satisfaction, appeared to be fully mediated by the presence of shared mental models in the analysis (the intentions to quit relationship was partially mediated). Practical and theoretical implications, in addition to limitations and recommendations of the research are discussed.

The ability to successfully engage in adaptive performance is important due to the increasingly dynamic nature of work. The way individuals organize concepts within a performance domain (knowledge structures) has important implications for subsequent performance, including adaptive performance. Past literature has focused on the team knowledge structures and routine or overall performance. It is not evident whether changes in individuals’ knowledge structures after an adaptive performance episode will enhance or impair performance. The current study investigated knowledge structure change and its relationship with individual differences and performance outcomes. The sample contained 185 individuals from a private southern university. There was no evidence of relationships between individual differences or performance outcomes and knowledge structure change. However, the current study contributed to the literature by measuring knowledge structures multiple times and across routine and adaptive performance episodes. Study implications and the potential use of knowledge structures in training design are also discussed.

Since Cannon-Bowers, Salas, and Converse (1993) introduced the concept of mental models (MMs) to team performance research, theory and research have supported the idea that common cognitions among team members facilitate team performance. One of the processes that contributes to MM similarity is team planning. In this study, the influence of two planning approaches on MM similarity and team performance are compared for teams that have engaged in different teamwork and taskwork experiences. The purpose of the present study was threefold. First, I investigated the influence of team members' experience on their pre-planning teamwork and taskwork MM similarity. Second, I assessed the influence of pre-planning teamwork and taskwork MM similarity and two planning approaches on post-planning MM similarity. Third, I examined the influence of post-planning teamwork and taskwork MM similarity on team performance. I tested these relationships with 172 three-person ad hoc teams performing a problem-solving execution task in a lab setting. I employed a 2 (type of planning: casebased versus generative) x 3 (type of experience: teamwork, taskwork, combined teamwork and taskwork) fully crossed randomized between-subjects factorial design. Although none of the hypotheses were supported, experience significantly interacted with pre-planning taskwork and pre-planning teamwork MM similarity to influence post-planning MM similarity. Also, team performance was significantly influenced by post-planning teamwork MM similarity for teams assigned to the casebased planning and teamwork experience conditions. Speculations as to why the hypotheses were not supported and suggestions for future research examining the influence of experience and planning on MM similarity and team performance are provided.

Teamwork has become increasingly important in many disciplines. To support teamwork in dynamic and complex domains, a teamwork programming language and a teamwork architecture are important for specifying the knowledge of teamwork and for interpreting the knowledge of teamwork and then driving agents to interact with the domains. Psychological studies on teamwork have also shown that team members in an effective team often maintain shared mental models so that they can have mutual expectation on each other. However, existing agent/teamwork programming languages cannot explicitly express the mental states underlying teamwork, and existing representation of the shared mental models are inefficient and further become an obstacle to support effective teamwork. To address these issues, we have developed a teamwork programming language called Role-Based MALLET (RoB-MALLET) which has rich expressivity to explicitly specify the mental states underlying teamwork. By using roles and role variables, the knowledge of team processes is specified in terms of conceptual notions, instead of specific agents and agent variables, allowing joint intentions to be formed and this knowledge to be reused by different teams of agents. Further, based on roles and role variables, we have developed mechanisms of task decomposition and task delegation, by which the knowledge of a team process is decomposed into the knowledge of a team process for individuals and then delegate it to agents. We have also developed an efficient representation of shared mental models called Role-Based Shared Mental Model (RoB-SMM) by which agents only maintain individual processes complementary with others?? individual process and a low level of overlapping called team organizations. Based on RoB-SMMs, we have developed tworeasoning mechanisms to improve team performance, including Role-Based Proactive Information Exchange (RoB-PIE) and Role-Based Proactive Helping Behaivors (RoBPHB). Through RoB-PIE, agents can anticipate other agents?? information needs and proactively exchange information with them. Through RoB-PHB, agents can identify other agents?? help needs and proactively initialize actions to help them. Our experiments have shown that RoB-MALLET is flexible in specifying reusable plans, RoB-SMMs is efficient in supporting effective teamwork, and RoB-PHB improves team performance.

How and why visualisations support learning was the subject of this qualitative instrumental collective case study. Five computer programming languages (PHP, Visual Basic, Alice, GameMaker, and RoboLab) supporting differing degrees of visualisation were used as cases to explore the effectiveness of software visualisation to develop fundamental computer programming concepts (sequence, iteration, selection, and modularity). Cognitive theories of visual and auditory processing, cognitive load, and mental models provided a framework in which student cognitive development was tracked and measured by thirty-one 15-17 year old students drawn from a Queensland metropolitan secondary private girls’ school, as active participants in the research. Seventeen findings in three sections increase our understanding of the effects of visualisation on the learning process. The study extended the use of mental model theory to track the learning process, and demonstrated application of student research based metacognitive analysis on individual and peer cognitive development as a means to support research and as an approach to teaching. The findings also forward an explanation for failures in previous software visualisation studies, in particular the study has demonstrated that for the cases examined, where complex concepts are being developed, the mixing of auditory (or text) and visual elements can result in excessive cognitive load and impede learning. This finding provides a framework for selecting the most appropriate instructional programming language based on the cognitive complexity of the concepts under study.

No description available.

The purpose of the present study were to (a) explore the relationship between the frequency of use of Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) by hospital staff nurses and the support received from RRTs; (b) to investigate staff nurses’ perceptions of their individual level, group level and organizational level learning as a result of single or multiple exposures to the RRT; (c) to identify predictors of learning outcomes and (d) to identify overall impressions and advantages and disadvantages of the RRT. A mail survey was used to collect data. The response responses rate was 33%, 131 registered nurses responded to the survey (pre-test = 12, study = 119). The results of Pearson r correlation suggest that a high frequency of access of RRTs was positively related to process support (r = .25, p < .01). Also, perceived content and process support from RRTs was positively related to maintenance and building of staff nurses’ mental models regarding patient deterioration pertaining to self, group and organization. Multiple regression analyses show that sociodemographic and independent variables predict organizational learning outcomes (mental model maintenance and building). Overall impressions of the RRTs were high. A content analysis of nurses’ comments indicated that there were more advantages to having the RRTs than disadvantages. This study suggests that RRTs are influential in changing nurses’ perceptions about managing patient deterioration. Training programs for RRTs should include both content and process support, which may enhance building and maintaining mental models. / Thesis (Master, Nursing) -- Queen's University, 2008-09-25 21:27:44.682

Wise use has been widely recognized as a central tenet of sustainable development in wetland management throughout the world. In 2005 the concept of wetland wise use was incorporated into the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) framework to highlight the importance of maintaining a balance between wetland utilization and maintenance of ecosystem diversity. However, the implementation of this framework has been less than effective due to a lack of official government support in terms of institutional and organisational arrangements and lack of local community engagement. The aim of this thesis was to explore the mental models of local communities and decision makers involved in wetland planning and management in Indonesia, as a means to unravel the barriers and opportunities for achieving more effective outcomes for both wetlands and local communities. The specific objectives were to better understand the mental models of the key actors involved in wetland management, as well as the broad policy, economic, social and cultural issues surrounding wetlands at multiple scales from local to national. The term mental models as used in this study referred to a collection of individual worldviews, values, beliefs and mindsets in relation to understanding human-wetland relationships. This thesis presents the findings from a case study of the mental models of community-based rehabilitation of coastal wetlands in Pemalang, Central Java. It drew from a constructivist and pragmatic research paradigm to illuminate the importance of understanding wetland wise use across the key stakeholders involved. The assumptions of the constructivist and pragmatic paradigms indicate that this approach is appropriate for gaining insight into the social and cultural context of communities in the Pemalang district. The research targeted all 110 community members, who were actively engaged in wetland rehabilitation in Pemalang coastal areas. Interviews were conducted with 22 key decision makers involved in wetland management. Systematic procedures were used to minimise the potential for bias that can be evident in interpretive research and to ensure that the findings represented accurate information regarding the phenomenon under investigation. Techniques that included face-to-face validity, triangulation, repeated and prolong observation were used to ensure the reliability and validity of the research. The data analysis used a grounded approach. Leximancer Software and Nvivo QSR analysis were used to enable the complexity of the phenomenon associated with wetland wise use within the community-based activities to be identified. A key finding of this research was that effective wetland management should incorporate community objectives that address economic, social and cultural issues. In particular, enhanced understanding of a range of social aspects is important in developing the stakeholders’ ability to nurture and provide stewardship of wetlands and to contribute to management practices that are collectively endorsed and coordinated and are socially accepted across the stakeholders involved. Decision makers viewed wetlands and their wise use on the basis of the relevant regulatory framework and had dominant anthropocentric orientations. The communities’ concerns about subsistence were the main drivers in all members who were engaged in wetland rehabilitation programs (i.e. seaweed and crab farmers, and shrimp paste makers). The community also prioritised cultural and traditional values in addressing wetland wise use. The local Pemalang communities displayed a combination of both anthropocentric and ecocentric worldviews. Comparisons across the community groups studied revealed that fish farmers’ mental models tended toward ecocentric worldviews, whereas the crab farmers and shrimp paste makers displayed strongly anthropocentric worldviews and utilitarian values concerning the meaning of wetlands and their wise use. In contrast, the decision makers’ mental models related to wetland wise use implementation showed a strong anthropocentric worldview, which was oriented to the optimisation of land use functions and compliance with the regulatory framework. This research is important as it combines both quantitative and qualitative approaches, including interviews and participant observation to provide rich descriptions and a deeper understanding of stakeholders’ mental models. By understanding these mental models, the views of the stakeholders can be more closely aligned with a stewarding and nurturing approach towards the environment. A key recommendation is the need to re-capitalise the existing National Committee of Wetland Management, through providing a more effective regulatory framework that accommodates various government regulations and integrates this with other levels of government (i.e. provincial and local). Stakeholder capacity building can be improved through encouraging and supporting local government involvement in the international network on wetland management. These findings also suggest that there is the need to support local communities in their management of wetlands by applying programs that incorporate local values, including traditional practices. Incentives should be generated through incorporating the existing international program such as bio-right entitlements for the community and introducing microfinance practices that are currently being widely practised in many less developed nations. The integration of these findings will provide insights and opportunity for more effective wetland wise use in Indonesia.

No description available.

This thesis presents a series of experiments where endorsement rates, latencies and measures of cognitive ability were collected, to investigate the extent to which people search for counterexamples under necessity instructions, and alternative models under possibility instructions. The research was motivated by a syllogistic reasoning study carried out by Evans, Handley, Harper, and Johnson-Laird (1999), and predictions were derived from mental model theory (Johnson-Laird, 1983; Johnson-Laird &amp; Byrne, 1991). With regard to the endorsement rate data: Experiment 1 failed to find evidence that a search for counterexamples or alternative models took place. In contrast experiment 2 (transitive inference) found some evidence to support the search for alternative models under possibility instructions, and following an improved training session, experiment 3 produced strong evidence to suggest that people searched for other models; which was mediated by cognitive ability. There was also strong evidence from experiments 4, 5 and 6 (abstract and everyday conditionals) to support the search for counterexamples and alternative models. Furthermore it was also found that people were more likely to find alternative causes when there were many that could be retrieved from their everyday knowledge, and that people carried out a search for counterexamples with many alternative causes under necessity instructions, and across few and many causal groups under possibility instructions. .The evidence from the latency data was limited and inconsistent, although people with higher cognitive ability were generally quicker in completing the tasks.