Levels Of Task Performance Research Articles

Intrinsic motivation: an overlooked component for student success.

intrinsic motivation to learn involves engaging in learning opportunities because they are seen as enjoyable, interesting, or relevant to meeting one's core psychological needs ([13][1]). As a result, intrinsic motivation is associated with high levels of effort and task performance ([11][2]).

Who Is Most Influenced by Justice Perceptions? Assessing the Role of Occupational Status

A growth in organizational justice research is evident in the field of public administration. This present study asks whether the relationship between key justice perceptions and attitudinal and performance outcomes vary as a function of occupational status. Building on the extant literature on social status, this study hypothesizes that employees in a higher status occupation will respond more strongly to justice perceptions than those in a lower status occupation by exhibiting lower levels of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, task performance, and citizenship behaviors. Based on a sample of employees in a large public agency in Thailand, our findings indicate that although employees in the two occupational groups do not differ significantly in their perceived justice levels, those in a higher status occupation are more strongly affected by perceptions of procedural and interpersonal justice. This study underscores the importance of accounting for occupational differences when it comes to implementing justice-related policies and practices.

Running on Empty: The Effects of Aggregate Travel Stress on Team Performance

In this study, we explore the effects of travel on performance at the team level using conservation of resources (COR) theory as an explanatory mechanism. We investigate the effects of aggregate travel stress, which we define as the accumulated strain experienced by a team when traveling, on key components of team functioning and performance including team task performance, team concentration level, and counterproductive work behaviors (CWB). We analyze 3054 games played in the National Football League across six seasons using multilevel structural equation modeling. Replicating our findings, we also analyzed an additional 11,802 games played in the National Basketball Association across five seasons. Aggregate travel stress, as a latent construct, negatively impacts team task performance and team concentration level. Team concentration partially mediates the relationship between aggregate travel stress and CWB. Findings suggest that travel has a deleterious effect on various forms of team functioning and performance. As a result, organizations and leaders need to be aware of the potential side effects of travel, and researchers need to further incorporate travel into models and examinations of workplace stress. This is the first study to provide a theoretically driven investigation of the effects of business travel on team outcomes and to apply COR theory to team-level phenomena. Results put forth offer a more nuanced understanding of the effects of travel as well as open up new avenues of exploration for COR theory.

Motor learning and cross-limb transfer rely upon distinct neural adaptation processes.

Performance benefits conferred in the untrained limb after unilateral motor practice are termed cross-limb transfer. Although the effect is robust, the neural mechanisms remain incompletely understood. In this study we used noninvasive brain stimulation to reveal that the neural adaptations that mediate motor learning in the trained limb are distinct from those that underlie cross-limb transfer to the opposite limb. Thirty-six participants practiced a ballistic motor task with their right index finger (150 trials), followed by intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) applied to the trained (contralateral) primary motor cortex (cM1 group), the untrained (ipsilateral) M1 (iM1 group), or the vertex (sham group). After stimulation, another 150 training trials were undertaken. Motor performance and corticospinal excitability were assessed before motor training, pre- and post-iTBS, and after the second training bout. For all groups, training significantly increased performance and excitability of the trained hand, and performance, but not excitability, of the untrained hand, indicating transfer at the level of task performance. The typical facilitatory effect of iTBS on MEPs was reversed for cM1, suggesting homeostatic metaplasticity, and prior performance gains in the trained hand were degraded, suggesting that iTBS interfered with learning. In stark contrast, iM1 iTBS facilitated both performance and excitability for the untrained hand. Importantly, the effects of cM1 and iM1 iTBS on behavior were exclusive to the hand contralateral to stimulation, suggesting that adaptations within the untrained M1 contribute to cross-limb transfer. However, the neural processes that mediate learning in the trained hemisphere vs. transfer in the untrained hemisphere appear distinct.

A study on the success of group formation and cohesiveness in virtual teams using computer mediated communications

While the Internet is a major business tool nowadays, individuals are still challenged to form teams and collaboration virtually. To evaluate the success of team formation in a virtual setting, this research study assessed the role of different computer-mediated communications (CMC) employed on the success of team formation measured by task performance (TP), team cohesiveness (TC), computer skills (CS) and social bond (SB), while assessing the differences on such relationships when controlled for gender, age, education level, academic major, as well as academic year. This research used analysis of variance (ANOVA) and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to address the hypotheses proposed. Using three teams and 140 participants, the results indicated that there is a significance difference in the role of CMC levels employed on the level of perception of CS in team formation. Also, there is a significance difference in the role of CMC levels employed on the levels of TP, when controlled for gender. In addition, there is a significance difference in the role of CMC levels employed (No-CMS/F2F, OLS, & OLS+SNS) on the levels of CS, when controlled for education, academic major and academic year. The results of this study contribute to the body of knowledge by helping organizations identify ways to support effective team formations.

The influence of individual regulatory focus and accountability form in a high performance work system

Our mixed-methods study considers how alignment of HR practices contributes to success in a high performing manufacturing firm with a contingent reward system. Results showed greater task and challenge performance for promotion focused individuals and lower challenge performance for prevention focused individuals. Accountability also predicted higher levels of task and challenge performance. Finally, accountability moderated the regulatory focus–performance relationship such that both forms of performance were higher for individuals higher in promotion focus who perceived themselves accountable for the corresponding outcome, task or innovation. Prevention focused individuals had higher challenge performance the greater their perception of accountability for innovation.

Returning the favor: positive employee responses to supervisor and peer support for training transfer

Drawing on social exchange theory and associated notions of reciprocity, we argue that interpersonal support for training transfer in the workplace is associated with increased employee task performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and reduced turnover intention. We test our hypotheses using survey data from 786 Chinese retail employees. The findings show that when employees perceive high levels of supervisor/peer support for training transfer, they are more likely to deliver higher levels of task performance and OCB in response, which in turn, lead to reduced turnover intention. We also found that the strength of the relationship between supervisor/peer support for training transfer on individuals’ OCB varied across regions within China. The results confirm the moderating role of regional context (coastal and inland regions) on the relationship between supervisor/peer support for training transfer on individuals’ OCB, with a stronger effect found in less economically developed inland regions. The moderating effect of region indicates that cross‐cultural researchers need to be aware of possible within‐country variations in employee attitudes and values.

Differential Neural Correlates of Set-Shifting in the Bingeing-Purging and Restrictive Subtypes of Anorexia Nervosa: An fMRI Study.

In this study, possible differences in the neural correlates of set-shifting abilities between the restrictive (AN-R) and bingeing/purging (AN-BP) subtypes of anorexia nervosa have been explored. Three groups of participants performed a set-shifting task during functional magnetic resonance imaging: patients with AN-R (N = 16), AN-BP (N = 13) and healthy control participants (N = 15). As in a typical set-shifting experiment, participants had to switch between two easy tasks (i.e. 'Is the presented number odd/even' or 'Is the presented number smaller/larger than 5'). The trials in which the task was repeated (repeat trials) were compared with trials in which the task was switched (switch trials). With regards to the level of task performance, no significant group differences could be established. However, when comparing switch specific brain activity across study groups, a stronger activation was found in the insula and the precuneus in AN-R when compared to AN-BP and HC. These results suggest that the both subtypes of AN might have different neurobiological correlates, and thus, might benefit from different treatment approaches. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Cortical speech and non-speech discrimination in relation to cognitive measures in preschool children.

Effective speech sound discrimination at preschool age is known to be a prerequisite for the development of language skills and later literacy acquisition. However, the speech specificity of cortical discrimination skills in small children is currently not known, as previous research has either studied speech functions without comparison with non-speech sounds, or used much simpler sounds such as harmonic or sinusoidal tones as control stimuli. We investigated the cortical discrimination of five syllable features (consonant, vowel, vowel duration, fundamental frequency, and intensity), covering both segmental and prosodic phonetic changes, and their acoustically matched non-speech counterparts in 63 6-year-old typically developed children, by using a multi-feature mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm. Each of the five investigated features elicited a unique pattern of differentiating negativities: an early differentiating negativity, MMN, and a late differentiating negativity. All five studied features showed speech-related enhancement of at least one of these responses, suggesting experience-related neural commitment in both phonetic and prosodic speech processing. In addition, the cognitive performance and language skills of the children were tested extensively. The speech-related neural enhancement was positively associated with the level of performance in several neurocognitive tasks, indicating a relationship between successful establishment of cortical memory traces for speech and enhanced cognitive functioning. The results contribute to the understanding of typical developmental trajectories of linguistic vs. non-linguistic auditory skills, and provide a reference for future studies investigating deficits in language-related disorders at preschool age.

Assessment of the Effect of Years of Experience on the Level of Task Performance by Primary Health Care Workers in Enugu State

Assessment of the Effect of Years of Experience on the Level of Task Performance by Primary Health Care Workers in Enugu State

FMRI Randomized Study of Mental and Motor Task Performance and Cortisol Levels to Potentiate Cortisol as a New Diagnostic Biomarker

Cortisol is an important hormone in the protective stress response system, the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA-axis). It becomes especially salient in immune suppression syndromes such as multiple sclerosis and Cushing’s disease. Fatigue is a common symptom and mental and motor tasks are difficult and labored. The role of cortisol is mental and motor tasks and the recruitment of key brain regions in completion of these tasks is explored together with functional magnetic resonance imaging in healthy participants. Cortisol levels were found to be higher and had greater reduction in levels during mental versus motor tasks. Recruitment of brain-stem and hypothalamus regions, important in cortisol activity, was affected differently. At low cortisol levels, mental task participants had less activity in the regions than their physical task counterparts. When cortisol levels were higher, wider spread recruitment of these brain regions was seen in the mental task participants, and for the physical task participants, the spread was at comparative low levels of cortisol. It is concluded that cortisol is implicated in these brain regions supporting the Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis and that brain region recruitment is likely to be dependent upon factors including cortisol levels as well as perception of stress in the task. It is suggested that mental tasks are perceived more stressful than physical but demand higher cortisol levels to promote wider spread brain region activity. Implication for neurological disease includes the use of cortisol in the proposed development of a potential new diagnostic biomarker for early detection of neurological sequelae.

Modeling Employees’ Career in Relation to Self and Superior Ratings of Job Performance

This study is designed to investigate the effect of job performance on employees’ Career Advancement (CA). Two aspects of job performance such as task performance (TP) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) have been investigated in this study. This study also contributed for a further knowledge by adopting the multiple sources of ratings on individuals’ job performance (e.g. self-ratings, superior-ratings). The data was gathered through mail survey method from 390 paired respondents. The result presented that self-rating of TP was the only factor that associated with employees’ intrinsic CA. There were no significant relationships between self-ratings of OCB on employees’ extrinsic as well as on employees’ intrinsic CA. This study also showed that superior-rating of OCB was the only factor that associated with employees’ intrinsic CA. There were no significant relationships between superior-ratings of TP on employees’ extrinsic CA, as well as on employees’ intrinsic CA. This study contributed some new knowledge which can be channeled to the Ministry of Education (MOE) to improve the level of TP and OCB among teachers, particularly in the Malaysian context.

Visual Attention Distribution Based Assessment of User's Skill in Electronic Medical Record Navigation

Currently, the most precise way of reflecting the skills level is an expert’s subjective assessment. In this paper we investigate the possibility of the use of eye tracking data for scalar quantitative and objective assessment of medical staff competency in EMR system navigation. According to the experiment conducted by Yarbus the observation process of particular features is associated with thinking. Moreover, eye tracking is proved to clarify the relationships between eye movements, visual attention and insight to the complex task performance. Using the similarities between the reference attention map and the one recorded for the assessed person, as well as the total time of the performance, we have proposed the Visual Attention Time Product (VATP) to distinguish the level of knowledge and familiarity with EMR systems. We used Spearman Rank to compare the obtained VATP scores with the 5-point scale expert’s assessment about the test participants’ performance. The VATP was also compared with the other methods used for classification of the competency test results (attention, similarities and time). Twenty-five people with completed basic training in the EMR usage participated in the proposed experiment. The proposed VATP, calculated with regards to the reference performance of the exemplary expert, shows very strong correlation (0, 92) with the expert’s assessment of the observed performance in solving EMR related tasks. The VATP was also calculated regarding the average performance of all experts who participated in the experiment. Again the results show strong correlation (0, 90). Moreover, the results show that the eye tracking interface does not influence on the EMR navigation. We demonstrate that the eye tracking data and proposed VATP can be successfully used to differentiate the level of performance in EMR system related tasks. It also appeared that the parameter VATP enables the assessment of the examinee comparable to that performed by expert. The level of complexity of the computation allows the gathering of results directly after the conducted test. Thus, the VATP can be successfully used for EMR end user skills differentiation and competency testing.

The effect of state core self-evaluations on task performance, organizational citizenship behaviour, and counterproductive work behaviour

Although the personality–performance relationship has been studied extensively, most studies focused on the relationship between between-person differences in the Big Five personality dimensions and between-person differences in job performance. The current paper extends this research in two ways. First, we build on core self-evaluations (CSEs): an alternative, broad personality dimension that has proven to be a good predictor of job performance. Second, we tested concurrent and lagged within-person relationships between CSEs and task performance, organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), and counterproductive work behaviour (CWB). To this end, we conducted two experience sampling studies; the first one assessing the relationship between state CSEs and levels of momentary task performance and OCB, and a second study in which employees reported on their level of state CSEs and momentary CWB. Results showed that there is substantial within-person variability in CSEs and that these within-person fluctuations relate to within-person variation in task performance, OCB, and CWB towards the organization, and CWB towards the individual. Moreover, CSEs prospectively predicted within-person differences in task performance and CWB towards the organization, whereas the reversed effect did not hold. These findings tentatively suggest that state CSEs predict performance, rather than the other way around.

Individual Differences in Diving: Intelligence, Personality, and Underwater Adaptation

Diving is an activity that is carried out in an extreme environment with extraordinary psychophysical demands. It requires the divers to undergo an adaptive process in order to survive, to be able to take advantage of their capabilities, and to achieve an efficient performance. In this ex post facto study, data from a sample of military personnel participating in scuba diving courses (N = 649) were analyzed. Our aim was to verify the role of individual differences in the adaptation to an extreme and hostile environment. The results indicate the existence of psychological variables that differentiate between divers and the general population, those who pass or fail the diving course, and between groups of divers who obtain differential levels of performance in underwater tasks. These findings support that dispositional characteristics have utility for the identification of suitable personnel for professional diving.

Positive correlation between drowsiness and prefrontal activation during a simulated speed-control driving task.

The present study aimed to examine the relationship between drowsiness and prefrontal activation during simulated driving tasks using a wireless portable near-infrared spectroscopy device. Participants drove from start to goal along default routes with either intentional control of their driving speed (speed-control group) or not (speed-free group). Drowsiness level was assessed using a five-item Likert-type questionnaire. The behavioral data indicated longer driving time in the speed-control group than in the speed-free group, whereas no difference in the number of errors was found between the two groups. Importantly, the speed-control group showed a significant positive correlation between the drowsiness score and left prefrontal activation, whereas the speed-free group did not. The results suggest that drowsy individuals may show increased prefrontal activation as compensatory efforts to maintain the desired level of performance in tasks that require deliberate control of behaviors. Furthermore, the present study shows that near-infrared spectroscopy may provide us with a possibility to examine the state of drowsiness during daily-life operations.

The Effect of Role Ambiguity on Task Performance Through Self-Efficacy—A Contingency Perspective

This study integrates theories on self-efficacy and the role theory to explore how role ambiguity influences employee task performance through task self-efficacy in a curvilinear manner. Openness to experience was found to moderate such a curvilinear relation. In addition, this study suggests that task self-efficacy mediated the relationship between role ambiguity and task performance, and between the interactive terms and task performance: role ambiguity, openness to experience. This study emphasizes the importance of considering both the positive and negative effects of role ambiguity, so that the maximum level of task self-efficacy, therefore task performance, can be achieved. It also highlights an individual difference variable, i.e., openness to experience, such that it comes to play in deciding levels of task efficacy and performance. Theoretical contributions, practical implications, and future research directions are discussed.

CM인력의 업무수행능력 분석 및 향상방안

This study aims to propose basic data which can contribute to the fortification of capability and improvement of management system about field CM manpower, and has analyzed the project step-specific task performance level and task performance ability influence factors. The following is the main results gained from this study. First, according to the analysis of the step-specific task burden index of CM manpower, the result cam out in the order of performance design step>basic design step>construction step>pre-design step>purchase and procurement step>and post-construction step. Second, the task efficiency index was construction step>basic design step>performance design step>purchase and procurement step>pre-design step>post-construction step, which means that to coincide generally with the result of task burden index, the lower the task burden index is, the task efficiency was lower. Third, according to the analysis result of task performance ability of the field CM manpower, the personal ability influence factor affects more the task performance ability than the management system. Thus, this study has deducted and proposed improvement directions about the fortification of the capability of individuals and management system for the decrease of the task burden and improvement of task performance level of field CM manpower afterward.

The curvilinear relationship between state neuroticism and momentary task performance.

A daily diary and two experience sampling studies were carried out to investigate curvilinearity of the within-person relationship between state neuroticism and task performance, as well as the moderating effects of within-person variation in momentary job demands (i.e., work pressure and task complexity). In one, results showed that under high work pressure, the state neuroticism–task performance relationship was best described by an exponentially decreasing curve, whereas an inverted U-shaped curve was found for tasks low in work pressure, while in another study, a similar trend was visible for task complexity. In the final study, the state neuroticism–momentary task performance relationship was a linear one, and this relationship was moderated by momentary task complexity. Together, results from all three studies showed that it is important to take into account the moderating effects of momentary job demands because within-person variation in job demands affects the way in which state neuroticism relates to momentary levels of task performance. Specifically, we found that experiencing low levels of state neuroticism may be most beneficial in high demanding tasks, whereas more moderate levels of state neuroticism are optimal under low momentary job demands.

The Impact Of Transformational Leadership On University Performance Through Knowledge And Innovation

AbstractThis study investigated the range of potential performance implications of transformational leadership to improve the university performance by creativity, knowledge, and innovation. We examine the relationships among innovation orientation, transformational leadership, organizational learning, and university performance using hierarchical OLS regression technique. We found that transformational leadership influences the relationship between leaders' performance (rectors, deans, and managers) and university's outcomes (teaching, research, and service) to establish how leader behaviours affect the university performance. Results reveal that transformational leadership may motivate academic staff to work harder, exerting more effort and engaged in higher levels of task performance through inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, idealized influence, and individualized consideration. The current study shows that transformational leadership may facilitate higher levels of creativity and innovation through emphasized the knowledge integration mechanisms into university. The moderately positive relationships of transformational leadership with university performance suggest that universities should focus on selecting and promoting individuals for upper-level managerial positions with these characteristics