The Performance Diagnostic Checklist-Human Services: A brief review

The Performance Diagnostic Checklist-Human Services (PDC-HS) is an informant-based tool designed to identify the variables contributing to poor employee performance in human service settings, such as clinics, schools, and residential facilities. Upon completion of the tool, an intervention indicated by PDC-HS results is used to improve employee performance. To date, the PDC-HS has been used in a number of studies. This review describes the existing research on the PDC-HS and provides suggestions for future research.     

Bilateral Transcranial Direct Stimulation Over the Primary Motor Cortex Alters Motor Modularity of Multiple Muscles

Abstract

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the primary motor cortex (M1) has been demonstrated to modulate the motor performance of both healthy individuals and patients with neuromuscular disorders. However, the effect of tDCS on motor control of multiple muscles, which is a prerequisite to change in motor performance, is currently unknown. Using dimensionality reduction analysis, we investigated whether bilateral tDCS over M1 modulates the coordinated activity of 12 muscles. Fifteen healthy men participated in this randomized, double-blind crossover study. Each participant received a 20-min sham and 2-mA stimulation bilaterally over M1 (anode on the right M1 and cathode on the left M1), with a minimum washout period of 4?days. Muscle activation and end-point kinematics were evaluated during a task where participants reached out to a marked target with non-dominant hand as fast as possible, before and immediately after tDCS application. We found decreased similarity in motor modularity and significant changes in muscle activation in a specific motor module, particularly when reaching out to a target placed within arm’s length and improved smoothness index of movement only following 2-mA stimulation. These findings indicate that clinicians and researchers need to consider the simultaneous effect of bilateral tDCS over M1 on multiple muscles when they establish tDCS protocol to change in motor performance of patients with neuromuscular deficits.     

Integrating self-report and performance-based assessment of adaptability in a university context

This research examined different conceptualisations and measurements of adaptability in a university context. We compared two approaches to adaptability: (1) personal attribute and (2) performance construct. In the extant literature, the former is dominated by self-report measures, whereas the latter is dominated by performance-based tasks. In two studies, we developed and tested the factorial structure of self-report adaptability measures and the factorial structure of performance-based tasks. Self-report measures of adaptability converged into two factors: adaptability and inflexibility. Performance-based metrics of adaptability did not converge, however. Self-reported and performance measures were unrelated, calling for a multitrait-multimethod approach to further evaluate construct validity of adaptability measurement. Self-reported adaptability was related to Big-5 personality, whilst performance-based adaptability was related to cognitive abilities.     

The effect of behavioral skills training on shot performance in field hockey

Behavior analysis procedures have been used to improve sports performance and enhance player safety across a wide variety of sports. The current study evaluated the effects of behavioral skills training on three common field hockey shots, a slap shot, drive, and sweep for young field hockey players. The procedures were evaluated in a multiple baseline across behaviors for three players. Results showed increases in each type of shot once intervention was implemented.     

Intelligence culturelle comme prédicteur de la performance au travail en expatriation : rôle médiateur de l’ajustement culturel

The present study aims at testing the effects of cultural intelligence (metacognitive, cognitive, motivational and behavioural facets) onto job performance in expatriation (dimensions relevant to task, effort demonstration, leadership, discipline maintenance, communication, administrative and managerial responsibilities) mediated by cross-cultural adjustment (global, interactional and job facets). Data are collected via an electronic survey administered to French expatriates (N = 201) and further processed in SPSS 20.0 and Lisrel 8.80. An output latent variable model globally confirms a mediation hypothesis and leads to a number of original findings. Namely, motivational and behavioural facets of cultural intelligence have the largest effect onto job performance in expatriation, while metacognitive facet has no effect at all. As regards job performance itself, the task dimension is the least dependent upon cultural intelligence and cross-cultural adjustment as compared to job performance aspects relevant to workplace relationships and team management (e.g., communication or leadership performance). The results are discussed in terms of their novelty and several research perspectives are proposed.     

The effects of secondary tasks that involve listening and speaking on young adult drivers with traits associated with autism spectrum disorders: A pilot study with driving simulation

A driver’s license is key to independence for many young adults, including those with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). However, individuals with ASDs may face special challenges when learning to drive. If effective driver training is to be devised for this demographic, it is important to determine the nature of these challenges. Driving inherently requires multitasking (e.g. steering, speed maintenance, navigation, hazard detection) and drivers are routinely obligated to combine driving with the demands of listening and responding to others, as occurs during driving lessons. Given that individuals who display traits associated with ASDs may have special difficulties with secondary tasks and especially those that involve socialization, we examined the effects of secondary tasks that involve listening and responding to questions while driving. We compared performance when simply driving (the control condition), driving while listening (the audiobook condition), and driving while listening and speaking (the prompt: answer condition). The autism spectrum quotient (AQ:Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Skinner, Martin, & Clubley, 2001), a commonly used self-report questionnaire intended to measure traits associated with ASDs in research, was used to identify young drivers with more and fewer traits related to ASDs in a community sample, (None had a clinical diagnosis of ASD.) Consistent with studies of drivers clinically diagnosed with ASDs, we found that high AQ scorers reported greater mental and physical demand, effort, and frustration when driving, and showed more moment-to-moment variability in lane position and hazard reaction compared to low AQ scorers as measured in a driving simulator. Differences between the low and high scorers were typically largest when secondary tasks were imposed, but the predicted interaction between drive condition and AQ group only emerged in terms of steering variability.     

The effect of the emotional state on driving performance in a simulated car-following task

Emotion is an important factor that influences driving behavior, but the mechanism is unclear. This research explored the effect of the emotional state on simulated driving behavior. Thirty-five licensed drivers participated in this study and completed a car-following task. The angry, happy and neutral states were manipulated during the task. The participants’ driving performance and risk perception were recorded under each emotional state. Trait anger and driving experience were also measured to explore the possible mediating effect. The results showed that the drivers in an angry or happy emotional state tended to maintain less time to collision and take a longer time to brake while following a lead vehicle than the drivers under the neutral condition, suggesting that drivers in emotional states are more dangerous those in neutral states. Moreover, the happy state rendered the drivers more dangerous, which manifested as a lower perceived accident risk than that among the drivers in the angry and neutral states. More specifically, experienced drivers in happy states performed worse with respect to vehicle lateral position control. Recommendations and implications for safety education and further research are discussed.     

Aging drivers and post delineated express lanes: Threading the needle at 70 miles per hour

Post-delineated express lanes represent a combination of driving complexities that are particularly difficult for older drivers to navigate. The narrow geometry and high speeds that are common to this treatment reflect a critical test for drivers whose depth perception, contrast sensitivity, and visual processing speed are reduced. The present study was designed to empirically examine the effects of age and color of express lane delineators on driver behavior. Three groups of participants (aged 18–39, 40–64, and 65 + years old) were required to complete a series of simulated driving scenarios consisting of combinations of single and dual lane configurations, with speed and lane position measured at the beginning and midpoint of each express lane. All drivers were pre-screened on various visual functioning abilities. Drivers in the 65 and older group show significant age-related declines in depth perception, contrast sensitivity, and phoria which were subsequently correlated with a wide range of driving measures including deceleration rate, brake time, jerk, speed, and lane position. Age related perceptual declines were statistically correlated with slower driving speed and wider lane deviations, including a statistically significant increase in the number of excursions beyond the typical 12-foot lane width. Based on these findings, the behavior of senior drivers was identified as a distinct design condition that should govern the design of high-speed, narrow geometric conditions. This age group requires wider lane widths, particularly at the beginning of single-lane post delimited sections, wider buffer areas around the post markers, and dual lane configurations wherever possible.     

The impact of cognitive functioning on driving performance of older persons in comparison to younger age groups: A systematic review

Older drivers are at a severely higher risk for motor vehicle crash involvement. Due to the global aging of the population, this increased crash risk has a significant impact on society, as well as on an older individual’s quality of life. For this reason, there is a need for understanding how normal age-related changes in cognition and underlying brain dynamics impact driving performance to identify the functional and neurophysiological biomarkers that could be used to design strategies to preserve or improve safe driving behavior in older persons. This review provides an overview of the literature on age-related changes in cognitive functioning and brain dynamics that impact driving simulator performance of healthy persons. A systematic literature search spanning the last ten years was conducted, resulting in 22 eligible studies. Results indicated that various aspects of cognition, most importantly executive function, complex attention, and dual tasking, were associated with driving performance, irrespective of age. However, there was a distinct age-related decline in cognitive and driving performance. Older persons had a more variable, less consistent driving simulator performance, such as more variable speed adaptation or less consistent lane keeping behavior. Only a limited number of studies evaluated the underlying brain dynamics in driving performance. Therefore, future studies should focus on implementing neuroimaging techniques to further unravel the neural correlates of driving performance.     

Relations entre réflexivité d’équipe,mémoire transactive et efficacité interventionnelle perçue chez les policiers-opérateurs du RAID

The objective of this study is to examine the influence of explicit (team reflexivity) and implicit (transactive memory) coordination processes on the perceived interventional effectiveness of specialized elite units (RAID) of the French national police. We test the hypothesis that transactive memory is a mediating process in the relationship between team reflexivity and perceived effectiveness. One hundred and three police-officers representing the seven French police special units replied to a questionnaire. The results show that perceived effectiveness is positively related to task reflexivity and transactive memory. The relationship between task reflexivity and perceived effectiveness is mediated by the integrated component of transactive memory (bootSE = 0.05, 95% BCa CI [0.004, 0.19]). The theoretical and practical implications are discussed with regard to the development of debriefing methods and teamwork training for the development of shared mental models.