Critical requirements of trolley-bus operator's job

The major aim of the study was to determine the critical requirements of the trolley-bus operator's job by employment of the critical incident technique, with the ultimate objective of providing an empirical criterion of performance in that job. It was also desired to examine certain methodological features of the critical requirement approach. The technique developed by Flanagan Involves interviewing qualified observers to obtain "critical incidents." These are first-hand reports of actual behaviour which the observer has judged to constitute highly effective or highly ineffective performance of the job under study. Critical incidents with reference to the behaviour of trolley-bus operators were collected from three groups by face-to-face interviews of 134 trolley-bus operators and 33 supervisors, and from 108 members of the travelling public by telephone interview. Interviews with the three groups yielded a total of 786 critical incidents which were formulated into 33 critical requirements. By grouping similar critical requirements five major areas were delineated. In order of frequency of critical incidents which they represent these are: 1. Dealing with public 2. Safe driving 3. Skillful and courteous operation 4. Maintaining service 5- Relations with supervisors The data were analyzed to show the distribution of the critical incidents amongst the 33 critical requirements and the five major areas. Various breakdowns of the data were tabulated in detail. Suggestions were given for the construction of check list and rating scale type performance ratings based upon the critical requirements. The problem of weighting critical requirements in relation to functional importance was discussed. Two methodological problems were studied. The effect of lapse of time between the critical incident and its recall was examined. A significant difference was found in the pattern of distribution of critical incidents collected within one month of occurrence and those recalled over a longer period. Collection of incidents by telephone interview was employed for one group of respondents, the public, and found to be a satisfactory technique. .Arts, Faculty ofPhilosophy, Department ofGraduat

An instrument for producing deep muscle relaxation by means of analog information feedback

An instrument that assists subjects in attaining deep muscle relaxation by means of analog information feedback is described. Subjects hear a tone with a pitch proportional to the electromyographic activity in a given muscle group. Results showed that subjects receiving this type of analog feedback reached deeper levels of muscle relaxation than those receiving either no feedback or irrelevant feedback. The basic method employed—electronic detection, immediate information feedback, and systematic shaping of responses—would seem potentially applicable to a variety of physiological events, and might be useful both in behavior therapy and in certain psychosomatic disorders