Eye Movement as an Indication of Proactive and Reactive Control in Switch/Repeat Tasks

Two main components for effective cognitive control are top-down and bottom-up processing. Top-down processing is described as the ability to use previously known information to create, seek out and achieve a goal. Bottom-up processing is described as making a reactive decision, based off the immediate sensory information available. Top-down predictions and bottom-up sensory processing must work simultaneously to interpret one’s current surroundings for the purpose of decision making. We believe that top-down and bottom-up processes are also correlated with a person’s innate level of impulsivity. This project aims at using eye-tracking data to determine if there is a correlation between where and how quickly a participant will look at a given stimuli before making a decision. Then, we aim at determining if a participant will proactively set their gaze in a certain location before a stimulus is given, indicating top-down control when making their decision. This study will provide more insight on the question of how we, as humans, make daily decisions

Examining the relationship between leaders' power use, followers' motivational outlooks, and followers' work intentions

From the foundation of self-determination theory and existing literature on forms of power, we empirically explored relationships between followers' perceptions of their leader's use of various forms of power, followers' self-reported motivational outlooks, and followers' favorable work intentions. Using survey data collected from two studies of working professionals, we apply path analysis and hierarchical multiple regression to analyze variance among constructs of interest. We found that followers' perceptions of hard power use by their leaders (i.e., reward, coercive, and legitimate power) was often related to higher levels of sub-optimal motivation in followers (i.e., amotivation, external regulation, and introjected regulation). However, followers who perceived their leaders used soft power (i.e., expert, referent, and informational power) often experienced higher levels of optimal motivation (i.e., identified regulation and intrinsic motivation), but further investigation of soft power use is warranted. The quality of followers' motivational outlooks was also related to intentions to perform favorably for their organizations.Published versio

Authenticity: Theoretical Considerations, Instrument Development, and Implications for Leaders

The adage, To thine own self be true, captures the essence of authenticity and is age-old. Yet the issue of being true to the self remains highly relevant today, particularly for organizational leaders who operate within complex, globalized, and competitive environments that regularly challenge their personal authenticity. For those interested in assessing and developing authenticity in the workplace, additional research on the topic is needed. In response, this study strengthens existing theoretical work on authenticity by offering an alternative approach to the concept, and creates a corresponding measure suitable for evaluating authenticity within the context of leadership. The work began by providing an alternative conceptual approach to authenticity. Here, authenticity was defined as a psychological and behavioral process whereby an individual lives in accordance with the true self. Key components of the process include self-knowledge, self-awareness, self-regulation, and authentic behavior. The proposed framework advances existing theory on authenticity by more thoroughly addressing the experiential, historical, motivational, and context-specific nature of self. The framework also extends current literature by offering a preliminary explanation of how aspects of authenticity may operate within a person, thereby highlighting the distinction between a leader\u27s ability and choice to behave authentically. Following the establishment of the alternative theoretical framework, a supporting assessment tool was created. Instrument development involved various analytical approaches to create and refine the tool, to test for factor structure robustness, and to conduct a comprehensive validation study that tested the instrument against ten existing measures comprising 21 subscales. Employee email addresses housed by an international consulting firm were used to invite participants to the study. Two launches, occurring approximately three months apart, administered different surveys to four samples and generated data from over 3,300 total respondents. The process resulted in the Role-specific Evaluation of Authenticity in Leaders (REAL), a reliable 43-item instrument featuring eight components. Substantial evidence was found in support of the REAL\u27s construct validity and criterion-related validity at both the construct- and concept-level. As such, the REAL and its underlying framework provide a valuable alternative approach to the future study, practice, and development of authenticity within the context of organizational leadership

Presentation: Operating in Uncertain Times: How Economic Conditions Have Affected San Diego County\u27s Nonprofit and Philanthropic Sectors

How have San Diego County\u27s nonprofit and philanthropic organizations been managing during the economic downturn? This report presentation: Operating in Uncertain Times, highlights the strategies and approaches taken by some of the County\u27s largest nonprofit and philanthropic providers.https://digital.sandiego.edu/npi-stateofnp/1009/thumbnail.jp

Operating in Uncertain Times: How Economic Conditions Have Affected San Diego County\u27s Nonprofit and Philanthropic Sectors

How have San Diego County\u27s nonprofit and philanthropic organizations been managing during the economic downturn? This report: Operating in Uncertain Times, highlights the strategies and approaches taken by some of the County\u27s largest nonprofit and philanthropic providers.https://digital.sandiego.edu/npi-stateofnp/1008/thumbnail.jp

A recurrent gestational choriocarcinoma case complicated by a silent postpartum ruptured uterus: a unique presentation

Gestational trophoblastic diseases comprise of potentially malignant conditions arising from defective proliferation of trophoblastic tissue. Among the different types, gestational choriocarcinoma constitutes a malignant form with significant cure rate and minimal sequel if treated adequately and followed up consistently. In this case report, we describe a patient who previously had history of choriocarcinoma and was treated with six courses of combination chemotherapy and was not followed up consistently and 14 months later conceived and delivered a live 1.3 kg female baby at 31 weeks of gestation. Two weeks post-delivery she was diagnosed with ruptured uterus. Long term complication following choriocarcinoma is a rare event. Moreover, coexistence of choriocarcinoma with normal pregnancy and a subsequent ruptured uterus two week after delivery constitutes an atypical presentation. Complications and challenges described in this report highlight some of the difficulties encountered in managing gestational trophoblastic neoplasia in limited resource setting of Tanzania

Employee perceptions of their work environment, work passion, and work intentions: A replication study using three samples.

This study contributes to the emerging literature on the employee work passion appraisal (EWPA) model, by replicating structural equation modeling across three samples (total n= 4613). We examine passion for work as a mediator of employees’ work environment characteristics and work intentions. Our data fit the structure of the EWPA model in three samples. As expected, work environment characteristics were strongly and positively correlated with harmonious passion, but contrary to our expectations, work environment characteristics were moderately and positively correlated with obsessive passion. Harmonious passion was positively correlated with work intentions, but the connection between obsessive passion and work intentions yielded mixed results. The overall results support harmonious passion, and less so obsessive passion, as partial mediators of employees’ perceptions of their work environment characteristics and favorable work intentions. This study has limitations in that it uses a cross-sectional, single-source, self-report design. Practical implications of the study are also presented.Accepted manuscrip

Protecting The Oral Health Of Those Who Protected Us

Research poster addressing the question: What oral health programs in long-term care facilities improve oral health outcomes? The need for effective oral hygiene programs in long-term care (LTC) veterans facilities is crucial due to the rise in the elderly population, as well as untreated caries in older adults. As a state, Maine has 15% of older adults with untreated caries, 41% with gingivitis, 14% with periodontal diseases, and 2.7% with oral and pharyngeal cancer death rates. It would serve the residents and team of caregivers well to have an interprofessional approach to the overall care of their patients. It is essential for LTC residents to receive proper oral hygiene care and dental professionals are not often staffed by these facilities. Of the literature reviewed, one study indicated 48% of the LTC staff were very satisfied with the quality of oral care provided to the residents and 77% reported considering on-site oral care services. Another study indicated care conferences conducted in LTC facilities (LTCF) influenced the staff\u27s awareness of oral health. While studies have shown that improving the oral health in the older adult population is of great importance, additional research is needed to determine the most effective interventions to improve the oral health of LTC residents. Although interdisciplinary teams are often used in LTCF, the teams often lack a dental professionals. As a result, there is a lack of oral health care within LTCF and further research needs to be conducted in order to bring further awareness to this issue.https://dune.une.edu/dh_studpost/1008/thumbnail.jp

Output frequency response function-based analysis for nonlinear Volterra systems

Analysis of nonlinear systems has been studied extensively. Based on some recently developed results, a new systematic approach to the analysis of nonlinear Volterra systems in the frequency domain is proposed in this paper, which provides a novel insight into the frequency domain analysis and design of nonlinear systems subject to a general input instead of only specific harmonic inputs using input-output experimental data. A general procedure to conduct an output frequency response function (OFRF) based analysis is given, and some fundamental results and techniques are established for this purpose. A case study for the analysis of a circuit system is provided to illustrate this new frequency domain method