Search

Orientation: Intrinsic rewards are personal, psychological responses to the work that employees perform, which stem from the manner in which their work is designed. Research purpose: This study sought to discover in what ways non-profit employees are psychologically rewarded by the nature of their work tasks. The use of a qualitative approach to data collection and analysis ensured that in-depth responses from participants were gained. Motivation for the study: Intrinsic rewards are of particular importance to non-profit employees, who tend to earn below-market salaries. This implies that their motivation originates predominantly from intrinsic as opposed to extrinsic rewards; yet, research into this area of rewards is lacking. Research approach, design and method: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted using a sample of 15 extrinsically rewarded non-profit employees working within South Africa. Thematic analysis was utilised in order to generate codes which led to the formation of five intrinsic rewards categories. Main findings: Intrinsic rewards were classified into five categories, namely (1) Meaningful Work, (2) Flexible Work, (3) Challenging Work, (4) Varied Work and (5) Enjoyable Work. These rewards each comprise of various subcategories, which provide insight into why such work is rewarding to non-profit employees. Practical/managerial implications: Traditional performance management systems should be re-evaluated in the non-profit sector to shift focus towards intrinsic rewards, as opposed to focusing only on the use of extrinsic rewards such as incentives to motivate employees. Contribution/value-add: The study provides a qualitative understanding of how extrinsically rewarded non-profit employees perceive their work to be intrinsically rewarding, which bridges the empirical gap pertaining to intrinsic rewards within this sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim This study examined relationships between activities of daily living ( ADL) motor and process skills, unimanual capacity, bimanual performance, and visual perception in children with unilateral cerebral palsy ( CP). Method Participants were 101 children with unilateral CP (51 males, 50 females; mean age 11y 9mo [ SD 2y 5mo; range 8-17y]; Manual Ability Classification System [ MACS] level I=24; level II=76; level III=1). Measures were (1) Assessment of Motor and Process Skills ( AMPS), (2) Jebsen-Taylor Test of Hand Function ( JTTHF), (3) Assisting Hand Assessment ( AHA), and (4) Test of Visual Perceptual Skills, 3rd edition ( TVPS-3). Regression models were constructed with the AMPS motor scale and AMPS process as the dependent variables. Results The AHA and JTTHF dominant upper limb score together explained 57% of the variance in AMPS motor scale scores. TVPS-3 Visual Sequential Memory, TVPS-3 Visual Closure, and JTTHF dominant upper limb score together explained 35% of the variance in AMPS process scale scores. Interpretation Bimanual performance and unimanual capacity of the dominant upper limb are significantly associated with ADL motor skills in children with unilateral CP. Process skills of ADL are related to visual perceptual ability and dominant upper limb unimanual capacity, which may reflect motor planning required to perform daily tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performing two randomly alternating tasks typically results in higher reaction times (RTs) following a task switch, relative to a task repetition. These task switch costs (TSC) reflect processes of switching between control settings for different tasks. The present study investigated whether task sets operate as a single, integrated representation or as an agglomeration of relatively independent components. In a cued task switch paradigm, target detection (present/absent) and discrimination (blue/green/right-/left-tilted) tasks alternated randomly across trials. The target was either a color or an orientation singleton among homogeneous distractors. Across two trials, the task and target-defining dimension repeated or changed randomly. For task switch trials, agglomerated task sets predict a difference between dimension changes and repetitions: joint task and dimension switches require full task set reconfiguration, while dimension repetitions permit re-using some control settings from the previous trial. By contrast, integrated task sets always require full switches, predicting dimension repetition effects (DREs) to be absent across task switches. RT analyses showed significant DREs across task switches as well as repetitions supporting the notion of agglomerated task sets. Additionally, two event-related potentials (ERP) were analyzed: the Posterior-Contralateral-Negativity (PCN) indexing spatial selection dynamics, and the Sustained-Posterior-Contralateral-Negativity (SPCN) indexing post-selective perceptual/semantic analysis. Significant DREs across task switches were observed for both the PCN and SPCN components. Together, DREs across task switches for RTs and two functionally distinct ERP components suggest that re-using control settings across different tasks is possible. The results thus support the "agglomerated-task-set" hypothesis, and are inconsistent with "integrated task sets." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed a set of upper-limb functional tasks to guide the design and test the performance of rehabilitation technologies that restore arm motion in people with high tetraplegia. Our goal was to develop a short set of tasks that would be representative of a much larger set of activities of daily living (ADLs), while also being feasible for a user of a unilateral, implanted functional electrical stimulation (FES) system. To compile this list of tasks, we reviewed existing clinical outcome measures related to arm and hand function and were further informed by surveys of patient desires. We ultimately selected a set of five tasks that captured the most common components of movement seen in ADLs and is therefore highly relevant for assessing FES-restored unilateral arm function in individuals with high cervical spinal cord injury. The tasks are intended to be used when setting design specifications and for evaluating and standardizing rehabilitation technologies under development. While not unique, this set of tasks will provide a common basis for comparing different interventions (e.g., FES, powered orthoses, robotic assistants) and testing different user command interfaces (e.g., sip-and-puff, head joysticks, brain-computer interfaces). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occupational respiratory disability occurs when the worker is unable to successfully perform work tasks. Impairment refers to loss of function whichmeasurement must be objectively made by the pulmonologist, based on standardized tests to determine the severity of disease and its impact on daily activities. The occupational disability certification must be made by the Qualifying Medical Disability Committee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of migrant live-in homecare workers has been barely addressed in the gerontological literature, in spite of the increase of older persons being cared for by such persons in many Western countries. The purposes of the study are to examine the extent to which migrant live-in homecare workers substitute family caregivers or complement the care that is provided by primary caregivers, and to examine if there are differences in primary caregivers' involvement in providing help with activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) before and after hiring a migrant live-in homecare worker, by caregivers' employment status and gender. The data were drawn from a study that included 335 triads (care recipients, their primary caregivers, and their Filipina live-in homecare workers). The findings show that for the most part primary caregivers continue to play a significant role in providing care, in particular with regard to IADL tasks, even when there is a migrant live-in homecare worker. Several patterns of division of labor between the formal and informal caregivers were identified; that is, in some cases they complement each other while in other cases the migrant live-in homecare workers substitute for the care previously provided by the primary caregivers. Significant differences between male and female caregivers and between working and nonworking caregivers were found with regard to involvement in providing care before and after employment of a migrant homecare worker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I develop an agency model of job assignments where jobs differ based on the breadth of tasks. A tradeoff between task complementarities and relative abilities of workers results in those with balanced skills being assigned to multitask jobs. The same tradeoff between complementarities and relative abilities also influences incentives to sort privately informed workers to jobs. I then draw on a variety of sources (survey data, case studies, and anecdotal evidence) to suggest that relative abilities and multitasking play an important role in managerial assignments of nonacademic research scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a story that narrates the day of a contemporary writer in modern Iran. The writer wakes up at 4:30 in the morning to jog and then prepares his pencils after a quiet bath to finish several miscellaneous documents. He likewise arranges several things he have to finish during the day including his university class, his visit to a shop and his lunch with a friend. In the middle of the day, he then rents a taxi to the College of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages where he had finished advanced English writing courses.

Enumeration of very small quantities is a common task that we perform everyday. Much research has highlighted that in these conditions humans display fast, near errorless performance, a phenomenon dubbed subitizing. It has been suggested that this regime has a pivotal role in numerosity perception. Here we asked if this system can process multiple sets of items in parallel. At odds with what happens for moderate numerosities, we found a strong impairment caused already by the introduction of a second group of items marked by a different color. Adding shape as a cue provided no benefit. The only case in which subitizing was possible was when the target and distractor group were held constant through the experimental block. These results show the surprising fact that whilst being rapid and errorless, subitizing does not have the capability to disentangle multiple groups of items and deals only with coarse stimulus statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses highlights from the blog Sceptical Chymist regarding a typical workday by the associate editor of "Nature Chemical Biology," Catherine Goodman. Topics include an account of her daily schedule which includes agenda setting, debating the merits of a paper she's reviewing, and her feelings on receiving a favorable review outline from an author.