Analysis of Adolescent Developmental Task Mastery and Its Implications for Information Service Materials

This study aims to describe the mastery of developmental tasks of MAN Curup students and their implications for the preparation of information service materials. The method used is quantitative with a population of 75 students from MAN Curup majoring in Social Sciences. The sampling technique used is saturated sampling. Data were collected by using a questionnaire using the Guttman scale and analyzed by descriptive analysis. The results showed that some of the tasks of adolescent development have been mastered and some have not been mastered by students. Some developmental tasks that have not been mastered are maturity in establishing relationships with peers, economic independence, choosing and planning careers and understanding and implementing value systems and ethics in behaviour. Some aspects of developmental tasks that have not been mastered by students must be prioritized to be used as a basic reference in program preparation and implementation of counselling guidance services including in compiling information service materials

Effect of ethical nurse leaders on subordinates during pandemics

Background: As caring in times of pandemics becomes extremely stressful, the volume and intensity of nursing work witness significant increase. Ethical practices are therefore even more important for nurses and nurse leaders during this special period. Research aim: The aim was to explore the relationship between ethical nurse leaders and nurses’ task mastery and ostracism, and to examine the mediating role of relational identification in this relationship during pandemics. Research design: Based on social exchange theory, this study tests a theoretical model proposing that ethical nurse leaders can increase nurses’ task mastery and reduce their ostracism by improving their relational identification with leaders during pandemics. Participants and research context: A multilevel and multi-wave field study using data from 172 nurses from 45 departments of two comprehensive hospitals was performed from April to August 2020 to test proposed hypotheses. Ethical considerations: We received formal approvals from the ethical committee of the hospital where we conducted this study before the data collection. Results: Ethical nurse leaders can indeed increase nurses’ task mastery and reduce their ostracism during the pandemic period; furthermore, nurses’ identification with their leaders mediates these relationships. We find that ethical leadership plays an even more important role in improving nurses’ task mastery and reducing their ostracism that may be facilitated by pandemics this special time. Nurses will become more identified with their leaders when they are treated by ethical ways. Discussion: The study tries to advance our understanding of the important role of ethical leadership in nurse management literature and provide useful suggestions for healthcare institutions, nurse leaders, and nurses during pandemics. Conclusion: Theoretical contributions and practical implications of our findings are discussed. Specifically, we suggest that healthcare institutions cultivate ethical nurse leaders to facilitate nurses’ relational identification, which in turn will positively influence work outcomes.

Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on effort during a working-memory task

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) has shown that stimulation of Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) facilitates task performance in working-memory tasks. However, little is known about its potential effects on effort. This study examined whether tDCS affects effort during a working-memory task. Participants received anodal, cathodal and sham stimulation over DLPFC across three sessions before carrying out a 2-back task. During the task, effort-related cardiovascular measures were recorded—especially the Initial Systolic Time Interval (ISTI). Results showed that anodal stimulation produced a shorter ISTI, indicating a greater effort compared to cathodal and sham conditions, where effort was lower. These findings demonstrate that anodal stimulation helps participants to maintain engagement in a highly demanding task (by increasing task mastery), without which they would otherwise disengage. This study is the first to show that tDCS impacts the extent of effort engaged by individuals during a difficult task.

How long are newcomers new in different occupations?

Purpose This study aims to examine the effects of occupational characteristics on the length of time required to socialize newcomers. The authors examine task mastery, role clarity and social acceptance as indicators of socialization. Design/methodology/approach To test the hypotheses, the authors used occupational data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and survey data of subject matter experts in 35 occupations. Findings Findings show that occupational differences account for a significant variance in the time needed to socialize newcomers. Across occupations, it takes longer to achieve task mastery than role clarity or social acceptance. Occupational complexity increases the time it takes for newcomers to attain task mastery, role clarity and social acceptance. Additionally, unstructured work and decision-making freedom increase the time it takes for newcomers to attain role clarity. Originality/value This study provides both theoretical and empirical guidance on the duration of the organizational socialization period. The study also provides empirical support for prior propositions that different types of newcomer learning occur at different rates.

Translating Expertise across Work Contexts: U.S. Puppeteers Move from Stage to Screen

Expertise is a key currency in today’s knowledge economy. Yet as experts increasingly move across work contexts, how expertise translates across contexts is less well understood. Here, we examine how a shift in context—which reorders the relative attention experts pay to distinct types of audiences—redefines what it means to be an expert. Our study’s setting is an established expertise in the creative industry: puppet manipulation. Through an examination of U.S. puppeteers’ move from stage to screen (i.e., film and television), we show that, although the two settings call on mostly similar techniques, puppeteers on stage ground their claims to expertise in a dialogue with spectators and view expertise as achieving believability; by contrast, puppeteers on screen invoke the need to deliver on cue when dealing with producers, directors, and co-workers and view expertise as achieving task mastery. When moving between stage and screen, puppeteers therefore prioritize the needs of certain audiences over others’ and gradually reshape their own views of expertise. Our findings embed the nature of expertise in experts’ ordering of types of audiences to attend to and provide insights for explaining how expertise can shift and become co-opted by workplaces.

Stroke survivors’ occupational performance and cognitive strategy use: A pilot exploration of strengths and difficulties using the Perceive Recall Plan Perform System of Task Analysis

Introduction The Perceive Recall Plan Perform System of Task Analysis is an ecological assessment of occupational performance and cognitive strategy application. This study aimed to describe occupational performance and cognitive strategies of stroke survivors in an early supported discharge service, compare the assessment with global measures of function and evaluate the feasibility of implementing the assessment in the early supported discharge setting. Method This study was a pilot study design and used consecutive sampling. Participants were assessed with the Perceive Recall Plan Perform System of Task Analysis and two global measures: the Functional Independence Measure and the Australian Modified Lawton’s Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale. Scores from the Perceive Recall Plan Perform System of Task Analysis were analysed by task mastery, sub-quadrants and quadrants, and correlations between the assessment and global measures were examined. Findings In this cohort ( n = 10), the Perceive Recall Plan Perform System of Task Analysis assessment required 47 minutes per task and identified reduced task mastery (mean = 55%, SD = 10%) with common difficulties in the perceive and plan domains. High to moderate correlations were identified between the plan quadrant and global measures ( p < 0.05). Conclusion Perceive Recall Plan Perform System of Task Analysis assessment can be successfully implemented by occupational therapists with stroke survivors receiving early supported discharge to measure occupational performance and identify strengths and difficulties in cognitive strategy application.

Students’ ability beliefs about running in physical education: Qualitative findings from longitudinal data

Students’ ability beliefs about running activities in physical education/athletics classes were investigated longitudinally from the perspectives of Nicholls’ conceptions of ability and Dweck’s implicit theories of ability. The data for this study were provided by 44 students (20 boys; 24 girls) who participated in a larger longitudinal project on students’ running motivation in schools. They were individually interviewed from fourth to eighth grade. All interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim for inductive analysis, revealing the criteria that students used to assess their own ability in running and reasons why they believed they could improve their ability in running. Frequencies and percentages were computed to determine changes in students’ ability assessment criteria over time. Results showed that students used ability, effort, task mastery, intra-individual comparisons, and social comparisons as criteria to assess their own ability in running as they progressed from the fourth to eighth grade. However, they increasingly used social comparison in assessment as they became older. Most students believed they could improve their ability in running, suggesting that they were incremental theorists. Ability/maturation, effort, experiences, and influences from significant others were cited as contributors to their beliefs about improving running ability. This study took the first step to provide longitudinal qualitative data on students’ ability beliefs about running in physical education/athletics classes. Findings of the study revealed students became more concerned with social comparisons in their ability assessments over time and held a belief that they could improve their own running ability. The implications of these findings for physical education teachers are discussed.