The chapters in this book have their origins in papers presented at one of two conferences organised by the Global Science and Technology Forum (GSTF): the Annual International Conference on Human Resource Management and Professional Development (HRM and PD) 2012, and the Annual Conference on Cognitive and Behavioural Psychology (CBP) 2013, both held in Singapore. On the basis of these presentations, authors were invited to re-work their papers to fit within the theme of “enhancing human performance”. This theme was deliberately broad so as to include a wide range of research areas, and yet was sufficiently specific that the chapters would cohere as different perspectives on the factors that affect human performance.This collection of chapters reflects the disparate contexts in which human performance is examined, and the many factors that impinge on performance in a negative way, and the conditions under which performance can be improved. The book explores topics such as: the effects of a computer maths game on the acquisition of arithmetic skills in school children; the effects of exercise on cognition in children with autism spectrum disorder; the influence of bilingualism on visuospatial memory; the potential beneficial effects of beliefs in the extraordinary (e.g., paranormal phenomena); an examination of how attention to food-related images is affected as a function of food deprivation; the factors that affect the perceived effort of credit repayment; the impact of the emotional valence of faces on the spatial direction of attention; emotional eating in Thailand; the relationship between work roles, worker characteristics and work performance; the relationship between national culture and national innovation; and organisational preparation for Generation Y leaders.
Professor Craig Speelman has been a Professor in the School of Psychology and Social Science at Edith Cowan University since 2008. He was the Head of the School between 2002–11. He is the author of Beyond the Learning Curve: The Construction of Mind, and of several book chapters. He has also authored papers published in highly ranked journals, including Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Frontiers in Psychology, The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, and Australian Psychologist. He has received funding from the Australian Research Council, Health Workforce Australia and the Association of Independent Schools (AISWA), amongst others. He is a reviewer of many highly ranked journals and has been a contributing editor to Current Research in Psychology since 2012, and is the foundation editor-in-chief of the GSTF Journal of Psychology.
