Therapist Unlimited Blog

SIOP is the premier membership organization for those practicing and teaching I-O psychology.  While an independent organization with its own governance, SIOP is also a division within the American Psychological Association and an organizational affiliate of the Association for Psychological Science.
I-O psychology is a dynamic and growing field that encompasses workplace issues at the individual and organizational level.

I-O psychologists apply research that improves the well-being and performance of people and the organizations that employ them.
This involves everything from workforce planning, employee selection, and leader development to studying job attitudes and job motivation, implementing work teams, and facilitating organizational change.
If this is your first time visiting our site, we invite you to browse through the wealth of information and resources available to visitors and members alike.

Mission Statement
 

The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology is a Division within APA that is also an organizational affiliate of APS.
The Societys mission is to enhance human well-being and performance in organizational and work settings by promoting the science, practice, and teaching of industrial-organizational psychology.  Towards this end, SIOP:

* Supports SIOP members in their efforts to study, apply, and teach the principles, findings, and methods of industrial-organizational psychology.
* Provides forums for industrial-organizational psychologists to exchange research, insights, and information related to the science, practice, and teaching of industrial-organizational psychology.
* Identifies opportunities for expanding and developing the science and practice of industrial-organizational psychology.
* Monitors and addresses challenges to the understanding and practice of industrial-organizational psychology in organizational and work settings.
* Promotes the education of current and future industrial-organizational psychologists.
* Promotes public awareness of the field of industrial-organizational psychology.
 

For better information on the organization simply visit their website http://www.siop.org/ now.

According to a recent study one of the best steps to have a good result on examination day is to eat the rights foods.
The experts explained having a balance diet promote better concentration for the one taking the examination.
The experts revealed eating energy bars, lollies and chocolates will only give short-term energy for students which is not that beneficial for them during examination day.
 

To have great result during examination students need to eat well for them to have a long lasting energy to answer all the questions correctly.
Here are other practical steps students could use to have a great result while taking their examination.

A. Breakfast that rocks
 

Eat traditional breakfast foods that has carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.
Try:
- A bowl of cereal with reduced-fat milk, topped with chopped fruit and a sprinkle of almonds
- Wholegrain or wholemeal toast with reduced-fat cheese and tomato, and a small fruit juice.
 

B. Eat regularly throughout the day - Eating energy-sustaining foods at meals and snacks will help to fuel the brain, maintain energy levels, and avoid dips in concentration.

Try:
- Sandwich, roll or wrap filled with salad vegetables, reduced-fat cheese, lean meat or tinned tuna
- Fruit smoothies made with reduced-fat milk and/or yoghurt
- Fruit (fresh, tinned or dried) or fruit and nut snack packs
- Crackers with tomato and reduced-fat cheese, toast and spreads, fruit bread, cereal with reduced-fat milk.

C. Drink plenty of water– This will hydrate your body, help reduce fatigue and help your brain work. If possible, take a water bottle in to the exam with you.

D. Limit excess caffeine— Limit coffee, caffeinated soft drinks or guarana-containing drinks. Caffeine can act as a mild stimulant, boosting alertness and staving off fatigue, but too much can make you feel nervous and restless, and may affect how well you sleep.

E. Exercise - Schedule in some physical activity before or in between exams. Exercise can help reduce stress, clear your mind and improve sleep patterns.

Researchers has recently discovered that women who get pregnant have a more positive outlook in life.
The researchers also found out that due to the positive effect of childbearing women are also protected against any negative impact on their body image.
The team who made the study also discovered that women’s interpersonal relationships were also very important in relation to their body image, and investment in their
relationships with their baby, partner, family and friends also seemed to protect against body image concerns.

Women who get pregnant have a more positive outlook in life due to their condition.

It is said that the result of the research confirmed the fact all along that giving birth is the greatest gift a woman could have in their lifetime.
Not all women were given the privilege to bore their own child so having the opportunity to get pregnant and eventually give birth is such a memorable moment for any woman in this planet.
It had been chronicled that despite the pain in giving birth to a child and the common instances of getting fat due to the situation, women still accept the responsibility bravely.

A recent study has shown that new parents have less knowledge on child-injury risks that could jeopardize the life of their treasured angel.
According to the study made by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Psychology new parents identified less than half of the safety hazards in a simulated home environment, and most perceived that their children were less vulnerable to injuries than other children.
UAB doctoral student Joanna Gaines, M.A., the lead author of the study, and UAB pediatric psychologist David Schwebel, Ph.D., is its co-author, explained based on their study they found out that parents recognized only 47 percent of the safety hazards placed inside a home setting.
The researchers said while there were no benchmarks to assess whether this is a good or bad rate of recognition, it is concerning if it approximates behavior in real homes.
The researchers added one would hope that parents might recognize all or almost all of the safety hazards present, since they cannot act for prevention, thus placing their children at risk of serious injury if they do not know the risks involved.

New parents need to orient themselves on possible injuries their child faces to protect them from harm from injuries inside their own home.

Gaines said surprisingly, when asked to identify hazards they considered dangerous for their own children, the parents identified only 40 percent of the hazards.
She said the results suggest that parents tend to perceive their children as being somewhat invulnerable or smarter, safer or developmentally more advanced than other children.
Earlier studies have shown that unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for toddlers in the United States, according to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC).
In fact, the NCIPC reports that more than 1,300 1- and 2-year-old American children died from accidental injuries in 2005.
Based on the study it was discovered that formal education was not related to hazard recognition.
The researchers explained parents with fewer years of education recognized safety hazards just as well as parents with more education.
However, the researchers revealed the study also found that more hazards were identified by adults with more parent-related education, which suggests these classes and magazine articles focused on injury prevention may benefit child safety.
Moreover, the researchers said the parents, however, recognized more hazards than the professionals who worked with children daily.
The researchers revealed the health professionals recognized only 29 percent of the hazards, and the day-care workers recognized 37 percent.
The researchers explained parents spend more time with toddlers than day-care employees and parents have more invested in safeguarding their own children.
In addition, the research team said parents have more experience watching children in a home environment than most child-care professionals.

According to a latest medical study middle aged people who smoke, have high blood pressure or diabetes are far more likely to develop dementia in later life.
With the result, researchers hoped that people could modify their lifestyle in mid-life to avoid developing dementia.
Based on medical facts, dementia is a growing public health problem affecting older people in developed countries.
It is perceived that one in six people older than 70 have dementia.
Based on this number it is expected that the number of people with dementia will grow threefold by 2050, compared with 2000.
Earlier research have shown that the presence of cardiovascular risk factors including high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and smoking increase the risk of developing subsequent dementia, but have often failed to show the relationship.
Researchers from the universities of Minnesota, North Carolina and John Hopkins and the University of Mississippi Medical Center studied more than 11,000 people aged 46-70 who were participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study in 1990-92.
In their study, people underwent a physical examination and cognitive testing at that time and they were followed up until 2004 to see how many were hospitalized with dementia.

Middle age people should live a healthy lifestyle to avoid suffering from dementia later in their adult life.

After following their progress, the researchers identified 203 cases of hospitalization with dementia.
Smoking, high blood pressure and diabetes were all strongly associated with dementia in white participants and African-Americans.
The results showed that rates of hospitalization with dementia increased exponentially with age in men and women and in different ethnic backgrounds.
Overall, African-Americans had a two and a half times higher rate of hospitalization than white people and African-American women in particular had the highest rates of all.
Current smokers were 70% more likely than those who had never smoked to develop dementia, people with high blood pressure were 60% more likely than those without high blood pressure, and people with diabetes were more than twice as likely than those without diabetes to develop it.
No association was found between people who were obese/overweight and dementia in later life.
The researchers explained the results suggest that smoking cessation and prevention or control of high blood pressure and diabetes starting in midlife may have the added benefit of decreasing dementia hospitalization risk.
The researchers added the results emphasize the importance of healthy lifestyle modification and risk factor treatment to prevent dementia.

Pregnant women around the world should avoid exposure to environmental pollutants known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) since it can adversely affect a child’s intelligence quotient or IQ.
Based on the study conducted by the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health it was learned that PAHs are chemicals released into the air from the burning of coal, diesel, oil and gas, or other organic substances such as tobacco.
It is said that in urban areas motor vehicles are a major source of PAHs.
According to the study, funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), a component of the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and several private foundations, children exposed to high levels of PAHs in New York City had full scale and verbal IQ scores that were 4.31 and 4.67 points lower, respectively than those of less exposed children.
Researchers reveal high PAH levels were defined as above the median of 2.26 nanograms per cubic meter (ng/m3).
Frederica Perera, DrPH, professor of Environmental Health Sciences and director of the CCCEH at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and study lead author explained their findings are of concern because these decreases in IQ could be educationally meaningful in terms of school performance.
Perera added the good news is that they have seen a decline in air pollution exposure in our cohort since 1998, testifying to the importance of policies to reduce traffic congestion and other sources of fossil fuel combustion byproducts.
The study included children who were born to non-smoking Black and Dominican American women age 18 to 35 who resided in Washington Heights, Harlem or the South Bronx in New York.
The children were followed from in utero to 5 years of age.

Pregnant women around the world should avoid exposure to urban air pollutants to protect the IQ of their children.

The mothers wore personal air monitors during pregnancy to measure exposure to PAHs and they responded to questionnaires.
At 5 years of age, 249 children were given an intelligence test known as the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of the Intelligence, which provides verbal, performance and full-scale IQ scores.
The researchers developed models to calculate the associations between prenatal PAH exposure and IQ.
The researchers added other factors such as second-hand smoke exposure, lead, mother’s education and the quality of the home caretaking environment could also affect the IQ of the baby.
The study has shown that participants exposed to air pollution levels below the average were designated as having "low exposure," while those exposed to pollution levels above the average were identified as "high exposure."
A total of 140 children were classified as having high PAH exposure.
Furthermore, Perera said the decrease in full-scale IQ score among the more exposed children is similar to that seen with low-level lead exposure.
Perera added this finding is of concern because IQ is an important predictor of future academic performance, and PAHs are widespread in urban environments and throughout the world.
She said fortunately, airborne PAH concentrations can be reduced through currently available controls, alternative energy sources and policy interventions.

Those men who are too focus on their physical appearance better be careful since they are at high risk of suffering from eating disorders.
In a recent study he conducted, Dr. John Morgan, a consultant psychiatrist and director of the Yorkshire Centre for Eating Disorders in Leeds revealed a growing numbers of young men are increasingly dissatisfied with their bodies.
Morgan said because of their dislike to their body, a number of young boys engage in unhealthy eating habits, just to be thin and sexy.
However, it is a sad note that due to these unhealthy eating habits these young men eventually suffer from eating disorders.
He added some men who showed signs of eating disorders even refused to undergo treatment since they are afraid to be stigmatized as the only man in the clinic.

Those men who are too conscious on their body better be careful since they are prone to eating disorders.

Moreover, Morgan explained the definition of sexy body as beautiful by the society drove many men to engage in unhealthy eating habits, which would later result in a disaster among them.
Morgan said this medical finding should serve as eye opener to men around the world that a healthy well-being is far more important than their physical image.

Those people who have no job are most likely to get sick as well.
This was the observation of a group of researchers based in Australia.
According to the result of their study, there is a clear connection between unemployment and health.
The data gathered by researchers also shows a direct relationship between poor health and earning potential.
With their findings, the researchers hoped that the government will add more money in the health programs to help those who are unemployed.
 Dr. Andrew Pesce, the head of the researchers then renewed calls for the governments to invest in health as a national priority.
Pesce said their research highlighted the impact unemployment has on health underlining the debilitating stress and emotional impacts experienced by individuals and communities in tough economic times.

Pesce added the research also shows the other side of that coin that ill health prevents people from contributing to the economy
He said their research is a further proof that investing in health not only contributes to longer, happier and healthier lives, but that investment has a direct and lasting impact on the productivity of the workforce.
He added the report’s finding, that the financial consequences of ill health are ‘clearly great’, comes as no surprise to the medical profession, citing that they have long been urging the government to include health in stimulus investment, but to no avail.
Furthermore, Pesce hoped the piece of evidence they gather will convince governments that there is no better investment than health.
 

Men around the world should take many antioxidants since low doses of such kind of chemical compound could affect the quality of their semen.
According to the report posted on the online journal Fertility and Sterility it was discovered that low antioxidant intake is associated with low reproductive capacity in semen.
The researchers lead by Jaime Mendiola said their study has shown that men who eat large amounts of meat and full fat dairy products have lower seminal quality than those who eat more fruit, vegetables and reduced fat dairy products.
Mendiola revealed those men who ate many fruits and vegetables are ingesting more antioxidants, which is why their sperm quality is good.
Mendiola said he and his team have allocated four years of their time examining the link between dietary habits or workplace exposure to contaminants and the quality of semen among men attending fertility clinics.

The male population around the world should eat more fruits and vegetables to ensure they have sufficient antioxidants in their body to keep their semen quality healthy.

He explained their objective was to find out whether a higher or lower intake of vitamins, which act as antioxidants, could affect semen quality.
Moreover, the lead researcher said molecules, which are present in foods such as citrus fruits, peppers and spinach, work by lowering the level of oxidative stress that can affect semen quality, and improve sperm concentration parameters as well as sperm mobility and morphology.
The lead researcher said the study was carried out among 61 men, 30 of whom had reproductive problems, while the remaining 31 acted as controls.
He said a healthy diet is not only a good way of avoiding illness, but could also have an impact on improving seminal quality.

A recent study has shown that parents who are suffering from distress could cause tooth decay among their children.
Based on the research conducted by a group of scientists from The Ohio State University it was discovered that the more stressed parents are, the more likely their children were to have decay
The researchers said they also found out that apparently having one’s child’s dental decay treated actually could decrease the stress of being a parent.
Furthermore, the researchers said through their study they found out that dental professionals need to be ready not only to repair childhood decay, but also to assist families in finding the help they need to decrease the stress of life.
The parents for its part should strive hard to avoid stress in their lives so that their children would not suffer from tooth decay.

Parents need to avoid stress to avoid possible tooth decay among their children.