Existing measures of Emotional Intelligence (EI), defined as the ability to perceive, understand, and manage emotions for productive purposes, have displayed limitations in predicting workplace outcomes, likely in part because they do not target this context. Such considerations led to the development of an ability EI measure with work-related scenarios in which respondents infer the likely emotions (perception) and combinations of emotion (understanding) that would occur to protagonists while rating the effectiveness of ways of responding (management). Study 1 (n = 290 undergraduates) used item-total correlations to select scenarios from a larger pool and Study 2 (n = 578) reduced the measure-termed the NEAT-to 30 scenarios on the basis of structural equation modeling. Study 3 (n = 96) then showed that the NEAT had expected correlations with personality and cognitive ability and Study 4 (n = 85) demonstrated convergent validity with other ability EI measures. Last, study 5 (n = 91) established that the NEAT had predictive validity with respect to job satisfaction, job stress, and job performance. The findings affirm the importance of EI in the workplace in the context of a valid new instrument for assessing relevant skills.

There is growing evidence that exposure to bright light may improve circadian rhythms in individuals with dementia residing in shared residential settings. The vast majority of this research uses electric bright light boxes. However, the outdoor environment not only provides exposure to bright light but to natural elements which have been shown to have a restorative effect across a broad range of situations. Previous research that sought to explore the impact of time spent outdoors on sleep and/or agitation in individuals with dementia was hampered by low time spent outdoors. This project, conducted in three nursing homes (n = 17), used actigraphy, validated proxy measures of sleep and agitation and direct observation to explore the impact of increased time outdoors on sleep and agitation. The repeated measures design assessed residents with dementia under four conditions: winter/no activity, winter/inside activity, summer/no activity and summer/outside activity. Re-Margaret Calkins, PhD, is President, IDEAAS Inc. and Board Chair, IDEAS Institute,

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