Performance Appraisals are very complicated. They have ties to job security, promotions, salary and morale. Depending upon their effectiveness, PA's can be either a sound employee development tool or a workplace nightmare. The reason that a well thought out, reasonably planned performance appraisal system is needed at most companies is the fact that most managers are not effective and comfortable (during the year) in giving frequent, specific, job-related feedback which tells the employee where he\she stands regarding goals or expectations on the job.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of improvisational music therapy on joint attention behaviors in pre-school children with autism. It was a randomized controlled study employing a single subject comparison design in two different conditions, improvisational music therapy and play sessions with toys, and using standardized tools and DVD analysis of sessions to evaluate behavioral changes in children with autism. The overall results indicated that improvisational music therapy was more effective at facilitating joint attention behaviors and non-verbal social communication skills in children than play. Session analysis showed significantly more and lengthier events of eye contact and turn-taking in improvisational music therapy than play sessions. The implications of these findings are discussed further.

J Autism Dev Disord. 2008 Oct;38(9):1758-66. Epub 2008 Jul 1. Kim J, Wigram T, Gold C. Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark. jinahkim@jj.ac.kr