The relationship between masculinity and the Type A behavior pattern: the moderating effects of femininity

The purpose of the study was to examine whether a high level of masculinity is associated with the Type A behavior pattern, and whether the level of femininity moderates any main effect for masculinity. The subjects were 743 male and 560 female undergraduate students. In the statistical analysis, we found evidence of the masculinity effect on every Type A score, and a moderating effect of femininity on the “speed‐power” subscale score. We discuss the validity of four models of the functions of masculinity and femininity, and consider the moderating effect of femininity in the light of the interactive androgyny model.     

Effects of study time and meaningfulness on environmental context-dependent recognition

In two experiments, we examined whether the size of place-context-dependent recognition decreased with study time and with the meaningfulness of the to-be-remembered materials. A group of 80 undergraduates intentionally studied a list of words in a short (1.5?s per item) or a long (4.0?s per item) study-time condition (Exp. 1). Another 40 undergraduates studied lists consisting of words and nonwords in the long-study-time condition (Exp. 2). After a short retention interval, recognition for the targets was tested in the same or in a different context. Context was manipulated by means of the combination of place, subsidiary task, and experimenter. Significant context-dependent recognition discrimination was found for words in the short-study-time condition (Exp. 1), but not in the long-study-time condition (Exps. 1 and 2). Significant effects were found as well for nonwords, even in the long-study-time condition (Exp. 2). These results are explained well by an outshining account: that is, by principles of outshining and encoding specificity.     

Individual differences in the biomechanical effect of loudness and tempo on upper-limb movements during repetitive piano keystrokes

The present study addressed the effect of loudness and tempo on kinematics and muscular activities of the upper extremity during repetitive piano keystrokes. Eighteen pianists with professional music education struck two keys simultaneously and repetitively with a combination of four loudness levels and four tempi. The results demonstrated a significant interaction effect of loudness and tempo on peak angular velocity for the shoulder, elbow, wrist and finger joints, mean muscular activity for the corresponding flexors and extensors, and their co-activation level. The interaction effect indicated greater increases with tempo when eliciting louder tones for all joints and muscles except for the elbow velocity showing a greater decrease with tempo. Multiple-regression analysis and K-means clustering further revealed that 18 pianists were categorized into three clusters with different interaction effects on joint kinematics. These clusters were characterized by either an elbow-velocity decrease and a finger-velocity increase, a finger-velocity decrease with increases in shoulder and wrist velocities, or a large elbow-velocity decrease with a shoulder-velocity increase when increasing both loudness and tempo. Furthermore, the muscular load considerably differed across the clusters. These findings provide information to determine muscles with the greatest potential risk of playing-related disorders based on movement characteristics of individual pianists.     

Priming and implicit recognition depend on similar temporal changes in perceptual representations

Previous studies have reported that longer stimulus presentation decreases the magnitude of priming. In the present study, we used meaningless kaleidoscope images, which were reported to minimize conceptual processing, to investigate the mechanism of the phenomenon. We assessed the impact of stimulus duration on perceptual priming (Experiment 1) and implicit recognition memory (Experiment 2). Both the magnitude of priming and the accuracy of implicit recognition were lower with the longer stimulus presentation (350 ms) compared with the shorter presentation (250 ms). This coincidence of temporal dynamics between priming and implicit recognition suggests similar underlying memory mechanisms. In both cases, the decrease of performance with longer presentation can be explained by either changes in perceptual processes or interference from explicit memory retrieval.     

Texture and grain boundary character distribution (GBCD) in rapidly solidified and annealed Fe–6·5 mass% Si ribbons

Abstract

The type and frequency of grain boundaries, the so-called grain boundary character distribution (GBCD), has been determined in rapidly solidified and subsequently annealed Fe-6·5 mass% Si alloy ribbon by the scanning electron microscopy-electron channelling pattern (SEM-ECP) technique. High frequencies of low-angle boundaries and coincidence boundaries with Σ3, Σ9, Σ11, Σ17 and Σ19 were observed in a fully annealed ribbon with well defined {110} texture. The total frequency of low-angle boundaries and coincidence boundaries is almost one-half of all grain boundaries. The coincidence boundaries which occurred more frequently are exactly those predicted theoretically from the coincidence orientations for 〈110〉 rotation in cubic crystals, similar to those observed previously in {100} textured ribbons of the same alloy produced by the same processing method. The presence of a close relationship between the type of texture and GBCD has been confirmed by experiment on differently textured ribbons of the same material.     

Context-dependent effects of background colour in free recall with spatially grouped words

Three experiments investigated context-dependent effects of background colour in free recall with groups of items. Undergraduates (N=113) intentionally studied 24 words presented in blocks of 6 on a computer screen with two different background colours. The two background colours were changed screen-by-screen randomly (random condition) or alternately (alternation condition) during the study period. A 30-second filled retention interval was imposed before an oral free-recall test. A signal for free recall was presented throughout the test on one of the colour background screens presented at study. Recalled words were classified as same- or different-context words according to whether the background colours at study and test were the same or different. The random condition produced significant context-dependent effects, whereas the alternation condition showed no context-dependent effects, regardless of whether the words were presented once or twice. Furthermore, the words presented on the same screen were clustered in recall, whereas the words presented against the same background colour but on different screens were not clustered. The present results imply: (1) background colours can cue spatially massed words; (2) background colours act as temporally local context; and (3) predictability of the next background colour modulates the context-dependent effect.     

The fractal property of internal structure of facial affect recognition: A complex system approach

Based on a circumplex model of facial affect, four inner affective circumplexes, assumed to have 100%, 75%, 50%, and 25% emotional intensities, were investigated in terms of fractal, which is a concept of complex systems. Results revealed that the perimeters of the circumplex excluding the 25% condition possessed fractal property characterised by features specific to fractals. Results also showed that fractal dimension in the 50% condition (1.58 dimension) was significantly higher than that in the 100% (1.45 dimension) and 75% (1.45 dimension) conditions, indicating that the cognitive structure of facial affect in the 50% condition was more complex than that in the 100% and 75% conditions.     

Faulty Japanese sentences are judged more grammatical when punctuation is used: negative implications for Chomsky's principle of Full Interpretation

88 adult Japanese speakers judged the grammaticality of isolated simple bitransitive sentences involving an uninterpretable extra argument in addition to three legitimate arguments. The sentences thus violated Chomsky's principle of Full Interpretation which prohibits the structure building of a sentence including uninterpretable elements. The primary variable of interest was the presence or absence of punctuation, i.e., commas, which enclosed the extra argument. Findings showed that sentences with punctuation were judged more grammatical than the ones without punctuation, with an average score of judged grammaticality exceeding 3 on a 7-point scale (1 =least grammatical; 7=most grammatical). This score would not be expected if the speakers possess and judge the sentences in conformity with the principle of Full Interpretation.     

Changes across age groups in self-choice elaboration effects on incidental memory

The present study investigated age differences in the effects of a self-choice elaboration and an experimenter-provided elaboration on incidental memory. Adults, sixth grade, and second grade subjects chose which of two sentence frames the target fit better in a self-choice elaboration condition. They then judged whether each target made sense in its sentence frame in the experimenter-provided elaboration, then did free recall tests. Only adults recalled better the targets with an image sentence with self-choice elaboration, rather than experimenter-provided elaboration. However, self-choice elaboration was far superior for the recall of targets with nonimage sentences only for second graders. Thus, the effects of self-choice elaboration were determined both by age and by type of sentence frame.     

Judgments of grammaticality of Japanese simple sentences involving two arguments in a whole-part relation: a further examination of Chomsky's principle of Full Interpretation

Adult Japanese speakers judged the grammaticality of simple ungramatical sentences involving two arguments, each related with a single verb. The arguments were attached to the same case marker playing the same thematic role in the sentences. Thus the sentences violated Chomsky's principle of Full Interpretation. The two arguments were manipulated such that, on the one hand, one argument (the part-argument) constituted a part of the other argument (the whole-argument) and that, on the other, a part-argument either preceded or followed a whole-argument. Participants rated the sentences using either a conventional 7-point rating scale or magnitude estimation. Findings showed that irrespective of rating method sentences in which the whole-argument preceded the part-argument were judged more grammatical than sentences in which the part-argument preceded the whole-argument. Such an empirical phenomenon is inconsistent with the prediction derived from Chomsky's principle of Full Interpretation, while interestingly it is consistent with the grammar of classical Japanese used about 900 years ago.