The effects of trial repetition and individual characteristics on decision making under uncertainty

The authors examined participants' preferences between certain and uncertain outcomes in a multistage gambling task and the effects of individual difference characteristics on those preferences. In Study 1, 144 participants made choices in single-stage gambles under gain and loss conditions and replicated the certainty effect in a previous study (D. Kahneman & A. Tversky, 1979). In Study 2, 94 participants engaged in a multistage gambling task using the same decision problems as those in Study 1. They also answered a questionnaire consisting of the Japanese version (M. Kamahara, K. Higuchi, & N. Shimizu, 2001) of the Locus of Control Scale (J. B. Rotter, 1966), the Reflection-Impulsivity Scale (K. Takigiku & A. Sakamoto, 2001), and a Japanese version (M. Terasaki, K. Shiomi, Y. Kishimoto, & K. Hiraoka, 1987) of the Sensation-Seeking Scale (M. Zuckerman, 1994). The results indicated that the certainty effect (Kahneman & Tversky) disappears in multistage gambling tasks and that differences in reflection-impulsivity and in gender influence the process of decision making under gain conditions. These results are discussed in terms of the decision strategies and cognitive biases involved in the multistage gambling task.     

Digit memory of soroban experts: Evidence of utilization of mental imagery

Two experiments were conducted to demonstrate that skilled soroban (Japanese abacus) operators can improve digit memory retention by manipulating the beads of a ‘mental soroban’ which is analogous to the actual one. In Experiment 1, soroban experts and control subjects were given two digit memory tasks. In one task, pictures of a soroban figure and in the other, pictures of digit sequences, were presented to the subjects during the retention interval. Soroban experts experienced greater interference from presentation of the soroban figures than the digits; on the other hand, the reverse was true in the control subjects. In Experiment 2, ther soroban experts and control subjects were given the same digit memory tasks under three conditions—soroban pictures, pictures of digit sequences, and human faces were presented to subjects during the retention period of 15 s. The soroban experts were more affected by the presentation of the soroban figures than by the faces or digits, whereas the controls showed more interference from the digits than by the presentation of faces or soroban pictures.     

The cultural background of the non‐academic concept of psychology in Japan: Its implications for introductory education in psychology

No research has empirically explored the non‐academic concept of psychology itself (implicit theories) in non‐Western cultures despite a widely held belief that this understanding differs cross‐culturally. This study examined whether the non‐academic concept of psychology among inexperienced Japanese students differed from the concept held by students of other countries. In Japanese, psychology is referred to as , which includes the ideographic character , literally meaning heart. This fact led us to hypothesize that psychology will be disproportionately associated with emotion among Japanese students. Indeed, our findings among Japanese students produced a J‐curve, indicating that our prediction was true. We posit that this issue has never been discussed in Japan because a majority of people share this concept of psychology. In our second study, we examined not only preference in students' association of intelligence or emotion but also heart or mind with psychology. Finally, we identified whether students' believe that psychology encompasses both the heart and the mind. We conclude with a discussion of the importance of explicitly defining the non‐academic concept of psychology in early psychology education in Japan.     

Justice Orientation as a Moderator of the Framing Effect on Procedural Justice Perception

Justice orientation is a justice-relevant personality trait, which is referred to as the tendency to attend to fairness issues and to internalize justice as a moral virtue. This study examined the moderating role of justice orientation in the relationship between justice perception and response to a decision problem. The authors manipulated procedural justice and the outcome valence of the decision frame within a vignette, and measured justice orientation of 174 Japanese participants. As hypothesized, the results indicated an interaction between procedural justice and framing manipulation, which was moderated by individual differences in justice orientation. In negative framing, justice effects were larger for individuals with high rather than low justice orientation. The results are explained from a social justice perspective, and the contributions and limitations of this study are also discussed with respect to our sample and framing manipulation.     

Acquisition process of typing skill using hierarchical materials in the Japanese language

In the present study, using a new keyboard layout with only eight keys, we conducted typing training for unskilled typists. In this task, Japanese college students received training in typing words consisting of a pair of hiragana characters with four keystrokes, using the alphabetic input method, while keeping the association between the keys and typists’ finger movements; the task was constructed so that chunking was readily available. We manipulated the association between the hiragana characters and alphabet letters (hierarchical materials: overlapped and nonoverlapped mappings). Our alphabet letter materials corresponded to the regular order within each hiragana word (within the four letters, the first and third referred to consonants, and the second and fourth referred to vowels). Only the interkeystroke intervals involved in the initiation of typing vowel letters showed an overlapping effect, which revealed that the effect was markedly large only during the early period of skill development (the effect for the overlapped mapping being larger than that for the nonoverlapped mapping), but that it had diminished by the time of late training. Conversely, the response time and the third interkeystroke interval, which are both involved in the latency of typing a consonant letter, did not reveal an overlapped effect, suggesting that chunking might be useful with hiragana characters rather than hiragana words. These results are discussed in terms of the fan effect and skill acquisition. Furthermore, we discuss whether there is a need for further research on unskilled and skilled Japanese typists.     

Development and validation of a facial expression database based on the dimensional and categorical model of emotions

ABSTRACT

The present study describes the development and validation of a facial expression database comprising five different horizontal face angles in dynamic and static presentations. The database includes twelve expression types portrayed by eight Japanese models. This database was inspired by the dimensional and categorical model of emotions: surprise, fear, sadness, anger with open mouth, anger with closed mouth, disgust with open mouth, disgust with closed mouth, excitement, happiness, relaxation, sleepiness, and neutral (static only). The expressions were validated using emotion classification and Affect Grid rating tasks [Russell, Weiss, & Mendelsohn, 1989. Affect Grid: A single-item scale of pleasure and arousal. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(3), 493–502]. The results indicate that most of the expressions were recognised as the intended emotions and could systematically represent affective valence and arousal. Furthermore, face angle and facial motion information influenced emotion classification and valence and arousal ratings. Our database will be available online at the following URL. https://www.dh.aist.go.jp/database/face2017/.     

Visibility pattern of Bose–Fermi mixtures in one-dimensional incommensurate lattices

Abstract

We performed numerical simulations to demonstrate localization phenomena of Bose–Fermi mixture systems on incommensurate optical lattices by changing Bose–Bose and Bose–Fermi interactions. Visibility patterns of the bosons were measured to observe bosonic coherence in various selections of the interaction parameters. We found that the coherence was enhanced with repulsive Bose–Fermi interactions. It was also enhanced with attractive Bose–Fermi interactions but only in certain conditions. The enhancement by repulsive interactions and that by attractive interactions occurred with different mechanisms.     

Regulatory fit in framing strategy of parental persuasive messages to young children

The present research examined regulatory fit in parental messages aimed at young children. Study 1 measured parents' chronic regulatory focus, asking them to select either positively or negatively framed messages for promotion‐ and prevention‐focused outcomes. The results showed that parents preferred positive frames for promotion‐focused messages and negative frames for prevention‐focused messages. Furthermore, parents with a chronic promotion focus favored a positively framed strategy more than parents with a prevention focus. Study 2 found that parents adopted different message strategies depending on whether they favored an active responsive or an active restrictive parenting style. Together, these findings demonstrate for the first time the applicability of regulatory focus/fit theory to explain parents' preferences for positively and negatively framed messages targeting children.     

The Presence of a Weapon Shrinks the Functional Field of View

This study examined whether the functional field of view shrinks by the presence of a weapon or the increase of emotional arousal. In Experiment 1, participants viewed two types of pictures depicting scenes involving weapons or control objects and were asked to identify digits presented at the periphery when the pictures disappeared. The results showed that the presence of a weapon impaired identification of the peripheral digits, even when the pictures were equal with respect to emotional arousal level. In Experiment 2, participants viewed emotionally arousing pictures or neutral pictures, neither of which included weapons, and they were asked to identify digits presented at the periphery when the pictures disappeared. The results revealed that the increased emotional arousal did not impair identification of the peripheral digits. These results indicate that the functional field of view shrinks because of the presence of a weapon but not because of increased emotional arousal.Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Appearance of an illusory object in the blind spot

We report a phenomenon showing new aspects of perceptual filling-in at the blind spot. When two and three discs were presented below the blind spot, observers perceived them as three and four discs, respectively, but when they were presented in the nasal visual field as a control, the perceived numbers were veridical. The phenomenon demonstrates that the visual system produces an illusory object in the blind spot even when the inducing objects presented on only one side of the blind spot are clearly discrete and countable.