Effects of textual prompts and feedback on social niceties of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder in a simulated workplace

Previous research demonstrates the efficacy of behavioral skills training with a textual prompt to establish greetings and conversational skills. This study examined the efficacy of a brief intervention of textual prompts with performance feedback for increasing social niceties of adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder in a simulated workplace. Target social niceties included “Do you have a minute?” when a participant initiated an interaction and “Thank you for your time” when a participant ended the interaction. Results revealed this intervention was effective for 7 of 9 participants. This study expands upon previous studies by showing the efficacy of a resource-efficient training on acquisition and generalization of social niceties by people with autism spectrum disorder.     

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.     

上海博物馆藏战国楚竹书《周易》的"首符"与"尾符"

楚竹书《周易》首符、尾符所使用的方形结构,由内、中、外三层构成.依此三层结构进行分类,首、尾符号可以分为九种.将这九种符号和今本《周易》卦序非覆即变三十六卦图相对应,我们发现正好可以按四卦画一组,分为九组或九宫.假定楚竹书《周易》卦序确由九宫构成,则其与今本《周易》卦序有着密切的继承关系,但也有重要区别,其分宫法与一般以八经卦为基础的分宫法也不相同.楚竹书首、尾符号的设置,还反映出这样一种认识或意识,即一个卦,是由"卦画、卦名"和"卦辞、爻辞"两个部分构成的.     

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.     

The “Healthy Person”: A Review

Two general approaches in the analysis of a “healthy” person were identified as (1) operational and (2) conceptual. Criterion problems seem crucial in the former, while in the latter, semantic and value problems are to be resolved. Consideration might profitably be given to, first, the concept of dynamic equilibrium or active adaptation (assimilation and accommodation) and, second, to that of developmental mastery of tasks along the “dimension of depth” and toward discovery of the meaning of life and of man's position in the universe. Such a model implies client's exploration of his existence in the world in the perspective of a continuous life process. Both being and becoming can and should be of legitimate concern to mental health workers.     

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.     

Associations of Trait Emotional Intelligence with Social Support,Work Engagement,and Creativity in Japanese Eldercare Nurses

Work‐related resources can be positive antecedents of employee work engagement (WE) and creativity. Although trait emotional intelligence (EI) and social support may be crucial resources in nursing, their relationships with WE and creativity remain unclear. Hence, with special focus on the role of trait EI, we examined this relationship by applying the job demands‐resources (JD‐R) model. The participants were 489 eldercare nurses in Japan (female: n = 401; male: n = 88; age = 39.5 ± 11.0 years). The results showed positive associations between EI and the other studied variables. Furthermore, moderated mediation analyses revealed that higher trait EI enhanced the positive association among the triad of social support, WE, and creativity. The findings provide additional evidence that, in nurses, trait EI may be a noteworthy personal resource for creativity in the relationship between social support and WE.     

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.     

Turn-taking interaction as a cooperative and co-creative process

In the present article, computer simulation of turn-taking interaction was studied and compared with psychological experiments such as the double TV experiment and synchronous imitation. By introducing the concepts of virtual agents, prediction error and adaptability, the simulation showed that turn-taking dynamics is a cooperative and co-creative process between two agents, which is in accordance with psychological findings. In particular, much attention is paid to styles of motion, as turn-taking with chaotic spatial pattern has developed to be sensitive to it.