Teacher Ratings of Behavioral Self-Regulation in Preschool Children: A Japanese/U.S. Comparison

Our primary aim was to determine whether a research questionnaire for assessing self-regulatory competence in young Japanese children could be adapted successfully for use with U.S. preschoolers. Preschool teachers contributed ratings for 322 U.S. and 328 Japanese children, who ranged in age from 33 to 69 months. Principal components analysis of the teachers' responses to the 71-item Kashiwagi questionnaire revealed that the two main factors, Self-Inhibition and Self-Assertion, were well replicated. Broadband factor scales were constructed from items that showed clear evidence of cross-cultural validity. Scale items were reliably rated, and in both cultures showed predictable effects for child age and gender. These data support the usefulness of the Kashiwagi questionnaire for comparative studies of U.S. and Japanese preschoolers.     

The study of early emotion processing in the frontal area using a two-dipole source model

The present study explored early emotion processing in the frontal area using the two-dipole source model. The 21-channel recordings of event-related potentials (ERPs) produced by a pure tone were analyzed in order to assess information processing. In the test conditions, the pure tone followed the presentation of one of two unpleasant sounds to enhance anxiety. In the control condition, only the pure tone was presented. There were two groups of eight subjects, one with low scores for trait anxiety and one with high scores. The ERPs were separately averaged for the groups, as well as for the high- and low-anxiety sound and control session. A negative peak around 120 ms (C2) and a positive peak around 280 ms (C5) after stimulus onset were identified in all the sessions. The two-dipole source model was applied to these two components. In the C2 component, dipole sources were located in the left frontal area in the control sessions, and in the right frontal area in the high-anxiety sessions. This activation pattern was clearer in the group with low trait anxiety. In contrast, with the C5 component, lateralization of the dipole source in the frontal area was not seen. These findings suggest that the frontal area is involved in early emotion processing. A dual-stage model of emotion processing is therefore proposed.     

Social Networks as a Factor in Volunteering Among Elderly Japanese with Lower Socioeconomic Status

We investigated the effect of social networks on volunteering, which is known to be beneficial for people and society, among elderly Japanese of lower socioeconomic status. Western studies have demonstrated that social networks boost volunteering among wealthy people because of the norm that they should help the less fortunate. However, wealthy East Asians do not share this norm. Therefore, socioeconomic variables and volunteering tend not to be significantly related in Japan. We hypothesized that social networks would be more important to volunteering among the Japanese elderly, especially among people of a lower socioeconomic status. A total of 768 respondents (319 men, 432 women, 17 sex unspecified; M_age = 73.99 years, SD = 7.40 years) completed the survey. The results indicated that social networks were positively related to volunteering only among people with lower financial status. This result suggests that social networks can increase opportunities and help less advantaged elderly people to reap the benefits of volunteering.     

Self-awakening, sleep inertia, and P3 amplitude in elderly people

It is well known that sleepiness is sometimes experienced in the afternoon. A short afternoon nap is thought to be effective in reducing sleepiness. However, sleep inertia occurs even after a short nap, and this could be a major risk factor for injuries from falling by the elderly. In the present study, the effect of self-awakening on sleep inertia after a 20-min. nap was examined. Nine participants (M=74.1 yr., SD=5.0 yr.) took part in the three experimental conditions: the self-awakened nap, the forced-awakened nap, and the control (no-nap) conditon. Analysis showed sleepiness and performance after the nap significantly improved compared with the control condition. P3 amplitude tended to be larger after self-awakening than after forced-awakening. The present study indicates a 20-min. nap reduces afternoon sleepiness, and the application of self-awakening may contribute to higher arousal after a nap taken by this elderly group.     

The haptic Müller-Lyer illusion in sighted and blind people

We examined the effect of visual experience on the haptic Müller-Lyer illusion. Subjects made size estimates of raised lines by using a sliding haptic ruler. Independent groups of blind-folded-sighted, late-blind, congenitally blind, and low-vision subjects judged the sizes of wings-in and wings-out stimuli, plain lines, and lines with short vertical ends. An illusion was found, since the wings-in stimuli were judged as shorter than the wings-out patterns and all of the other stimuli. Subjects generally underestimated the lengths of lines. In a second experiment we found a nonsignificant difference between length judgments of raised lines as opposed to smooth wooden dowels. The strength of the haptic illusion depends upon the angles of the wings, with a much stronger illusion for more acute angles. The effect of visual status was nonsignificant, suggesting that spatial distortion in the haptic Müller-Lyer illusion does not depend upon visual imagery or visual experience.     

The relation of the anger subcomponent of Type A behavior to psychological symptoms in Japanese and foreign students

The relations of the Type A behavior subcomponents to psychological symptoms were examined. Participants were 429 Japanese college students and 307 foreign students. Type A behavior was measured by the Everyday Behavior Questionnaire, developed in part from several rating scales and composed of four subcomponents: anger/impatience, speed, competitiveness/hard-driving, and eagerness/interest. The Hopkins Symptom Checklist was used to measure psychological symptoms. The results of multiple regression analyses on the Type A behavior subcomponents and psychological symptoms indicated strong positive relations between anger/impatience and psychological symptoms, in both Japanese and foreign students. It was concluded that the Type A subcomponents anger and impatience seemed to worsen the psychological health of individuals of various cultural backgrounds.     

Independent age cues for infancy and older age in one face: evidence for rivalry in age perception

Participants estimated the ages of infants, teens, and adults in their 20s and 60s, using averaged facial images, as well as digitally transformed images of two different age groups. Since a blended face has intermediate features of the component faces, age of the combined faces was hypothesized to be perceived as the mean age of the component faces. However, the perceived age was underestimated when the transformed face included an infant, but overestimated when the face included a person in their 60s. From this one may infer the faces of infants and adults in their 60s have strong age cues. The estimated ages for blended images of infants and adults in their 60s showed a clear bipolar distribution, with one peak at 5-9 years and the other at 50-54 years. Analysis of individual variation showed that the different response to infants-60s faces was related to variations in sensitivity to 60s faces, not to a general perceptual tendency or confused responses to ambiguous appearing faces. Thus, cues for infancy and older age are qualitatively independent and can co-exist in one face, yielding a rivalry in age perception.     

Psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Aversion to Women Who Work Scale in Japanese undergraduate women

The Multidimensional Aversion to Women Who Work Scale is a self-report measure of gender attitudes. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the scale with 213 Japanese university female students who completed the Japanese version. Exploratory factor analyses yielded the same two factors, Employment Skepticism and Traditional Roles Preference, as previously identified. A relivery ability estimate of internal consistency of Employment Skepticism and Traditional Roles Preference was acceptable. Confirmatory factor analysis of the Japanese version in another group of 245 university female students showed the construct validity of the 2-factor model of the 7-item scale. This study supported the generalization of the previous findings in American samples and the multicultural utility of the scale. The Japanese version of the Multidimensional Aversion to Women Who Work Scale seems a useful measure of employment-related gender attitudes.     

Effects of cementite morphology on short-fatigue-crack propagation in binary Fe–C steel

The effects of cementite morphology on short-fatigue-crack propagation were investigated by subjecting smooth steel specimens to rotating-bending fatigue tests. Intergranular and transgranular cementite precipitation steels free of other phases were prepared through heat treatments. In the intergranular cementite precipitation steel, short-fatigue-crack propagation was decelerated at the grain boundaries, and accelerated in the grain interiors. In contrast, the transgranular precipitation steel showed the deceleration of the crack propagation in the grain interiors but not in the vicinity of the grain boundaries.     

Hyperactivity/inattention problems moderate environmental but not genetic mediation between negative parenting and conduct problems

This study investigated the association between negative parenting (NP) and conduct problems (CP) in 6-year-old twins, taking into account the severity of hyperactivity/inattention problems (HIAP). Analyses of the data from 1,677 pairs of twins and their parents revealed that the shared environmental covariance between NP and CP was moderated by the level of HIAP but not by CP or NP, where the shared environmental covariance was larger in children with higher levels of HIAP than in children with lower levels of HIAP. The genetic covariance between NP and CP was not moderated by the level of HIAP, whereas it was larger in the group with lower levels of CP and NP than in the group with higher levels. These results suggest that severe HIAP strengthens shared environmental associations between NP and CP and that interventions focusing on the shared environmental component of NP would be effective for parents and children with severe HIAP.