Perception of large change in distribution of heel pressure during backward leaning

We investigated the perception of the large change in distribution of heel pressure during backward leaning. Subjects were 12 healthy adults who reported perceiving a large change in distribution of heel pressure by a handheld switch while leaning voluntarily backward on a sole pressure analyzer and on a heel force plate. The large change was indicated at the center of heel pressure. Morphological features of the foot were measured on an X-ray film. The position of heel pressure center and the morphological locations were represented as relative distance (%) from the hindmost point of the heel, where foot length represented 100%. Center of heel pressure changed largely during backward leaning, and the position at which large change occurred was the same as that of the peak of the distribution. Large change in distribution of heel pressure was perceived at a position 1.3% posterior from that at which the large change actually occurred. The correlation between perceived and actual positions was significant (r = .91). Significant correlations were found between position of a large change of center and locations of heel pressure of both the lateral process of the calcaneal tuberosity and the top of the talar trochlea (r = .86; r = .71, respectively). The results indicate that subjects accurately perceive large changes in distribution of heel pressure and that the morphological features of the foot contribute to these changes.     

Perceived standing position after reduction of foot-pressure sensation by cooling the sole

We investigated the influence of the reduction of foot-pressure sensation by cooling the sole of the foot, at 1 degree C for 30 or 40 minutes, on the perception of standing position varied in the anteroposterior direction. The subjects were 16 healthy undergraduates. Firstly, for 4 of the subjects, cooling the sole of the foot decreased sensory information from the mechanoreceptors in the sole, by testing for an increase in the threshold for two-point discrepancy discrimination on the sole of the foot and for the disappearance of postural change with vibration to the sole. Next, the perception of standing position was measured by reproduction of a given standing reference position involving forward or backward leaning under both normal and cooled conditions of the feet. Standing position was varied in relation to the location of the center of foot pressure, defined as distance from the heel in percentage of the length of the foot. The reference positions, representing various locations of the center of foot pressure, were set at 10% increments from 20% to 80% of the length of the foot. With eyes closed, the subject first experienced the reference position and then attempted to reproduce it. The mean location of the center of foot pressure in the quiet standing posture was 45.7%. At the 40%, 50%, and 60% reference positions, those closest to quiet standing, absolute errors of reproduction were significantly larger than at other reference positions in both the normal and the cooled conditions. They were significantly larger in the cooled than in the normal condition. The 50% and 60% reference positions were reproduced significantly further forward in the cooled than in the normal condition. These results may be explained as due to an absence of marked changes in sensory information from both muscular activity and foot pressure when moving to reference positions close to the quiet standing posture.     

Subcortical auditory agnosia

A case of generalized auditory agnosia without aphasia secondary to cardiogenic cerebral embolism is reported. The infarcts in this patient were localized within the bitemporal subcortices as confirmed by computerized axial tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. The findings suggested that interruption of both auditory radiations by bilateral subcortical lesions may play an important role in the occurrence of "cerebral auditory disorders."     

The relationship between three types of aggression and peer relations in elementary school children

Previous studies have repeatedly found that aggression causes various internalizing and externalizing problems. Despite the robust relationship, exactly how aggression causes these problems remains unclear, although it is plausible to postulate that this occurs both directly and indirectly (via other behavioural factors). One possible indirect factor might be the aggravation of peer relations. The poor peer relations of aggressive children could make them isolated psychologically or physically from peers, which in turn might result in depressive or disruptive problems. This study examined the relationships between three types of aggression and peer relations in Japanese elementary school children. The three aggression types comprised reactive-expressive (i.e., verbal and physical aggression), reactive-inexpressive (e.g., hostility), and proactive-relational aggression (i.e., aggression that can break human relationships, for instance, by circulating malicious rumours). Participants were 1581 children in grades 4 to 6 (752 boys and 829 girls), all of whom completed the Proactive-Reactive Aggression Questionnaire for Children to measure three types of aggression and the Peer Relation Questionnaire to measure peer relations (mutual understanding, self-disclosure, and similarity of taste) and number of friends. Hierarchical regression analyses of the data showed that higher scores of relational aggression were significantly associated with higher scores of all of the peer relations and the number of friends, and that higher scores of inexpressive aggression were significantly associated with lower scores of all except for self-disclosure in the peer relations. These findings suggest that among the three types of aggression, relational aggression leads to the best friendship in both dyadic relations and the number of friends, whereas inexpressive aggression to the poorest friendship. The implications of these findings with respect to internalizing and externalizing problem behaviours for aggressive children are discussed.     

The role of the prefrontal cortex in the go/no-go task in humans: a positron emission tomography study

To study the localization of response inhibition in the human brain, especially the role of the prefrontal cortex and laterality of its activation, we used positron emission tomography (PET) to measure regional cerebral blood flow in 11 right-handed participants while they performed a go/no-go and a simple control reaction-time task. In the control task, the participants responded to a target stimulus following a cue stimulus. In the go/no-go task they were instructed to inhibit the required response if the target stimulus did not appear. These tasks were performed using each hand. The right prefrontal cortex was found to be significantly activated when the go/no-go task was compared with the control task, regardless of the responding hand. The results indicated that response inhibition per se may be controlled by the right prefrontal cortex regardless of response hand for right-handed participants.     

The relational self: Closeness to ingroups depends on who they are, culture, and the type of closeness

Cultural differences in individualism and collectivism (I-C) describe important variations in how the self relates to others, but existing scales may be too broad-band to precisely measure this aspect of I-C. They also do not distinguish among particular ingroups and types of interdependence with them. The Circles of Closeness scale addresses these limitations. Initial results from Euro-American, Asian-American, Dutch, Turkish, and Japanese samples of college students are presented. The scales have high alpha reliability. Different results were obtained for three ingroups – immediate family, relatives, and friends – and six closeness types – emotional, supportive, identity, reputational, similarity, and harmony. These factors significantly interacted with each other, arguing for a more differentiated view of I-C.     

Canadian,Greek, and Japanese freely produced emotion labels for facial expressions

Observers in Canada (n=50), Greece (n=38), and Japan (n=50) were shown seven of Matsumoto and Ekman's (1988) photographs reported to show universally recognizable facial expressions of basic emotions. Observers were asked to name the emotion expressed with any single emotion label they wanted. Across cultures, recognition (percentage of observers agreeing with prediction) was high (>80%) for thehappy expression (indicating that observers understood the task), low for thecontempt expression (0 to 2%), and intermediate for the others (14 to 80% forsurprise, sadness, anger, disgust, andfear). Recognition for some facial expressions varied with the culture of the observer: For example, recognition of thefear expression was moderate to high in the two Western samples (62 to 87%) but low in the Japanese (14%); indeed, the Japanese modal response wassurprise rather thanfear.This study was funded by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.We thank Konstandina Nelos for her help in gathering the data in Greece.     

Cross-modal transfer of conditioned suppression in rats: Effects of US intensity and extinction of the initial conditioning task

In conditioned suppression of water licking behavior by rats, we obtained data indicating general transfer of fear conditioning. A series of experiments resulted in two major findings. First, pairing of a neutral stimulus with a shock in the initial conditioning task facilitated acquisition of subsequent fear conditioning to another neutral stimulus, if the conditioned fear of the initial task was extinguished prior to the second task and if equally strong shocks were employed in both conditioning tasks. Second, omission of the extinction treatment or employment of weaker shocks in the initial task resulted in retardation, rather than facilitation, of the second conditioning task. An application to human clinical settings is discussed.     

Assimilation Effects of Eye Shadow on Facial Colors

Makeup can change facial complexion, making it of interest both practically and for empirical research on perception. We examined the assimilation effect of eye shadow on complexion using two series of eye shadows: typical colors that are not evenly saturated and colors with saturation as even as possible. Twenty participants assessed the degree of redness in reddish faces, yellowness in yellowish faces, and lightness in both faces via paired comparisons. The results indicated that: (a) the reddish face was perceived as redder when it had eye shadow of pinkish and purplish colors or reddish saturated colors instead of containing yellowish components; (b) the yellowish face became less yellow with colors without a greenish or yellowish component; and (c) except for the lighter yellowish shade, eye shadow made the face perceptually darker. We confirmed the assimilation effect of eye shadow on complexion and showed differences in perceptual hue change according to the original face colors.