Reliability and validity of the Parenting Scale of Inconsistency

The purposes of the present study were to develop a Parenting Scale of Inconsistency and to evaluate its initial reliability and validity. The 12 items assess the inconsistency among parents' moods, behaviors, and attitudes toward children. In the primary study, 517 participants completed three measures: the new Parenting Scale of Inconsistency, the Parental Bonding Instrument, and the Depression Scale of the General Health Questionnaire. The Parenting Scale of Inconsistency had good test-retest reliability of .85 and internal consistency of .88 (Cronbach coefficient alpha). Construct validity was good as Inconsistency scores were significantly correlated with the Care and Overprotection scores of the Parental Bonding Instrument and with the Depression scores. Moreover, Inconsistency scores' relation with a dimension of parenting style distinct from Care and Overprotection suggested that the Parenting Scale of Inconsistency had factorial validity. This scale seems a potential measure for examining the relationships between inconsistent parenting and the mental health of children.     

Freezing degrees of freedom under stress: kinematic evidence of constrained movement strategies

The present study investigated the effect of psychological stress imposed on movement kinematics in a computer-simulated batting task involving a backward and forward swing of the forearm. The psychological stress was imposed by a mild electric stimulus following poor performance. Fourteen participants hit a moving ball with a horizontal lever and aimed at a distant target with as much accuracy as possible. The kinematic characteristics appearing under stress were delay of movement initiation, small amplitude of movement and low variability of spatial kinematic events between trials. These features were also found in previous studies in which the experimental task required high accuracy. The characteristic kinematics evident in the present study suggested that the movement strategies adopted by the stressed participants were similar to those that appear under high accuracy demand. Moreover, a correlation analysis between the onset times of kinematic events revealed that temporally consistent movements were reproduced under stress. Taken together, the present findings demonstrated that, under psychological stress, movement strategies tend to shift toward the production of more constrained trajectories, as is seen under conditions of high accuracy demand, even though the difficulty of the task itself does not change.     

Doubly Robust-Type Estimation for Covariate Adjustment in Latent Variable Modeling

Due to the difficulty in achieving a random assignment, a quasi-experimental or observational study design is frequently used in the behavioral and social sciences. If a nonrandom assignment depends on the covariates, multiple group structural equation modeling, that includes the regression function of the dependent variables on the covariates that determine the assignment, can provide reasonable estimates under the condition of correct specification of the regression function. However, it is usually difficult to specify the correct regression function because the dimensions of the dependent variables and covariates are typically large. Therefore, the propensity score adjustment methods have been proposed, since they do not require the specification of the regression function and have been applied to several applied studies. However, these methods produce biased estimates if the assignment mechanism is incorrectly specified. In order to make a more robust inference, it would be more useful to develop an estimation method that integrates the regression approach with the propensity score methodology. In this study we propose a doubly robust-type estimation method for marginal multiple group structural equation modeling. This method provides a consistent estimator if either the regression function or the assignment mechanism is correctly specified. A simulation study indicates that the proposed estimation method is more robust than the existing methods. This research was partially supported by the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B), 187-30406.     

Memory displacement of an object with motion lines

This study explored how motion lines (ML) can contribute to the memory displacement of an object. Three experiments were conducted to examine the memorized position of a target with ML using manual localization tasks, revealing that the reproduced position was biased in the direction implied by the ML. Two further experiments successfully ruled out the possibility that the memory displacement stemmed from a repulsive manual localization tendency, an attention repulsion-like effect, or perceptual illusory displacement of the object. These results indicated that ML trigger anticipation of the future position of the object, resulting in memory displacement.     

Some Metacomplete Relevant Modal Logics

A logic is called metacomplete if formulas that are true in a certain preferred interpretation of that logic are theorems in its metalogic. In the area of relevant logics, metacompleteness is used to prove primeness, consistency, the admissibility of γ and so on. This paper discusses metacompleteness and its applications to a wider class of modal logics based on contractionless relevant logics and their neighbours using Slaney’s metavaluational technique.     

Individual differences in face memory and eye fixation patterns during face learning

This study examined the relationship between individual differences in face memory and eye fixation patterns during face learning. Participants watched short movies of 20 faces and were divided into high and low face memory groups based on their performance in a recognition memory test. No qualitative difference was observed in the eye fixation distribution between high and low groups. Both groups mostly fixed on the internal region of faces, especially the eyes. A difference in the eye fixation pattern by groups was observed in the number of fixations and total fixation time on the eyes, which reflected high face memory participants moving their eyes between the left and right eyes more frequently than low face memory participants. These findings suggest that fixation on the eyes has a functional role in face memory and is related to individual differences in face memory.     

The <Emphasis Type="Italic">γ</Emphasis>-admissibility of Relevant Modal Logics II — The Method using Metavaluations

The γ-admissibility is one of the most important problems in the realm of relevant logics. To prove the γ-admissibility, either the method of normal models or the method using metavaluations may be employed. The γ-admissibility of a wide class of relevant modal logics has been discussed in Part I based on a former method, but the γ-admissibility based on metavaluations has not hitherto been fully considered. Sahlqvist axioms are well known as a means of expressing generalized forms of formulas with modal operators. This paper shows that γ is admissible for relevant modal logics with restricted Sahlqvist axioms in terms of the method using metavaluations.     

The use of person–organization fit and person–job fit information in making selection decisions

Two policy-capturing studies were conducted to investigate how person–organization (PO) fit and person–job (PJ) fit information are weighted and combined when hiring decision makers evaluate job candidates, and how the process is influenced by the position’s characteristics. Regarding the combining process, we detected a nonlinear, conjunctive rule in which a low level of PJ fit was paid more attention, the levels of PO fit and PJ fit interacted, and candidates with moderate levels of PO fit and PJ fit were preferred over those with high and low levels. Regarding the weighting process, we found that PO fit was weighted more heavily for a permanent position, and PJ fit for a fixed-term and/or a knowledge-intensive position. In addition, the position’s contract duration (permanent vs. fixed-term) and task elements (managerial vs. knowledge-intensive) interacted in influencing the weighting of PO fit and PJ fit.     

Reactivation-dependent changes in memory states in the terrestrial slug Limax flavus

The change in memory state in the terrestrial slug Limax flavus was studied using cooling-induced retrograde amnesia. Slugs were first conditioned to avoid carrot odor and then a second conditioning procedure was applied 1, 3, 6, or 7 days after the first conditioning trial. Cooling the slugs to approximately 1 degrees C on day 7 immediately after the presentation of the odor used in the conditioning resulted in retrograde amnesia in the slugs that were subject to a second conditioning on day 6 or 7, but not in slugs that were subject to a second conditioning on day 1 or 3. Next, second-order conditioning was used as the second conditioning procedure to distinguish the memory acquired in the first conditioning from that acquired in the second conditioning and similar results were obtained. These results suggest that the reactivation of memory altered the memory state from a cooling-insensitive state to a cooling-sensitive one. A possible model for memory states is discussed.     

The Use of Lexical Prosody for Lexical Access of the Japanese Language

It has been suggested that English listeners do not use lexical prosody for lexical access in word recognition. The present study was designed to examine whether this argument could be generalized to the Japanese language. Two experiments using a cross-modal priming task were conducted. The participants made a lexical decision regarding a visual target following an auditory prime that was either the prosodically congruent or incongruent homophone of the target. In experiment 1, the primes were presented as complete words, and in experiment 2, they were presented as word fragments. In both experiments, the priming effects were observed only in the congruent condition. These results suggest that the prime activated only the representations of prosodically congruent words. We therefore concluded that Japanese listeners use lexical prosody for lexical access of their language and that the role of lexical prosody is determined language-specifically.