Meta-analysis using linear mixed models

Psychologists often use special computer programs to perform meta-analysis. Until recently, this had been necessary because standard statistical packages did not provide procedures for such analysis. This paper introduces linear mixed models as a framework for meta-analysis in psychological research, using a popular general purpose statisticalpackage, SAS. The approach is illustrated with three examples, usingsas peoc mixed.     

Short report: the effect of expertise in hiking on recognition memory for mountain scenes

The nature of an expert memory advantage that does not depend on stimulus structure or chunking was examined, using more ecologically valid stimuli in the context of a more natural activity than previously studied domains. Do expert hikers and novice hikers see and remember mountain scenes differently? In the present experiment, 18 novice hikers and 17 expert hikers were presented with 60 photographs of scenes from hiking trails. These scenes differed in the degree of functional aspects that implied some action possibilities or dangers. The recognition test revealed that the memory performance of experts was significantly superior to that of novices for scenes with highly functional aspects. The memory performance for the scenes with few functional aspects did not differ between novices and experts. These results suggest that experts pay more attention to, and thus remember better, scenes with functional meanings than do novices.     

Japanese death rituals in transit: From household ancestors to beloved antecedents

The recent trend in contemporary Japanese funerals reflects changing family relationships, religious affiliation and individual values. Increasingly, Japanese people are conducting a living‐funeral or a non‐religious funeral (as opposed to a common Buddhist funeral), and dispersing ashes after cremation. Such funeral ceremonies and mortuary rites demonstrate the isolation of the elderly during the process of dying, the asymmetrical relationship between the deceased and the bereaved, and the attenuating ties between people and Buddhist temples. The fundamental change that underlies these transformation of funerary practices, I argue, is the shift from the ancestor worship that values the deceased for the purpose of household perpetuation, to the memorialism of individuals that celebrates the deceased's personal life based on the bereaved's love toward the deceased.     

Parenting Self-Efficacy and Parental Involvement: Mediators or Moderators Between Socioeconomic Status and Children’s Academic Competence in Japan and Korea?

We examined the causes of a growing achievement gap associated with socioeconomic status (SES) in Korea and Japan, testing whether parenting self-efficacy (PSE) and parental involvement (PI) mediated or moderated the association of SES to children’s school-related competence (SRC). Three hundred and seventy-two Korean and 309 Japanese mothers of first- and second-grade children completed a parenting survey. Japanese mothers’ education and PSE were directly associated with SRC. PSE moderated the association of education to SRC, with higher PSE of college-educated mothers positively associated with SRC. In the Korean sample, household income was associated with SRC directly as well as indirectly through PSE.     

Relative contributions of goal representation and kinematic information to self-monitoring by chimpanzees and humans

It is important to monitor feedback related to the intended result of an action while executing that action. This monitoring process occurs hierarchically; that is, sensorimotor processing occurs at a lower level, and conceptual representation of action goals occurs at a higher level. Although the hierarchical nature of self-monitoring may derive from the evolutionary history of humans, little is known about this cognitive process in non-human primates. This study showed that the relative contributions of kinematic information and goal representations to self-monitoring differ for chimpanzees and humans. Both species performed aiming actions whereby participants moved a cursor to hit targets. Additionally, a distractor cursor was presented simultaneously, and participants discriminated the cursor under their control from the cursor not under their control. The results showed that chimpanzees found it difficult to determine whether they were controlling the distractor when it moved toward the target, even though the distractor's kinematics and the participant's actions were dissociated. In contrast, humans performed efficiently regardless of any overlap between the presumptive and observed goals of the action. Our results suggest that goal representation, rather than motor kinematics, is the primary source of information for self-monitoring in chimpanzees, whereas humans efficiently integrate both dimensions of information. Our results are consistent with evidence showing species differences during imitation of others' actions, and suggest that humans have evolved the cognitive capacity to monitor motor kinematics in a more flexible manner than have chimpanzees.     

Asymmetrical neural adaptation in lower leg muscles as a consequence of stereotypical motor training

Despite well-authorized facts regarding asymmetrical architectural changes between different limbs after persistent participation in particular motor training, no studies have addressed the neural aspects to the present. The authors undertook the study to elucidate the possibility of neural adaptation on a limb-by-limb basis after repetitive engagement in a particular motor training routine. We investigated lower leg muscles in endurance-trained track runners who have been trained by routinely running on a track in counterclockwise direction on curved paths. Stretch reflex responses in the plantarflexor muscles (soleus [SOL], medial [MG], and lateral head of the gastrocnemius muscle) were evaluated bilaterally with participants sitting at rest. Comparisons were made between homonymous muscles of the right (corresponding to outside leg for track running) and left leg (inside leg, likewise) and with a group of nontrained controls. The result clearly demonstrated that the responses were prominently different between the legs (thus, asymmetrical) in the MG muscles and partially in the SOL muscles in the trained group. In contrast, no such differences were obtained in the nontrained control group. The result demonstrated that neural adaptation took place asymmetrically and that could be attributable to their repetitive engagement in the stereotypical motor task.     

Ab initio pseudopotential studies on an Al Σ = 9 grain boundary: Effects of Na and Ca impurities

The electronic properties of an Al = 9 tilt grain boundary with segregated Na and Ca impurity atoms have been calculated by a first-principles pseudopotential method. The results show that the boundary expands and the charge density decreases significantly over the whole boundary by the segregation of Na and Ca, and there are no stronger bonds than those associated with metallic bonding in the boundary even with the impurities. It is concluded that the embrittlement promotion mechanism by Na or Ca segregation in the Al boundaries is one kind of 'decohesion model'.     

Shuffle-set dislocation nucleation in semiconductor silicon device

We have found that a shuffle-set dislocation is nucleated in a semiconductor silicon device subjected to severe thermal processing. The dislocation transforms into a dissociated glide-set dislocation after annealing at 500°C. A possible mechanism for the nucleation of a perfect shuffle-set dislocation during thermal processing is that the dislocation nucleus was nucleated at a low temperature during prior ion-implantation processing.