Early Development of Empathy in Toddlers: Effects of Daily Parent–Child Interaction and Home‐Rearing Environment

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the effects of (a) parent–child interaction and (b) home environment on the early development of empathy in toddlers. A total of 176 Japanese families (both young children and their parents) were enrolled in this study. Laboratory assessment of children's empathy development and caregiver's rearing competence was made during a controlled observation of parent–child interaction. The results of this study suggest that of all the factors examined, the degree of parent–child interaction, the stability of long‐term parenting practices, parental attitude, and mother's mental health status were correlated with development of empathy in children. These findings provide new indicators for the development of individualized intervention methods for use in clinical practice.     

Quantum-like generalization of the Bayesian updating scheme for objective and subjective mental uncertainties

In this paper we develop a general quantum-like model of decision making. Here updating of probability is based on linear algebra, the von Neumann–Lüders projection postulate, Born’s rule, and the quantum representation of the state space of a composite system by the tensor product. This quantum-like model generalizes the classical Bayesian inference in a natural way. In our approach the latter appears as a special case corresponding to the absence of relative phases in the mental state. By taking into account a possibility of the existence of correlations which are encoded in relative phases we developed a more general scheme of decision making. We discuss natural situations inducing deviations from the classical Bayesian scheme in the process of decision making by cognitive systems: in situations that can be characterized as objective and subjective mental uncertainties. Further, we discuss the problem of base rate fallacy. In our formalism, these “irrational” (non-Bayesian) inferences are represented by quantum-like bias operations acting on the mental state.     

Atomic arrangement at the 3C-SiC/Si(001) interface revealed utilising aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope

The atomistic structure of the 3C-SiC/Si(001) interface has been investigated using a combination of aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy and a newly developed image processing method for eliminating artificial contrast. The structures having periods four times longer than those of the silicon lattice have been observed distinctly in images taken along both Si[110] and Si[100] directions. Contrary to theoretical models proposed previously, the interface of the three-dimensional structural model that we constructed on the basis of our experiments has a silicon-rich configuration. We have clarified that the strain field induced by the two-dimensional misfit between Si(001)-(4?×?4) and SiC(001)-(5?×?5) is relaxed by the two-dimensional network of misfit dislocations; simple edge dislocations with [100] and [010] directions and Lomer dislocations with [110] and [110] directions. The atomistic structures of the Lomer dislocations have been also clarified.     

Midgap photon effects in As2S3 glass

Photo-induced phenomena in glasses excited by two-photon absorption have been studied and compared with those produced by bandgap illumination. The two-photon excitation of As₂S₃ gives a refractive-index increase, unaccompanied by photodarkening. Raman-scattering spectra show that the excitation increases the density of ‘wrong’ bonds. These observations are discussed and compared with photo-induced changes in SiO₂.     

Effects of the anisotropy of the anti-phase boundary energy on the yield-stress anomaly in Ni3 X compounds with close-packed crystal structures

This paper is aimed at clarifying the effects of the anisotropy of the anti-phase boundary (APB) energy on the yield-stress anomaly (YSA) of five distinct Ni₃(Ti, Nb) single crystals with various long-period ordered structures, in which the APB energy on the non-close-packed (non-CP) plane varies with changes in the stacking sequence of the close-packed planes. The APB energies of interest are estimated, based on a pair-wise interaction parameter model to the second neighbour. The YSA can be categorized in two groups of two and three compounds, within which the mechanical properties are nearly independent of composition. The microstructures resulting from deformation at 700°C were compared. It is verified that the YSA is dominantly controlled by differences in the probability of locking by a Kear–Wilsdorf mechanism, which itself is governed by the anisotropy of APB energy in the non-CP planes relative to the primary slip plane.     

Mixed emotions: Holistic and analytic perception of facial expressions

In the face literature, it is debated whether the identification of facial expressions requires holistic (i.e., whole face) or analytic (i.e., parts-based) information. In this study, happy and angry composite expressions were created in which the top and bottom face halves formed either an incongruent (e.g., angry top + happy bottom) or congruent composite expression (e.g., happy top + happy bottom). Participants reported the expression in the target top or bottom half of the face. In Experiment 1, the target half in the incongruent condition was identified less accurately and more slowly relative to the baseline isolated expression or neutral face conditions. In contrast, no differences were found between congruent and the baseline conditions. In Experiment 2, the effects of exposure duration were tested by presenting faces for 20, 60, 100 and 120 ms. Interference effects for the incongruent faces appeared at the earliest 20 ms interval and persisted for the 60, 100 and 120 ms intervals. In contrast, no differences were found between the congruent and baseline face conditions at any exposure interval. In Experiment 3, it was found that spatial alignment impaired the recognition of incongruent expressions, but had no effect on congruent expressions. These results are discussed in terms of holistic and analytic processing of facial expressions.     

An infant chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) follows human gaze

The ability of non-human primates to follow the gaze of other individuals has recently received much attention in comparative cognition. The aim of the present study was to investigate the emergence of this ability in a chimpanzee infant. The infant was trained to look at one of two objects, which an experimenter indicated by one of four different cue conditions: (1) tapping on the target object with a finger; (2) pointing to the target object with a finger; (3) gazing at the target object with head orientation; or (4) glancing at the target object without head orientation. The subject was given food rewards independently of its responses under the first three conditions, so that its responses to the objects were not influenced by the rewards. The glancing condition was tested occasionally, without any reinforcement. By the age of 13 months, the subject showed reliable following responses to the object that was indicated by the various cues, including glancing alone. Furthermore, additional tests clearly showed that the subject's performance was controlled by the "social" properties of the experimenter-given cues but not by the non-social, local-enhancing peripheral properties. Electronic Publication     

Volitional lifestyle in healthy elderly: its relevance to rest-activity cycle,nocturnal sleep,and daytime napping

Sleep-related problems are prevalent among the aged. The present study examined the influence of a mentally active or "volitional" lifestyle on the rest-activity cycle, nocturnal sleep, and daytime napping in the healthy elderly. 14 aged individuals with a high Volitional lifestyle (M = 74.1 yr. old) and 14 with a Low Volitional lifestyle (M = 73.0 yr. old) were screened by questionnaires including the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale scale and the Self-confidence scale. Their activity levels were monitored by a wrist actigraph system for 14 consecutive days. They were also asked to record daily sleep logs. The total times of nocturnal sleep and daytime napping did not differ between the groups. However, the acrophases of circadian (tau = 24 hr.) and circasemidian (tau = 12 hr.) activity cycles were more advanced in the Low Volitional group. In addition, the High Volitional group took a daytime nap with a better timing than did the Low Volitional group: the former started a nap during the phase in which their activity level was going down, whereas the latter when their activity level was going up. These results suggest that high volitional lifestyle may be related to better rest-activity cycle in the healthy elderly.     

Testing assumptions of deliberate practice theory, relevance, effort, and inherent enjoyment of practice on a novel task

This study examined three assumptions of the theory of deliberate practice: that deliberate practice is perceived as relevant for improving performance and that it requires effort, but that it is not perceived as being inherently enjoyable. Of particular interest was the assumption of inherent enjoyment of practice since that has been questioned in previous research. 30 undergraduate and graduate students combined practiced a maze memorization and recall task and rated relevance of practice for improving recall, the practice effort, and inherent enjoyment of practice. The findings were consistent with three assumptions, but also suggested that perceptions about relevance, effort, and inherent enjoyment of practice may change with increasing experience and performance.     

Discrimination and categorization of photographs of natural objects by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Two experiments assessed the ability of four adult female chimpanzees to categorize natural objects. Chimpanzees were initially trained to match different color photographs of familiar objects from four possible categories. In training, all the comparison stimuli were from the same category in one condition, and from different categories in another condition. For all subjects, training performance was consistently better for the "different category" than for the "same category" trials. Probe trials were shown after training. In probe trials, the sample and positive comparison stimuli were different items from the same category, and the foils were selected from among the three other test categories. Individual performance was above chance in probe trials, suggesting that categorization by chimpanzees may transcend perceptual resemblance. These results were later replicated with novel stimulus items from the same four categories (experiment 2). Altogether, this research demonstrates that chimpanzees grouped perceptually different exemplars within the same category, and further suggests that these animals formed conceptual representations of the categories. Accepted after revision: 10 August 2001 Electronic Publication