How accurately do young children and adults discriminate the gender of natural faces?

The effects of gender-relevant facial features and hairstyles on discrimination of sex of photographed men and women were examined. The stimuli were 36 photographs of natural faces: 9 masculine-males, 9 feminine-males, 9 masculine-females, and 9 feminine-females. Each of the nine faces had one of three hairstyles, hair concealed, short hair, or long hair. 33 children (M age=5:10) and 28 adults were asked to identify the sex of each stimulus. Children had difficulties with cross-gender faces and cross-gender hairstyles, such as a feminine-male face with long hair. Adults' discriminations were accurate except for masculine-female faces, while children's decisions depended both on hairstyle and internal facial features. Children's discriminations might be based both on their perceptual skill in detecting critical visual features and their knowledge of men and women.     

Changes across age groups in self-choice elaboration and incidental memory

This study investigated differences in the self-choice elaboration and an experimenter-provided elaboration on incidental memory of 7- to 12-yr.-olds. In a self-choice elaboration condition 34 second and 25 sixth graders were asked to choose one of the two sentence frames into which each target could fit more congruously, whereas in an experimenter-provided elaboration they were asked to judge the congruity of each target to each frame. In free recall, sixth graders recalled targets in bizarre sentence frames better than second graders for self-choice elaboration condition. An age difference was not found for the experimenter-provided elaboration. In cued recall self-choice elaboration led to better performance of sixth graders for recalling targets than an experimenter-provided elaboration in both bizarre and common sentence frames. However, the different types of elaboration did not alter the recall of second graders. These results were interpreted as showing that the effectiveness of a self-choice elaboration depends on the subjects' age and the type of sentence.     

Effects of single trial of heart-rate biofeedback on the arterial blood pressure, ventilation volume, and oxygen consumption during ramp bicycling exercise

We examined whether the heart rate attenuation resulting from a single trial of biofeedback during exercise occurs without any changes in oxygen consumption (VO2), ventilation volume (V(E)), and mean arterial blood pressure (M(AP)) although these variables are essential determinants for the heart-rate response during exercise. 35 subjects exercised on a cycle ergometer under two conditions while they exercised only (Control) or were trying to decrease the heart-rate response as low as possible by monitoring their own heart-rate responses as Single trial of biofeedback signals. 17 subjects could attenuate their heart rate (Can group), and their heart-rate reduction during Single trial of biofeedback was 5+/-1 bpm. The remaining subjects were unable to reduce heart rate (Cannot group). The heart-rate attenuation during Single trial of biofeedback in the Can group occurred independently of changes in VO2 and MAP but was accompanied by a significant decrease in V(E) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE). However, there was a similar decrease in V(E) in the Cannot group. These findings suggested that the heart-rate attenuation during Single trial of biofeedback was not induced by the metabolic demand of VO2 and the regulations of M(AP) and V(E) during exercise. Other mechanisms, which are probably related to the reduction of RPE, might play an important role in the heart-rate attenuation during a Single trial of biofeedback.     

Delineating potential mechanisms of implicit alcohol cognitions: drinking restraint, negative affect, and their relationship with approach alcohol associations

Problem drinkers may use alcohol to avoid negative mood states and may develop implicit cognitive associations between negative emotional states and reinforcing properties of drinking. It is paradoxical that attempts to control drinking, such as among those high in drinking restraint, may inadvertently increase desire to drink and subsequent alcohol consumption, and this may be exaggerated under times of emotional distress when urges to drink are high. We examined whether individuals who are high on drinking restraint would demonstrate stronger alcohol-related thoughts elicited by stimuli that represent the desire to use alcohol, in response to stronger versus weaker negative mood arousal. Seventy hazardous drinkers completed measurements of drinking restraint, alcohol consumption, and consequences of use. After being randomized to view negative or positive pictures sets, participants completed an Implicit Association Task (IAT) to test differences in the strength of the association between desire to approach or avoid alcohol or water cues, and then a measurement of subjective craving following the IAT. Regression analyses showed that trait restriction not temptation was positively related to IAT scores, after controlling for relevant covariates and explained 7% of the total variance. Trait temptation not IAT predicted subjective craving. Negative affect was unrelated to IAT scores, singly or in conjunction with measures of drinking restraint, contrary to predictions. In sum, implicit alcohol cognitions are related to attempts to restrict drinking not temptation to drink and are less strongly influenced by mood state.     

History of Psychological Testing from the Perspective of Test Developers in Japan1

In this study, the history of psychological testing in Japan is described using the oral history method. Seven test developers discussed the development of Japanese versions of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale, Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale, and Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. Three conclusions were identified. First, the motivation for developing the tests shifted from one of personal aspiration to a wider responsibility of specialists' desiring to make social contributions. Second, the test developers shifted from working in small, familiar, collaborative groups to working in groups of specialists conducting well-organized projects. Third, the development of tests has variously been led by researchers, publishers, researcher-and-publisher collaborations, or institutes. In addition, this study identifies contemporary challenges for developing psychological tests, specifically due to insufficient numbers of participants and test developers.     

Do postpartum anxiety and breastfeeding self-efficacy and bonding at early postpartum predict postpartum depression and the breastfeeding method?

We investigated whether postpartum anxiety (PPA) and breastfeeding self-efficacy and bonding at the early postpartum period can be used to predict postpartum depression and the breastfeeding method, and we sought to identify factors related to postpartum depression. Of the 510 eligible women, 185 (36%) returned the questionnaire on all three occasions (1 day, 3 days, and 1 month after childbirth). The mothers' progress on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale Short Form (BFSES-SF), and Postnatal Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ) was observed over three periods. A repeated-measures ANOVA revealed that the mothers at high risk of developing postpartum depression (PPD) were those who did not show an increase in BFSES-SF score at early postpartum, and mothers whose bonding disorders have deteriorated rapidly. The results of the logistic regression analysis revealed a significant difference in employment as a factor related to postpartum depression. Compared to Regular, Part-time status was 4.4 times more likely and Unemployed status was 2.3 times more likely to cause postpartum depression. For the early detection of PPD, it is necessary to identify (1) mothers who do not show an increase in the BFSES-SF score, (2) mothers whose bonding disorders have deteriorated rapidly, and (3) part-time or unemployed mothers as characteristic of postpartum depression.     

Perception of the motion trajectory of objects from moving cast shadows in infant Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata)

The shadows cast by moving objects enable human adults and infants to infer the motion trajectories of objects. Nonhuman animals must also be able to discriminate between objects and their shadows and infer the spatial layout of objects from cast shadows. However, the evolutionary and comparative developmental origins of sensitivity to cast shadows have not been investigated. In this study, we used a familiarity/novelty preferential looking procedure to assess the ability of infant macaques, aged 7–24 weeks, to discriminate between a ‘depth’ display containing a ball and cast shadow moving diagonally and an ‘up’ display containing a ball with a diagonal trajectory and a shadow with a horizontal trajectory. The infant macaques could discriminate the trajectories of the balls based on the moving shadows. These findings suggest that the ability to perceive the motion trajectory of an object from the moving shadow is common to both humans and macaques.