SHINTO RESEARCH AND THE HUMANITIES IN JAPAN

Three approaches to scholarship are “scholarship as a way,” which aims at perfection of character; “scholarship as a method,” which clearly limits objects and methods in order to achieve precise perception and new knowledge; and “scholarship as an expression,” which takes various approaches to questions and inquiry. The “humanities” participate deeply and broadly in all three of these approaches. In relation to this view of the humanities, Japanese Shinto is a field of study that yields rich results. As a religion of awe, shrine groves, community, arts, and entertainment, it offers a research field that joins together the study of human beings, nature, society, and expression. Though we elucidate the characteristics of Shinto and its differences with Buddhism, we also draw attention to the seven dimensions of “place, way, beauty, festival, technique, poetry, and ecological wisdom,” and then finally take up “research on techniques of body and mind transformation” as a comprehensive and creative development in the “humanities.”     

How can individual differences in autobiographical memory distributions of older adults be explained?

The reminiscence bump phenomenon has frequently been reported for the recall of autobiographical memories. The present study complements previous research by examining individual differences in the distribution of word-cued autobiographical memories. More importantly, we introduce predictor variables that might account for individual differences in the mean (location) and the standard deviation (scale) of individual memory distributions. All variables were derived from different theoretical accounts for the reminiscence bump phenomenon. We used a mixed location-scale logitnormal model, to analyse the 4602 autobiographical memories reported by 118 older participants. Results show reliable individual differences in the location and the scale. After controlling for age and gender, individual proportions of first-time experiences and individual proportions of positive memories, as well as the ratings on Openness to new Experiences and Self-Concept Clarity accounted for 29% of individual differences in location and 42% of individual differences in scale of autobiographical memory distributions. Results dovetail with a life-story account for the reminiscence bump which integrates central components of previous accounts.     

积极与消极情绪关系的理论及研究

积极与消极情绪的关系一直是情绪领域中最引人注目的焦点之一。该文介绍了探讨积极与消极情绪关系的模型及相关的证据,包括以下4个方面的内容：（1）情绪的双极模型及相关证据;（2）情绪的双变量模型及相关证据;（3）情绪的混合模型及相关证据;（4）解决各种模型争论的新视角：条件决定论。文章最后分析了该领域研究的不足,并提出了未来研究的方向     

教师资格和职业发展因素对学生数学成绩的影响：一个跨文化比较

采用TIMSS2003中的数据,应用混合模型,比较香港、日本、瑞典和美国四个国家(地区)教师资格因素和职业发展因素对其学生数学学业成绩的影响。结果发现香港教师高学历和常有其他教师听课提高了学生成绩;瑞典教师的性别、专业和参加数学教学方法方面的职业发展活动,以及美国教师的专业和听其他教师讲课显著影响其学生成绩;日本教师资格和职业发展因素对其学生成绩没有影响。     

夫妻沟通模式与婚姻质量的关系

本文拟采用主-客体互倚模型(Actor-partner interdependence model,APIM)的方法深入探讨夫妻双方感知到的夫妻间的沟通模式与其自身及配偶感知到的婚姻质量之间的关系。以方便取样的方式在澳门地区选取130对成年夫妻,采用Christensen等人修订的沟通模式调查问卷(Communication Pattern Questionnaire,CPQ)和Spanier编制的婚姻质量问卷(Dyadic Adjustment Scales,DAS),要求夫妻双方分别以自陈问卷的方式报告其感知到的沟通模式和婚姻质量。通过配对t检验、相关分析和结构方程模型统计分析发现:(1)夫妻间的沟通以建设性沟通为主,双方回避和要求/回避型沟通较少;丈夫感知到的婚姻质量总体上优于妻子感知到的婚姻质量。(2)夫妻双方在沟通模式和婚姻质量的感知上具有一致性,在沟通模式中的两个和婚姻质量中的三个分量表上的得分不存在显著差异。(3)夫妻间建设性沟通可以显著地正向预测自身感知到的婚姻质量;而双方回避和要求/回避型沟通则显著地负向预测自身感知到的婚姻质量。(4)在控制了丈夫、妻子感知到的沟通模式对其自身婚姻质量的主体效应之后,丈夫感知到的沟通模式可以显著地预测妻子感受到的婚姻质量;然而妻子感知到的沟通模式并不能显著地预测丈夫的婚姻质量。     

Conversation: The challenges of teaching in a “nano department”

A panel at the 2016 American Academy of Religion conference staged, taped, transcribed, and edited this conversation about the challenges and opportunities of teaching in a “nano department” – an undergraduate religion or religious studies department (or combined religion and philosophy department) with only one, two, or three faculty members. Two things quickly become evident: one is the impossibility of coverage of the full religious studies curriculum, and the other is the necessity for collaboration with other departments. Neither of these is unique to nano departments, but there exists an intimacy between students and faculty in small departments, a necessary freedom to rethink the place of the study of religion in the liberal arts curriculum, and a disruptive value in what can be critiqued and contributed from a marginalized position. Arguably, nano departments are the canaries in the academic coal mine, charting the future of the humanities that cannot be discerned from the vantage point of Research‐1 contexts.     

How Do Creative Experts Practice New Skills? Exploratory Practice in Breakdancers

How do expert performers practice as they develop creatively? This study investigated the processes involved in the practice of new skills by expert breakdancers. A great deal of evidence supports the theory of “deliberate practice” (Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch‐Römer, 1993, Psychological Review, 100, 363) in skill acquisition; however, expert creative performers may emphasize other forms of practice for skill development. Four case studies collected through fieldwork and laboratory observation were analyzed to evaluate expert dancers’ practice processes as they developed proficiency in new, specific skills. We focused on three aspects of learning: the degree of skill acquisition, the content of skills included in practice, and dancers’ stated purposes for practicing. The results showed that dancers’ practice improved skills (as suggested by deliberate practice) and engaged the exploration of new, original skills, along with coordinating skills within performance. In their practice, these dance experts went beyond deliberative practice to highly exploratory processes for skill development.     

How a high working memory capacity can increase proactive interference

Previous findings suggested that a high working memory capacity (WMC) is potentially associated with a higher susceptibility to proactive interference (PI) if the latter is measured under high cognitive load. To explain such a finding, we propose to consider susceptibility to PI as a net effect of individual executive processes and the intrinsic potential for PI. With the latter, we refer to the amount of information that is activated at a given time and that has the potential to exert PI subsequently. In two studies deploying generalized linear mixed models, susceptibility to PI was modeled as the decline of performance over trials of a complex span task. The results revealed that a higher WMC was associated with a higher susceptibility to PI. Moreover, the number of stimuli recalled in one trial as a proxy variable for the intrinsic potential for PI negatively affected memory performance in the subsequent trial.     

Loving and angry? Happy and sad? Understanding and reporting of mixed emotions in mother–child relationships by 6‐ to 12‐year‐olds

The Evaluative Space Model of emotions allows for the coactivation of positive‐appetitive and negative‐avoidant systems, but few studies have examined mixed emotions in child development. Existing research suggests children's understanding of opposite valence emotion combinations emerges by approximately 11 years of age. However, it is not yet clear whether various opposite valence combinations are understood at different ages, nor whether children can understand them in others before they have experienced such mixed emotions themselves. Semi‐structured interviews with 97 children investigated whether they regarded six combinations of opposite valence mixed emotions as possible, could provide reasons for them, and report their own experience of each in the context of mother–child relationships. Both understanding that such combinations are possible and ability to provide reasons for them increased after age 6 and up to age 11, but were still incomplete in 12‐year‐olds. Understanding of different opposite valence combinations developed at different rates. At each age, fewer children who showed understanding of these combinations in others reported having had a similar experience themselves. The findings suggest a need to systematically examine a range of mixed emotions in order to develop a comprehensive theory of the development of mixed emotion understanding. They also suggest extending research into adolescence.     

Fostering Diversity in the Creative Arts by Addressing Students' Capacity to Aspire

Research on young people's aspirations and their capacity to aspire to higher education has proliferated in recent decades, however, very little attention has been paid to the creative arts. Diversity in the arts remains a persistent issue in many nations, and repeated attempts to promote diversity in the Australian arts community have had limited impact, suggesting the need for new approaches. Drawing on data from a 4‐year longitudinal study of students from ages 8 to 18 (n = 6,492) in government schools, we examine school students' aspirations for careers in the arts. Arts‐related careers were popular among students, yet we found a distinct lack of diversity among those aspiring to such careers. Using logistic regression analysis we found that being female, high achieving, from an English‐speaking background, possessing high cultural capital, and attending advantaged schools were significant predictors of interest in the arts, suggesting the likely reproduction of existing patterns of participation. We argue that initiatives within schools are essential to disrupting these patterns and building the capacity of a more diverse range of students to aspire to careers in the arts.