Guidance and Counseling in Japan

This article examines the historical and cultural factors that have shaped the professionalization, settings, and future trends of guidance and counseling in Japan.     

Individual differences in vulnerability to subjective time distortion1

Time duration is perceived to be longer when accompanied by dynamic sensory stimulation than when accompanied by static stimulation. This distortion of time perception is thought to be due to the acceleration of an internal pacemaker that has been assumed to be the main component of temporal judgments. In order to investigate whether the function of the internal pacemaker is modality dependent or independent, we examined the correlation of visual flicker and auditory flutter effects on a temporal production task. While seeing a 10‐Hz visual flicker or hearing a 10‐Hz auditory flutter, participants estimated a duration of 2500 ms as accurately as possible by pressing a button. The results showed a significant within‐individual correlation between the time distortion due to visual flicker and that due to auditory flutter. Additionally, we found that time distortion due to auditory flutter tended to be larger in female participants than in male participants. These results suggest that the mechanisms underlying subjective time dilation are similar between vision and audition within individuals, but that they vary across individuals.     

What is special about the index finger?: The index finger advantage in manipulating reflexive attentional shift1

Pointing with the index finger is a universal behavior. However, the functional significance of indexical pointing has not been examined empirically. We examined the efficacy of various pointing gestures in evoking viewer's attentional shifts. After viewing the gesture cue, observers quickly reported the location of a visual target. With a short cue‐target delay, reaction times were generally shorter for the target at the location where gesture cues pointed, but not with a long cue‐target delay. Moreover, the indexical pointing gesture produced a significantly larger cueing effect than the other gestures. Our control experiments indicated that the index‐finger advantage is tightly linked to the proper morphological shape (i.e. length and position of the index finger) of the indexical pointing and is not explained by the directional discriminability of the gesture. The visual system seems to use mechanisms that are partially independent of the directional discrimination of gestures, in order to quickly modulate the viewer's attention.     

Reaction time as an indicator of stimulus‐response binding in affective judgment of visual stimuli1

Conventional studies on affective meanings have been conducted using the semantic differential technique. Although it offers reasonably valid and reliable measures for the bindings between visual stimuli and affective responses, it is dependent on subjective rating. Thus, the present study examined whether the reaction time (RT) of affective judgments for visual stimuli (color, shape, and facial expression) can be an objective indicator of the strength of stimuli‐response bindings. The results can be summarized as follows: (a) RTs for judging Evaluation were longer regardless of stimulus type; (b) RTs for Activity were shorter regardless of stimulus type; and (c) RTs for Lightness and Sharpness depended on stimulus type. These phenomena are consistent with the findings of previous affective meaning studies, suggesting that the RTs for affective judgments can be useful indicators reflecting the strength of the bindings between stimulus properties and affective meanings across various target stimuli and rating scales.     

The role of visible persistence for perception of visual bilateral symmetry1

Abstract: Although the detection of visual bilateral symmetry has been claimed to be highly efficient, the possible involvement and function of visual memory in such efficient mechanisms has rarely been examined. We hypothesized that symmetry perception is rapid, as it can be achieved from rapidly decaying information of visible persistence. To test this hypothesis, we employed a temporal integration paradigm. A symmetric dot pattern was randomly divided into two asymmetric patterns and presented successively with a blank screen presented between patterns. Observers could detect symmetry when the two patterns were presented close in time (Experiment 1), indicating that observers perceived symmetry presumably utilizing visible persistence. In addition, the inverse‐intensity effect of visible persistence (Di Lollo & Bischof, 1995) was evident in our temporal integration task of symmetry (Experiment 2). The results of the current study clearly demonstrate that the detection of symmetry can be achieved based on the visible persistence. The large capacity and high spatial precision of visible persistence might be adequate for the rapid and spatially global encoding of visual symmetry.     

Effects of stroking horses on both humans' and horses' heart rate responses1

Abstract: The present study examined both human and horse heart rates (HRs) when humans stroked horses for 90 seconds; the subjective arousal levels of the humans were measured by the Tohoku Activation Deactivation Adjective Check List before and after stroking horses. Six male subjects with a positive attitude toward companion animals and 6 male subjects with a negative attitude were selected by their scores on the Pet Attitude Scale, and these two groups, together with a third group, of 6 subjects who were male members of the Doshisha University horse-riding club, participated in this experiment. The HRs of the human subjects during the first 10 seconds immediately after the stroking began were significantly higher than those obtained after that period, but these higher levels gradually returned to baseline levels. This tendency appears more clearly in the negative attitude group. The HRs of the horses increased during the first 20 seconds immediately after the human subjects of the NA group started stroking them, but gradually reduced as the stroking continued. The results of subjective arousal levels suggest a decrease in tension by stroking horses. These results suggest that a certain affectional interaction may exist between humans and companion animals.     

Marmosets as a next-generation model of comparative cognition

Common marmosets have traditionally been used in fields such as comparative psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and ethology, and as animal models of human disease research because of their relatively small body size, high reproductive rate, similar breeding system characteristics to those of humans, high dependency on vocal communication, and behavioral effects from drug administration that resemble those of humans. Although the animal has proved to be quite advantageous in animal model research in comparison to rodents, and has specific ecological and evolutionary characteristics that are worthy of exploration, few attempts have been made until recently to combine both types of approach. Thus, supported by neuroscientific methodologies that have recently been developed using this species, the authors suggest that the evolutionary origins of cognitive and social functions common to or differentiated in primates, could be uncovered through research that explores the behavioral and neural bases of cognition in the marmosets.     

认知任务对直立姿势的视觉控制的影响

为揭示认知任务对直立姿势的视觉控制的影响, 本研究采用双重任务的方法, 要求18名健康的成年被试在4种条件(2认知条件×2视觉条件)下尽力保持直立姿势的稳定。姿势动摇的测量采用头顶拍摄的方法并计算误差均方根、平均速度以及Romberg商数。研究结果显示认知任务和视觉条件之间的交互作用显著, 而且当有认知任务时姿势动摇的Romberg商数显著降低。这些结果说明认知任务抑制了直立姿势控制过程中的视觉加工。