Conceptual versus Perceptual Priming in Incomplete Picture Identification

This paper examined conceptual versus perceptual priming in identification of incomplete pictures by using a short-term priming paradigm, in which information that may be useful in identifying a fragmented target is presented just prior to the target’s presentation. The target was a picture that slowly and continuously became complete and the participants were required to press a key as soon as they knew what it was. Each target was preceded by a visual prime. The nature of this prime varied from very conceptual (e.g., the name of the picture’s category) to very perceptual (e.g., a similar-shaped pictorial prime from a different category). Primes also included those that combined perceptual and conceptual information (e.g., names or images of the target picture). Across three experiments, conceptual primes were effective while the purely perceptual primes were not. Accordingly, we conclude that pictures in this type of task are identified primarily by conceptual processing, with perceptual processing contributing relatively little.     

Impaired pitch production and preserved rhythm production in a right brain-damaged patient with amusia

Pre- and postmorbid singing of a patient with amusia due to a right-hemispheric infarction was analyzed acoustically. This particular patient had a premorbid tape recording of her own singing without accompaniment. Appropriateness of pitch interval and rhythm was evaluated based on ratios of pitch and duration between neighboring notes. The results showed that melodic contours and rhythm were preserved but individual pitch intervals were conspicuously distorted. Our results support a hypothesis that pitch and rhythm are subserved by independent neural subsystems. We concluded that action-related acoustic information for controlling pitch intervals is stored in the right hemisphere.     

Well I May Be Exaggerating But Self-Qualifying Clauses in Negotiation of Opinions Among Japanese Speakers

The present study investigates the ways in which Japanese speakers negotiate their opinions in conversational interaction. On the one hand, speakers are apt to exaggerate a particular aspect of a given issue in asserting their opinion, on the other hand, they may also incorporate a self-qualification admitting a potential problem in their claim. By expressing their awareness of the problem before it is pointed out by the co-participants, the speakers seem to get license to proffer an exaggerated or overgeneralized claim and to increase their chance of receiving an affiliative response. This study explicates the mechanism through which such a self-qualifying clause emerges in the development of opinion-negotiation sequences. Further, as a contribution to a growing body of research on "interaction and grammar" (Ochs, Schegloff, and Thompson, 1996), this study explores the use of "contrastive" markers, -kedo and demo, in constructing turns and sequences in opinion-negotiation. The data demonstrate these two structurally different types of markers play distinct roles in differentiating and yet conjoining the speakers' assertion and self-qualification.     

A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Social Phobia Symptoms

This study examined two forms of social anxiety or phobia, social phobia as defined by DSM-IV and Taijin Kyofusho (TKS, a Japanese form of social anxiety), in relation to their respective culturally prescribed self-construals as independent and interdependent. Japanese university students (N = 124) and U.S. university students (N = 123) were administered the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, the Social Phobia Scale, the TKS Scale, and the Self-Construal Scale. From the results of a hierarchical regression analysis, TKS symptoms are more likely to be expressed by individuals who are Japanese and individuals who construe themselves low on independence but high on interdependence. In addition, social phobia symptoms are more likely to be expressed by individuals who construe themselves low on independence but high on interdependence irrespective of culture. Implications for therapists from each culture who have clients who present social anxiety or phobia symptoms are discussed.     

Associations of Psychosocial Factors with Maternal Confidence Among Japanese and Vietnamese Mothers

We conducted this cross-sectional study among 392 Japanese and 294 Vietnamese mothers who attended routine child health visits in a Japanese city and at a tertiary hospital in Vietnam, in order to investigate the prevalence and associated sociodemographic, parenting, and psychological characteristics of low maternal confidence in child rearing among them. All data were collected from medical files in Japan, and from medical files and self-administered questionnaires in Vietnam. The proportion of mothers without secure feeling of confidence in the present study was 22% in Japan and 66% in Vietnam. Significant factors associated with a lack of confidence were first-time motherhood and unintended pregnancy in the Japanese dataset and younger age in the Vietnamese dataset. In both groups, a higher proportion of mothers who lacked confidence reported negative parenting outcomes than did confident mothers. Among the three psychological measurements (mood, self-efficacy and depression), higher self-efficacy was associated independently with a significantly reduced risk of not having confidence in child rearing. These results suggest the importance of developing parenting support programs to help Japanese and Vietnamese mothers, particularly those who are young, first-time mothers or who became pregnant unexpectedly, improve their self-efficacy.     

Speed constancy and the perception of distance

The distance-calibration hypothesis states that retinal velocity is scaled by using distance cues, and judged velocity remains unchanged when distance is changed. The relational hypothesis states that judged velocity depends on retinal velocities, and is proportional to judged distance. These hypotheses were compared in three experiments where the movements of the standard stimulus and the comparison stimulus were manipulated by the ratio of the angular velocity of the comparison stimulus to the angular velocity of the standard stimulus. The presentation conditions of the standard stimulus and the comparison stimulus, and the colour cues of the two stimuli were also manipulated in order to change the strength of the cues available to the observers. The results indicate that judged velocities and the relationship of judged distance and velocity depend on the strength of the cues. When cues are strong, the distance-calibration hypothesis adequately explains speed constancy. When cues are weak, judged velocity and the relationship between judged distance and velocity are consistent with the prediction of the relational hypothesis. The perceived speed of a stimulus depends not only on the physical speed of the stimulus but also on non-motion cues, some of which are distance cues involved in depth perception.     

Attributional inference across cultures: similar automatic attributions and different controlled corrections

Five studies examined the automatic and controlled components of attributional inference in U.S. and East Asian (EA) samples. Studies 1 through 3 used variations of the "anxious woman" paradigm, manipulating the inferential goal (dispositional or situational) and the normative impact of situational constraint information (discounting or augmenting). In each study, U.S. and EA participants under cognitive load produced strong automatic attributions to the focus of their inferential goal (dispositional or situational). Compared with the U.S. cognitive load participants, U.S. no load participants corrected their attributions according to the normative rules of inference. In contrast, EA no load participants corrected in the direction of situational causality, even when the specific content of the situational information provided should have promoted stronger dispositional inferences. Studies 4 and 5 examined and ruled out alternative accounts. Results are discussed in terms of a situational causality heuristic present in EA individuals.     

Physical and conceptual priming effects on picture and word identification

In the study phase of these experiments, subjects were asked to think of an item suggested by the omission in an incomplete sentence, and then look at a picture or word describing an item and say whether it was the same as theirs. In the test phase, they were asked to identify studied and nonstudied items presented briefly in either picture or word form. Subjects were then required to recall the words or pictures shown in the study phase. Experiment 1, with a within-subjects design, revealed that the studied pictures were identified more readily than studied words and nonstudied pictures. This indicates a physical priming effect. In word identification, studied words were identified more readily than nonstudied words; however, there was no difference between studied words and studied pictures, and the performance for studied pictures and nonstudied items were largely the same. The physical priming effect on picture identification was also shown in Experiment 2, with a between-subjects design. Different processing mechanisms in picture and word identification are discussed.     

A Study of the Conceptual Structure of Growth Mindsets and Their Impact on Self-Improvement Motivation

This study examined the conceptual structure and motivational effects of growth mindsets based on the perspective of character strengths. An internet survey was conducted with 1,000 workers (500 males and 500 females; age range 20–59 years, M = 40.1 years, SD = 10.7 years). Participants were presented with 25 strengths (i.e., intelligence and 24 character strengths) and were asked to rate their perceived competence, growth mindset, and improvement intention for each strength. The exploratory factor analyses on perceived competence, growth mindset, and improvement intention identified five common factors: wisdom, willpower, temperance, transcendence, and groupness. Moreover, regression analyses indicated that a growth mindset was more strongly related to improvement intention than perceived competence. Furthermore, regression analyses found domain-specific effects of growth mindsets on improvement intention. Thus, the intention to improve a particular strength was more closely related to that particular growth mindset than to other growth mindsets. The theoretical and educational implications are aired in the discussion section.