Subjectivity and environmental influence in relation to sense of authenticity

The authors responded to criticisms raised recently by Giannini (2010) of the authors' 2009 study in which cross-age differences were examined in the sense of authenticity. Comments address three aspects of the criticism, interpretation of the results, and misunderstanding of the method used as well as the concepts. In particular, future research likely needs to focus on the subjective aspects of sense of authenticity.     

Selection of useful parameters to evaluate center-of-foot pressure movement

This study aimed to objectively summarize the parameters for evaluating the center-of-foot pressure and to select useful parameters with high reliability and validity with 220 healthy university students. In addition, 50 healthy university students were selected to examine cross validity. The measurement of center-of-foot pressure was carried out 3 times with a 1-min. rest and the mean of Trials 2 and 3 was used for the analysis. The data sampling frequency was 20 Hz. 34 parameters were selected from 6 domains: distance, distribution, area, velocity, spectrum, and vector. As a result of factor analysis the following four factors were interpreted: unit time sway, front-back sway, left-right sway and high frequency band sway. Their intraclass correlation coefficients were very high (ICC=.89-.95). Five parameters representing each factor were selected using stepwise selection by regression analysis. There were no significant differences between the mean factor scores estimated by the above five parameters in the original and in cross-validity groups, and relationships between factors in both groups were very high. The center-of-foot pressure may be predicted and systematically evaluated by the above four factors. Five parameters selected from each factor are considered to be useful ones with high validity and practicability.     

A New Argument for Evidentialism?

In his “A new argument for evidentialism” (Shah, Philos Q 56(225): 481–498, 2006), Nishi Shah argues that the best explanation of a feature of deliberation whether to believe that p which he calls transparency entails that only evidence can be reason to believe that p. I show that his argument fails because a crucial lemma that his argument appeals to cannot be supported without assuming evidentialism to be true in the first place.     

Electrical properties and local structure of n-type conducting amorphous indium sulphide

An n-type amorphous chalcogenide, In₄₉S₅₁, having a band gap of 1.9eV, has been found. The conductivity in as-prepared films was ～10^?4?S?cm^?1, which increased to 1?×?10^?1?S?cm^?1 on post-annealing at 125°C in vacuum, accompanied by a reduction in the sulphur content of the films. TEM observations showed the amorphous nature of the films before and after annealing. Both Seebeck and Hall coefficients are negative, indicating that the major carriers are electrons. The Hall mobility can be as large as 26?cm²?V^?1?s^?1 at 300?K. No significant changes to the optical absorption were observed upon annealing. Analysis of the X-ray radial distribution function reveals that the sulphur atoms have four-fold coordination, making the structure more rigid than conventional amorphous chalcogenides in which the chalcogen is alloyed to elements of group IV or V of the periodic table. We tentatively associate the electron carrier generation with the formation of sulphur vacancies.     

Demystifying infant vocal imitation: The roles of mouth looking and speaker’s gaze

Vocal imitation plays a fundamental role in human language acquisition from infancy. Little is known, however, about how infants imitate other's sounds. We focused on three factors: (a) whether infants receive information from upright faces, (b) the infant's observation of the speaker's mouth and (c) the speaker directing their gaze towards the infant. We recorded the eye movements of 6‐month‐olds who participated in experiments watching videos of a speaker producing vowel sounds. We found that an infants’ tendency to vocally imitate such videos increased as a function of (a) seeing upright rather than inverted faces, (b) their increased looking towards the speaker's mouth and (c) whether the speaker directed their gaze towards, rather than away from infants. These latter findings are consistent with theories of motor resonance and natural pedagogy respectively. New light has been shed on the cues and underlying mechanisms linking infant speech perception and production.     

Intergenerational Transmission of Parenting Style and Personality: Direct Influence or Mediation?

In order to examine the relationships between parenting styles and personality traits over generations, a cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted for fathers and mothers of school-age children of grades 5–9. The parenting styles measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) and the personality traits measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) were correlated within and between the consecutive generations (the grandparents and the parents for the PBI and the parents and the children for the TCI). A series of structural equation modeling showed that (1) while the parenting styles were transmitted directly from the grandparents to the parents, it was partly mediated by the fathers’ Co-operativeness (C) but not so for the mothers, (2) while the personality traits were transmitted directly from the parents to the children, it was only the fathers’ parenting styles that mediated C, and (3) the parents’ parenting styles had independent effects upon the children’s personality traits.     

The neural correlates of driving performance identified using positron emission tomography

Driving is a complex behavior involving multiple cognitive domains. To identify neural correlates of driving performance, [15O]H2O positron emission tomography was performed using a simulated driving task. Compared with the resting condition, simulated driving increased regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the cerebellum, occipital, and parietal cortices. Correlations between rCBF and measurements of driving performance were evaluated during simulated driving. Interestingly, rCBF in the thalamus, midbrain, and cerebellum were positively correlated with time required to complete the course and rCBF in the posterior cingulate gyrus was positively correlated with number of crashes during the task. These brain regions may thus play roles in the maintenance of driving performance.     

Assessing the cross-cultural content validity of the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension scale (PRCA-24)

Despite its popularity in the USA, the most common communication apprehension (CA) measurement scale, the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension scale (PRCA-24), has been used in just three studies in Japan. Further, validity analyses have not been reported for Japanese samples. This article attempts to analyze the content validity of the PRCA-24 on Japanese college students. Results indicate that the PRCA-24 may be of use in determining some, but not all, types of CA among Japanese students. Suggestions for future CA research in Japan are offered.     

A study of antecedents of organizational commitment

Various theories of organizational behaviors suggest that there should be significant relationships between the work-related variables and commitment to an organization. This study shows that, for a sample of 203 Japanese industrial workers, four components (attachment, internalization, normative, and continuance) of organizational commitment are predicted by organizational climate, supervisory behavior, organizational tenure, and role clarity. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Interference effects between saccadic and key-press reaction times of volleyball players and nonathletes

To investigate the interference effect in volleyball players and nonathletes (ns=10) when they executed both saccadic and key-press reaction time (RT) tasks concurrently, the two groups responded to the onset of peripheral visual stimuli as quickly as possible in single and dual conditions. In the single condition, subjects responded with either saccadic eye or key-press movement. In the dual condition, they responded concurrently with both saccadic eye and key-press movements. In both groups, the key-press RT was longer in the dual condition than in the single condition. However, the amount of key-press RT delay was remarkably smaller for the volleyball players than for nonathletes. This suggests the motor command to initiate manual movement of volleyball players might be less interfered with by a concurrent oculomotor command to initiate saccadic eye movement when compared to that of nonathletes.