[in Japanese]

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In spatial environment learning tasks, previous studies have shown a greater decrease in the level of performance for older adults than for younger adults, caused by declines in specific spatial skills. In the present study, we hypothesized that the decreased performance of older adults is due to their decreased meta-cognitive ability and investigated the relationships between sense of direction, understandability of pathway descriptions, and wayfinding performance. Results showed that older adults judged their sense of direction and the understandability of pathway descriptions to be higher than did younger adults. They, however, did not show superior performance in the wayfinding task than the younger adults. These results indicate that the reason for the decreased performance in spatial cognition tasks is not only the decreased spatial abilities of older adults, but also their decreased meta-cognitive ability; older adults may judge their ability and understanding to be more positive than they actually are.

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Decades of study documented that when children learn a language, especially content words, they use the linguistic information, which is often used in their input. However if the information does not appear in their input so often, children will not use it to learn the language. The current study investigates whether children use linguistic information in the learning of function words, especially in Japanese case markers. We introduced twenty-two five-year-olds to novel case markers, i.e., po and bi, which indicate the agent and patient of an action respectively at the sentence level. And we introduced po, bi in tow types of sentences. One is rich information sentence (SOV), other is poor information sentence (SV/OV). Children successfully learned bi in the SV/OV sentence, but not in the SOV sentence. These results indicate that the optimal context for case marker learning depends on numerous factors, especially the number of input they hear.

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Fluent reading may require rapid and automatic processing of letter strings. To examine this automaticity, Okumura et al. (2014) recorded event-related potentials in response to rapidly-presented and task-irrelevant letter-strings (word, nonword) and symbols. They found a negative enhancement specific to letter strings at bilateral posterior temporal sites in 150-200 ms after stimulus onsets (bilateral N170). However, the presentation frequency of letters and non-letters was not the same in this experiment (2:1), which may have confounded the results. Thus, the present study conducted an improved similar experiment at this point, and the results differed considerably: we observed a word-specific positive enhancement in 80-120 ms over posterior temporal sites, which was followed by the typical letter-specific left-lateralized N170 and a novel enhanced parietal negativity for nonwords in 150-200 ms. These results suggest that there are multiple early stages of processing for letter strings, which are driven by stimulus context.

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Studies based on the embodied cognition framework indicate that comprehension of sentence describing an action activates sensorimotor information through mental simulation. Recent studies of word recognition, however, showed that the activation of sensorimotor information is task dependent. Therefore we investigated whether the perceptual information is activated by which participants read aloud the sentence. In this experiment, we used sentences that have shown that perceptual information is activated by the judgment of acceptability of the sentence. Participants read aloud the sentence describing a tool-using action and then judged whether a tool in the picture is matched with the tool referred in the sentence. Results showed that judgment times did not differ between the actions in the pictures were congruent with the actions described in the sentences and when they were incongruent. This result suggests that mental simulation does not emerge routinely in language processing, but emerges in a task dependent manner.

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We recently conducted a lexical decision experiment controlling various attributive values of stimulus words based on a popular Japanese database (Amano & Kondo, 2003), and found extremely high error rates for several stimulus words with relatively high familiarity. We thought that qualitative differences between raters in Amano and Kondo (2003) and the participants of our experiment might have caused this inconsistency. Accordingly, we conducted a lexical decision experiment, and then had participants rate their familiarity with the visually presented words. The mean familiarity ratings of our participants were significantly lower than those in the database, and the negative correlations with error rates and with lexical decision time were stronger for the familiarity ratings by our participants than for those of the database, suggesting that word familiarity should be rated by a homogeneous population.

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[in Japanese]

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Previous studies showed speaker communicate emotion through using metaphor. However, it is unclear whether hearer understand emotional intensity correctly. In this study, we tested whether involvement of hearer’s emotion affects on the emotion communicated through metaphor. Stimuli were taken from metaphor generation task under controlling addressee`s involvement. In the experiment, participants viewed three types of metaphor (common, non involvement, involvement) taken from metaphor generation task and evaluate the emotional intensity for each metaphor. Results showed involvement condition’s metaphors were evaluated less negative than the other two conditions. This result implies involvement of hearer’s emotion affects on emotion communicated through metaphor.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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Mind-wandering (MW) is a voluntary task-unrelated-thought which occurs when individuals failed in controlling attention during the current task. Previous studies examining the mechanism of MW mostly used sustained attention tasks by visually presenting stimuli. However, there are also studies suggesting that the auditory stimuli capture our attention more automatically. In the present study, we compared the indices of mind-wandering between during visual and auditory sustained attention tasks. We also measured participant’s working memory capacity (WMC) which represents the executive function. We found that (1) in the auditory attention task, the frequency of MW was moderated by WMC but not the degree of verbal/visual MW and that (2) in the visual attention task, the degree of verbal/visual MW was moderated by WMC but not the frequency of MW. These results indicate that MW is influenced by the task modality.

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Previous studies of superstitious belief have mainly focused on paranormal phenomena and showed that such belief could be predicted by our intuitive-analytical thinking styles. This study aimed to extend existing findings to non-paranormal pseudoscience, or more precisely myths of popular psychology, by exploring links between belief and dual-process thought (cognitive ability and intuitive-analytical thinking styles). In the present study, 103 Japanese undergraduate students completed questionnaires on cognitive style and ability and level of beliefs and science literacy. Results showed that belief in the myths of popular psychology could be predicted solely by analytic cognitive style. However intuitive style, cognitive ability and science literacy were not associated with such belief. These results follow the dual-process view of belief perseverance; however, analytic style was positively associated, as opposed to previous studies, with beliefs. This discrepancy might emerge from Western and Eastern cultural differences in thinking style.

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[in Japanese]

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This study examined a time pressure affects an expected time estimation and tried to elucidate cognitive processes of expected time estimation. By walking task, it compared both expected time estimations and expected distance estimations between different time pressure conditions. These results of experiments suggested, in cues for the estimation is fewer situation, the time pressure has the influence which makes the expected time overestimate (Study 1). This result is considered that the expected distance, which is a central information of task, is overestimated by time pressure (Study 2). However, if the participant is considered to have some cues before estimation, the expected time estimation was no difference between time pressure conditions. In cognitive processes of expected time estimation, it is considered to be assumed two sub-dimension that an estimation of physical time which reflect individual characteristics and an estimation of task contents which reflect task characteristics.

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Humans are able to imagine the world from the other's perspective, even without actual locomotion. Kessler & Thomson (2010) suggests that such spatial perspective taking (SPT) employs a locomotion-related body image. Consistent with this suggestion, the present study examined whether SPT performance is influenced by putting a right/left foot (Experiment 1) or a right/left hand (Experiment 2) forward. Results showed that RT is shorter when the motion is congruent with imagined locomotion in SPT than when it is incongruent. This supports the notion that unlike mental rotation, SPT employs a body image of locomotive movement, rejecting the stimulus-response compatibility account. More interestingly, comparison between Experiment 1 and 2 revealed that the foot response is always faster than the hand response during SPT, contrary to physiological and anatomical facts. This may reflect the fact that feet are the foundation of walking and have a more direct link to locomotion than hands.

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In this study, I investigated the relationship between the layout of objects placed on a table and disorder. In developing a robot system for tidying up tables, it was necessary to identify table-tops that people consider to be untidy. Therefore, experiments were conducted in which participants were asked to evaluate the degree of order seen in images of tables that were presented to them. Participants were also asked to indicate the number of groups into which the objects on the table could be separated. The results showed that objects organized into fewer groups were rated as tidier than objects organized into a more groups.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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Audio-visual integration induces some illusions, including fission and fusion illusions. In fission and fusion illusions, the number of perceived visual flashes was affected by the number of synchronous auditory beeps. Audio-visual integration could appear to cross-modal perceptual organization. On the other hand, intra-modal perceptual organization has been reported to influence audio-visual perception. Therefore, the present study examined preliminarily the effects of intra-modal perceptual organization on fission and fusion illusions. In experiment, visual target was presented simultaneously with auditory beep and visual inducer. The results indicated that the occurrence of fission illusion inhibited when the number of presented beeps and inducers was incongruent. On the other hand, the occurrence of fusion illusion was not affected when the number of presented beeps and inducers was different. Therefore, intra-modal perceptual organization would affect to fission and fusion illusions in the different fashion.

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We investigated the relationship between visual statistical learning (VSL) and visual spatial attention. Triplets consisting of pictures that appeared in the same order were presented to the left and right visual fields across a center fixation point. In the learning phase, participants were instructed to attend to either the left or right side and perform a 1-back task on the visual field they attended to. The test phase was conducted immediately after the learning phase. Recognition speed for the pictures consisting the triplets was measured using a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm, in which participants had to detect a target within a stream of stimuli. The reaction times (RTs) for recognition decreased with the triplet position, irrespective of whether the target was previously attended or not in the learning phase. These findings suggested that visual spatial attention biased to left or right visual field does not affect VSL.

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Schmidt et al. (2007, Consciousness and Cognition) investigated contingency learning effect using the Stroop-like paradigm, in which participant was asked to identify the color of a neutral word (e.g.. “MOVE”) in four colors. Each word appeared in one color most often in the trials (High contingency). Remains of the trials were assigned to equally other three colors (Low contingency). Response to the high contingency trials was faster than that to low contingency trials (Contingency effect). We examined the effects of contingency rations (37.5% / 50.0% / 62.5%) on contingency effect and on likelihood of learned words. Our results supported Schmidt et al.’s findings, showing that contingency effect was found in the 50.0% and 62.5% conditions, not in 37.5% condition. Interestingly, the likelihood of the learned word is higher in high contingency than in low contingency. This result suggested that the experience of contingency influences the evaluation of learned words.

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Effects of electric walking assistance to a cart were examined, focusing on feeling of safety by order adult users, which will facilitate their voluntary walking and outgoing. Twelve healthy older adults and 8 university students participated the experiment, in which they walked a 200m test course twice using a cart, with and without electric walking assistance. Results showed that both older and young adults walked slowly with electric walking assistance, and they reported more safety feeling to the cart with the assistance. When evaluating of smoothness in using a cart, only older adults reported easier with an assistance at “a flat road”, and only female participants reported easier use at “the turning point” with the assistance. Although young adults looked evaluating assistance’s smoothness negatively because of its weight, older adults placed a high value to it because of their stabilities. Importance of designs for the safety feeling will be discussed.

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The Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (Broadbent et al, 1982) is a self-report questionnaire which measures everyday mental lapses. Although the total score of the CFQ has reliability and validity as a single index of “general cognitive failures”, consistent findings have not been obtained in factor analytic researches. University students (N=366) completed the CFQ and FFPQ-50 (short version of the Five-Factor Personality Questionnaire, Fujishima et al., 2005) in a series of questionnaire research. Principal Factor analysis and promax rotation yielded 4-factor solution, which are interpreted as “Misdirected action”, “Distractibility”, “Forgetfulness”, and “People’s name”. These 4 factors showed moderately different correlations to Emotionality, Controlling, and Playfulness. Exploring the factor structure of the CFQ will be also useful to examine the relationship among self-report questionnaires measuring cognitive functions in more detail.

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This study was designated to investigate the construct validity of the Executive Functions Questionnaire-revised (EFQ-R), by the Cognitive Failure Questionnaire (CFQ), the Everyday Memory Questionnaire(EMQ), the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and the Short form of Five Factor Personality Questionnaire (FFPQ-50). Correlation analysis revealed as follows. 1) Distractibility of CFQ negatively correlated with Sustaining-Attention (SA) and Self-Consciousness (SC). SA correlated with the item of distractibility, and SC did with hesitation to decide. 2) The retrieval-failure of EMQ negatively correlated with SA. 3) Controlling of FFPQ-50 positively correlated with SA and Planning (P). P correlated with the item of good-planning, and SA did with losing-patience(R). 4) Emotionality of FFPQ-50 negatively correlated with Efficacy (E) and SA, and E negatively correlated with the item of depression and high emotionality, and SA did with depression. It was suggested that low efficacy and difficulty of sustaining attention related with depression and high emotionality.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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