Mouthwashes provide an important means for improving oral hygiene. This study investigated the psychophysiological effects of mouthwashes with different binders during the recovery after a short-term stressor. In a within-subject experimental design, 21 healthy adults used four mouthwashes; MW A (no binder), MW B (Sodium alginate 0.16%), MW C (Sodium alginate 0.32%), and MW D (Xanthan gum 0.08%), after a 20-minute calculation task. Subjective evaluations and physiological responses including skin conductance level and electrocardiogram were recorded throughout the experiment. MW C exhibited an increased high-frequency (HF) component of heart rate variability (HRV) during recovery, and a significant difference in “strength of thickness” compared to other mouthwashes. MW D showed a greater decrease in heart rate and increased HF component of HRV compared to MW B. The findings suggest that mouthwashes with higher thickness levels effectively promote recovery from the physiological stress response, and are potentially suitable for relaxation purposes.

Recent advances in the field of human cognition development have led to increased interest in the study of cross-modal correspondence. In the case of the correspondence between sound and shape, the correspondence between simple sound (e.g., pitch, timbre) and shape angularity of has been studied while there has been little research on the other features. Previous studies have shown that the emotion mediates cross-modal correspondences. Therefore, this study focuses on the complexity of tone sequences and shapes, which is said to have more influence on emotion than simple sound or shape angularity, and aims to examine the correspondences mediated by their complexity. First, indices for shape complexity (curvature entropy) and tone sequence complexity (information entropy) are selected. Then, an experiment was conducted to investigate the correspondence between shapes and tone sequences. As a result, the correspondence between the complexity of shapes and tone sequences was found.

This study examined whether stroke survivors’ self-determination, sense of agency (SoA), and self-efficacy affect their motivation to recover and their degree of independence in activities of daily living. A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among patients undergoing rehabilitation at a hospital. The FIM and Brunnstrom Stage (Br-S) scores in the second month of rehabilitation were analyzed to determine the degree of motor function recovery. As a result, significant associations were observed between “self-determination” and “motivation,” “SoA” and “self-efficacy,” “self-efficacy” and “motivation,” and “motivation” and “FIM scores.” These results indicated that self-determination and self-efficacy may affect patients’ motivation to undergo rehabilitation, respectively. Among these, SoA was found to be a factor specifically influencing self-efficacy. These findings also suggest that motivation influences FIM scores, one of the rehabilitation outcomes. Taken together, this work provides insights into potential interventions through which healthcare providers may be able to improve patient motivation.

Recent advances in the field of human cognition development have led to increased interest in the study of crossmodal correspondences, which explore compatibility effects between different sensory modalities. While various crossmodal correspondence domains have received extensive attention, there remains a knowledge gap concerning the compatibility between visual and tactile sensory stimuli. This research aims to extend our understanding of how visual and tactile stimuli interrelate and influence each other. In our conducted experiment, participants were tasked with matching specific colors to vibrotactile stimuli and vice versa. Results reveal a robust correlation between high-frequency vibrotactile stimuli 30.00-43.10 Hz and high saturation values 0.6-0.72 within a hue range of 345-30°. Conversely, weak-frequency vibrotactile stimuli 0.00-15.00 Hz exhibited a correlation with low saturation values 0.15-0.36 within a hue range of 100-226°. These findings suggest that crossmodal correspondences are triggered by both tactile and visual stimuli.

New businesses created within an existing company are important for corporate sustainability. We explored facilitators of new businesses within a company by analyzing text data. We first extracted definitions of new businesses, then developed a two-dimensional framework based on Motivation-Hygiene and Job Demands-Resources to extract factors from a limited sample. Five descriptive questions including four structured questions based on the framework were answered by 100 anonymous participants involved in new businesses within a company. We conducted co-occurrence analyses on the data obtained and defined new businesses within a company as “A service or product for expanding profits in an area slightly different from the existing model.” Eight factors facilitating or hindering new businesses within a company were identified. This approach reduces feedback bias and ensures ease of analysis and validity of the results. This method of using the framework is expected to be effective in other fields.

In an era characterized by rapid social change, the importance of innovation has never been more pronounced. Creativity, with its capacity to spawn fresh and valuable ideas, stands as the driving force behind innovation. A key aspect of fostering creativity is the effective utilization of others’ viewpoints as catalysts for novel insights. In this paper, we propose a creative thinking support system which aims at enhancing creativity by adaptively presenting contextually relevant others’ viewpoints to users as idea generation hints. The results of our experimental evaluation provide evidence on the potential of the system to effectively promote the acquisition of new ideas that users had not previously considered. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate the system’s capacity to generate artifacts that surpass users’ own ideation capabilities.

In this study, we aimed to enhance the efficiency of T-shirt marketing strategies across diverse regions, with a particular focus on Japan and China. Our investigation was predicated on a hierarchically structured Kansei model, employed to construct a theoretical framework that encapsulates the interrelationships among design elements, impressions, and evaluations of T-shirts in both Japanese and Chinese contexts. We ascertained several key insights while discerning the differences in the associations across layers of the hierarchical Kansei model between Chinese and Japanese. For instance, impressions such as “conservative” and “simple” were found to exert a positive impact on the evaluations of the Japanese, whereas impressions such as flashiness and decorativeness were perceived more favorably among the Chinese. Furthermore, disparities exist in the relationship between impressions and design elements of T-shirts between the two regional contexts. These conclusions provide insights to be considered when creating targeted marketing strategies for T-shirts.

Art viewing in laboratory settings is commonly used to study aesthetic experiences, but has limitations in terms of ecological validity. This experiment is the first of its kind to design an experimental procedure for higher ecological validity regarding free art viewing under laboratory conditions, and investigate the characteristics of moving and viewing while observing paintings in a free-form setting. A previous study found a strong positive correlation between canvas size and viewing distance. As the horizontal human visual field was larger than the vertical, we hypothesized and verified that a longer height requires a greater distance than a longer width for the same canvas area. Further, the relationship between the degree of leaning forward and the observer’s attitude toward the painting was positively correlated. Based on eye-tracking device data, for both large- and small-size paintings, the high entropy areas in the center of the painting attract more attention.

We formulated the sense of the presence of a remote participant in hybrid communication using a Bayesian framework. We also applied the knowledge gained from the simulation with the Bayesian model to the intervention behavior of an avatar robot and encouraged the local participants to speak by intervening in the behavior of a remote participant using an avatar robot. We formulated the sense of presence as model evidence for other’s mental state. Based on the results of simulations with the model, we designed the gaze behavior of an avatar robot. In an experiment, the gaze behavior of the remote participant expressed more attention and interest in local participants, but local participants expressed fewer opinions in the meeting. The results suggest that gaze behavior increases the presence of the remote participant and discourages the local participant from speaking in the context of the experimental task. We updated the model and replicated the experimental results.

In this paper, we discuss how to incorporate the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) into conjoint analysis (CA). When conducting a CA, analysts must make policy alternatives of attributes and their levels. The more the number of attributes and its level, the greater is the number of alternatives, which can increase the burden of addressing a questionnaire. The characteristics of AHP can be useful in controlling this problem. This paper aims at deriving the overall evaluation value of AHP from the CA questionnaire. This will help us propose a new perspective of using AHP in the procedure of CA.

Mechanical vibratory stimuli applied to the thoracoabdominal region enhance emotional experiences while watching movies. We hypothesized that these vibrations to the thoracoabdominal region stimulate the vagus nerves, which are distributed in the upper body organs, causing interoceptive sensations that influence emotions. To investigate this hypothesis, we compared the effects of vibratory stimuli on fear between the thoracoabdominal region and fingers, which have the highest tactile sensitivity in the body, while watching horror movies. The results showed that vibratory stimuli to the thoracoabdominal evoked greater subjective evaluations than those to the fingers and conditions without vibratory stimuli. Further, greater skin conductance responses were caused by the stimulation to the thoracoabdominal region than the no vibratory condition. These findings suggest that mechanical vibratory stimuli to the vagus nerve play a crucial role in shaping emotional experiences.