In this study, keyboard instruments were used for hand rehabilitation. Participants were divided into a stroke group and a control group. Surface electromyography (sEMG) and musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) velocity were measured as objective data. Keystrokes accuracy and tempo control were measured as training effects and analyzed by a music therapist as subjective data. Changes in the psychological behavior of the patients were also analyzed. Result of the objective analysis revealed that it was easier to observe changes in finger movement with MIDI velocity than with sEMG. To observe the training effect, the patients were instructed to play ff (very loud) and pp (very quiet) separately. Results of the subjective analysis indicated that the training effect was more observable when the patients played a song with pp. The patients showed improvements in finger movements, although some time had passed since experienced stroke. Training using a keyboard instrument may maintain and improve patients’ motivation for hand rehabilitation.

　A jumping spider can move on branches of a tree without falling while avoiding obstacles. According to conventional explanations, it is required that the spider has to conduct complex information processing, such as recognition of branches and obstacles, and path planning. However, it is difficult for the small brain of the jumping spider, and it is considered that some other mechanisms are employed.

　On the other hand, in ecological psychology, we consider that the jumping spider directly perceives an affordance of passage without recognizing branches or obstacles. However, the mechanism to perceive the passage is an open question. In this study, we focus on the mechanism of the eye of the jumping spider, and we make a hypothesis that the jumping spider perceive a passage using the difference between two blurred images, and we demonstrate it using a small mobile robot.

　Classical studies on the development of drawing, which have discussed this development as the transition from meaningless traces to symbols or as mere traces of movement to perspective realism, have focused mainly on changes in the form of the drawn image. The present study did not focus on these forms or symbols but examined how the perception of duality of the picture develops as a fundamental question in the development of drawing. We conducted a longitudinal study where we observed a child’s drawing at home and focused on situations in which the nature of the surface affected the act of leaving traces. These situations included starting to draw, adjusting the surface position when it slipped, drawing tools running off from the surface edge, stopping and looking at the drawing, and adding stickers to the drawing. Based on the case studies, we discussed that the child perceived the invariant of the surface as drawable material, which was based on the contact between the surface and the drawing tool, and that she started perceiving the invariant of the display.

　This study examines the writing skill of an expert Chinese calligrapher through an evaluation of whole-body coordination. The degree of functional connectivity between the brush tip, the head, and the trunk was evaluated using the cross-correlation function. The results showed that the cal-ligrapher connected the velocity of the brush tip with the trunk. In addition, the degree of connec-tivity between the brush tip and the trunk dynamically changed depending on the form of a Chinese character. The calligrapher has developed whole-body coordination in which trunk segments were actively involved in the brush stroke, depending on the forms of Chinese characters.

　If the intentions of the creators and directors in animation are discussed in philosophy and literature, it can be called “thought.” It is the personality and characteristics of the creator himself, which emerges from the tendency of intent, and the motive of expression. However, these discussions are “interpretations” of the information depicted, like “box therapy” in clinical psychology. On the other hand, what ecological psychology deals with is information embedded in the environment. If the psychologist “interprets” the traces that humans have attached to the medium of expression is called “thought,” it is not something that is addressed within the framework of ecological psychology; it is not more meaningful than the two “primary information” envisaged in what Gibson describes as “perceptual duality,” the screen itself, and the optical arrangement projected. However, animators can “express anything” about this method of expression. As for the conviction, this should not be denied.