The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology

A Cross-sectional Study of Mothers' Holding Time of Infants : A New Concept for the Mother-Infant Relationships.

Takeo Saijo

Article type: Article
2004 Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 281-291
Published: December 20, 2004
Released on J-STAGE: July 24, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.15.281

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This cross-sectional study examined the developmental process by which mothers gradually cease holding their infants. Mothers (N=298) answered a questionnaire about how long they held their infants (ages 1-13 months). The results showed that compared with six hours of holding time in early infancy mothers only held their children for an average of 2.5 hours by the toddler stage. The parameters of the decline in holding time were also examined in terms of aspects of infant development. The following factors influenced the decrease of the holding time: motor development, height, weight, form of milk, restless movement during holding, and infants' attempts to gain release from the mother. The findings were discussed in terms of parental investment and systems theory. Observational and longitudinal studies are needed, and dynamic systems and cross-cultural approaches may be more effective in exploring this issue further.

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Development of Understanding of Others' Intention, Social Problem Solving Abilities, and "Theory of Mind" in Young Children.

Ayumi Suzuki, Masuo Koyasu, Ning An

Article type: Article
2004 Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 292-301
Published: December 20, 2004
Released on J-STAGE: July 24, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.15.292

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The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between social problem solving abilities and the acquisition of "theory of mind" in young children. Participants were twenty-one 3-year-olds, twenty 4-year-olds, and twenty 5-year-olds. They were asked to imagine interpersonal conflict with peers, and to answer whether the protagonists were intent on provoking conflict, and how they could solve the conflict situation. They were also given a "false belief" task to check the acquisition of "theory of mind". The results suggest that those who have already acquired a theory of mind, judged from passing the "false belief" task, understood the intention of the protagonists better. However, regardless of the protagonists' intent to provoke conflict, they chose more self-inhibitory and less aggressive ways to solve the conflict situation.

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Apathy in Japanese and Korean High School Students : Career Development.

Sang Lan Lee

Article type: Article
2004 Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 302-312
Published: December 20, 2004
Released on J-STAGE: July 24, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.15.302

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The purpose of this study was to compare causal models of apathetic tendencies, vagueness of motivation toward going to college (VMC), career indecision (CI), and ego identity, between samples of Japanese and Korean high school students. A questionnaire was administered to 562 high school students, including 310 Japanese and 252 Koreans. Differences found by covariance structure analysis were clearer for gender than nationality. In one gender difference, "anhedonia," one aspect of apathetic tendencies, was predicted by CI among males. Negativity-passivity, another apathetic tendency factor, was predicted by ego identity, and this effect was stronger for males than females. VMC had an influence on anhedonia in both Japanese and Korean high school students. Further, anhedonia was predicted directly by ego identity among Korean but not Japanese males. Anhedonia was predicted by both CI and ego identity in Japanese females, but only by ego identity in Korean females. These findings suggested that VMC and CI are both important predictors of apathy in Japanese and Korean high school students.

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Cultural Adjustment of Japanese Studying Abroad : Interpersonal Skills, Ethnic Identity, Self-Control.

Akiko Uematsu

Article type: Article
2004 Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 313-323
Published: December 20, 2004
Released on J-STAGE: July 24, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.15.313

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This study examined the impact of three phenomena on the cultural adjustment of Japanese studying abroad: (1) acquisition of interpersonal skills of the culture where they reside, (2) ethnic consciousness (personal ethnic identity and orientation toward other ethnicities), and (3) self-control (both redressive and reformative). Japanese university students (N=143) living in the U. S. participated in a questionnaire survey. A causal modeling analysis showed first that acquisition of interpersonal skills was the most important determinant of adjustment, and was connected to all cultural adjustment factors. In addition, different types of cultural adjustment were found, depending on the ethnic consciousness of the students. Both strong personal ethnic identity and orientation to other groups contributed to increased acquisition of interpersonal skills and predicted significantly positive cultural adjustment. Finally, redressive self-control had a positive effect on acquisition of interpersonal skills, and cultural adjustment. This type of self-control with active diversion of one's feelings was especially effective.

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Development of the Effects of Achievement Goals on Help-Seeking and Information-Seeking : A Multiple Population Analysis.

Hisashi Uebuchi, Ito Kutsuzawa, Takashi Muto

Article type: Article
2004 Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 324-334
Published: December 20, 2004
Released on J-STAGE: July 24, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.15.324

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This study investigated the effects of achievement goals both on help-seeking behavior and information-seeking behavior. Participants were 4th through 7th grade school children. To ensure equality of latent variables in modeling, we employed multiple population analysis of structucral equation modeling. The results included the following: 1) learning goals produced positive effects on perceived benefits of help-seeking behavior; 2) performance goals had positive effects on perceived benefits of help-seeking behavior; 3) perception of support from help-givers affected perceived benefits of help-seeking behavior; 4) perceived benefits of help-seeking behavior were more likely to produce strong effects on help-seeking behavior than perceived costs of help-seeking behavior; 5) at every grade level, learning goals had stronger influences on information-seeking behavior than performance goals.

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Analysis of the Developmental Process of Triangulation in an Autistic Boy : Interactions During Soap Bubble Play.

Ayumi Tsuji, Yoshiko Takayama

Article type: Article
2004 Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 335-344
Published: December 20, 2004
Released on J-STAGE: July 24, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.15.335

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This research concerned the development towards triangulation between a 3 years-old autistic boy and his mother, as observed during four incidents of play with soap bubbles over a one month period. We observed 39 different actions of the boy toward objects or his mother, before he finally imitated his mother's bubble blowing. During the first play incident his actions were mainly directed at objects. Even in the infrequent instances when he directed activity toward his mother, he did not look at her. However, during the final play incident, his actions were more toward his mother, looking at her and imitating a part of the movement of bubble blowing. The boy also began to shift his gaze from the object to his mother. It seemed that through interaction with objects, this child first developed triangulation by noticing that his mother manipulated objects, and then he began to imitate his mother. Because triangulation requires one to understand others as intentional agents, it was apparent that to support children with autism it is necessary to stimulate their understanding of other people.

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Teacher's Stress Processes in Higher Education Teaching : Stressor Appraisal and Coping.

Takaaki Shinto, Hitomi Ozaki

Article type: Article
2004 Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 345-355
Published: December 20, 2004
Released on J-STAGE: July 24, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.15.345

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The purpose of this study was to clarify university teachers' stress and the coping process involved with teaching responsibilities. In Study 1, we investigated the various stressors facing university teachers. Through the use of interviews and video recordings, we looked in Study 2 at interactions between three university teachers and stresses on their teaching. The main results were as follows: (1) overall there were many causes of stress related directly to students' reactions; (2) many strategies ignored the stress and hence left it unresolved; (3) experienced university teachers did not report higher levels of stress than did inexperienced teachers; (4) specifics of coping strategies varied according to the teacher's situation; and (5) when teachers solved one cause of stress, other stressors often arose. These results were discussed in relation to faculty development.

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Questions About "I" : An Investigation of Ego-Experience.

Yuko Amaya

Article type: Article
2004 Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 356-365
Published: December 20, 2004
Released on J-STAGE: July 24, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.15.356

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This paper reports on research on "ego-experience," that is, questions about "I" such as "Why am I 'I'?," "Why do I exist?," and "Why was I born at this particular time rather than at a different point in time?," along with the feeling that one's appearance is strange. The purpose of the study was to examine when ego-experience appears, the percentages of people who reported their own ego-experience, feelings about ego-experience, and whether participants told others about their experience. Participants (N=881) were in the age range between junior high school and college. 379 of the participants reported having an ego-experience, mainly between 9 and 12 years of age. These results suggested that ego-experience is a common but not universal phenomenon.

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Can One Year-olds Teach? : Active Teaching When Observing Others Who Cannot Solve Problems.

Kazushige Akagi

Article type: Article
2004 Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 366-375
Published: December 20, 2004
Released on J-STAGE: July 24, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.15.366

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The present study investigated whether one-year-olds are capable of active teaching, which is believed to be a type of social intelligence. It also clarified the relation between active teaching and the acquisition of one year-olds' mirror self-recognition. Forty-three toddlers (ages 12-23 months) participated in an experiment where they saw an experimenter who was unable to solve a problem, and they also took the Mark Test developed by Gallup (1970). In the first task the experimenter failed to succeed on a task using material from the Kyoto Scale of Psychological Development, in which one forced a round plate into a square hole. Observations of toddlers' reactions showed active teaching by about 60 % of the participants who were older than 20 months. In additions, participants' ability to teach was correlated with their acquisition of mirror self-recognition. The results were discussed in terms of self-other differentiation based on representational abilities acquired at about 18 months of age.

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Does a Communicative Video Enhance Preschool Children's Memorization?

Yoko Sakata, Nobuyuki Kawai

Article type: Article
2004 Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 376-384
Published: December 20, 2004
Released on J-STAGE: July 24, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.15.376

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This investigation showed whether 4- and 6-year old children were able to memorize better after viewing a "communicative" video. Children responded to stories presented in either a "communicative" video or a normal video format. The story was about shopping for ten novel food items, and there were six possible episodic events. While watching the story in the "communicative" video group, children talked via microphones with an experimenter who was hidden behind the video monitor. Under the normal video condition, children did not interact with the experimenter, and only watched and listened to the video. Children then performed three memory tasks: 1) recall of episodes, 2) identification of foods bought in the video story, and 3) recognition of the foods. The "communicative" video group remembered episodes more effectively than the normal video group. Our results showed that two-way communication between the experimenter with the video and children facilitated children's ability to understand and memorize episodic events.

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