This article described experiences of participation in whole-class discussion among children in lower elementary school grades. Observations of interactions during moral education classes in a 2^<nd> grade class offered a detailed description of micro-processes of the interaction whereby whole-class discussion was introduced to the class. The focus was on situations where the teacher intervened or modified behaviors of children who were speaking. An analysis was made of how the teacher directed interactions by modifying children's behavior and how the children reacted to the teacher. The teacher's modifications were directed toward the following aspects of the speakers' utterances : (1) addressee, (2) audibility, and (3) visibility to the addressee. Examination of the verbal and non-verbal behavior of the teacher and the children revealed that by introducing "everyone" as the addressee, modification by the teacher was pivotal in changing the participation structure of the ongoing communication. It was also notable that children sometimes experienced difficulty adjusting to changes in the participation structure.

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A longitudinal study of 68 couples took place during the transition to first-time parenthood (during pregnancy, and two and three years postpartum). Four aspects of marital relations were investigated : closeness", stubbornness", patience", and calmness". Spousal "closeness" declined after the birth of a first child but there was no significant differences in closeness between couples at two and three years postpartum. This result suggested that despite an initial drop, closeness stabilized between two and three years postpartum. Wive's scores for stubbornness toward husbands increased after the birth of a first child, while husbands' patience scores were consistently higher than their wives' scores. These results suggest that husbands were often attuned to their wives' moods and tried to be patient even when they were having unpleasant feelings. Regression analysis clarified the factors contributing to the decline of closeness. For husbands, the level of wives' irritation and men's working hours contributed to a decline in feelings of closeness. In the case of wives, insufficient participation by husbands in child care and women's recognition of children's difficult temperament contributed to a decline in closeness.

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This longitudinal study examined the effects of extracurricular activities on junior high school students' satisfaction with school. Between 1999 and 2001, 131 pupils (in seventh grade at the time of the initial data collection) completed four-wave questionnaires. The results showed that active engagement in extracurricular activities had a positive effect on school satisfaction, even when controlling for the initial levels of students' academic competence. Although active engagement in extracurricular activities and high level of academic competence related directly and concurrently to high level of satisfaction with school, only active engagement in extracurricular activities led to growth in school satisfaction. Conversely, satisfaction with school and academic competence may affect the growth of students' active engagement in extracurricular activities.

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A sample of 144 children, 3 to 6 years of age, completed 4 measures of theory of mind, that is, the ability to grasp the links between actions and mental states like beliefs and desires and 2 measures of understanding of emotions. Teachers assessed children's interactions with peers with regard to social skills and popularity. The results showed that theory of mind and understanding of emotions were correlated. Correlational analysis between theory of mind and understanding of emotions conducted for each age group, revealed significant associations for 4- and 5-year olds. While theory of mind was correlated with social skills for both 4- and 5-year olds, a correlation between theory of mind and popularity was found only for 5-year olds. The results were discussed in relation to (1) a unitary understanding of mental states and (2) changes in the relationship between theory of mind and interactions with peers.

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This study examined the developmental processes of infant's self-assertiveness and mother-infant interactions. In relation to Wallon's theory (1949), we focused on the relation between "role-reversal behavior" (RRB, in infant's feeding towards mother) and self-assertiveness. Monthly home observations of mealtime setting were conducted for 8 mother-infant dyads (5 boys, 3 girls) from 5 to 15 months of age. The major findings were as follows. Infant's self-feeding began at about 10 months of age, and RRB appeared between 9 and 11 months. After the onset of RRB, the rate of rejection of mother's feeding attempts increased markedly. At 11 months, infants became more persistent in actualizing their intentions. Also at around this age, mother-infant conflict occurred frequently, and beginning from this age maternal interventions gradually decreased. Finally, the data suggested that the experience of RRB makes infants feel different or against kinds of emotions in the situation that has same structure. This would prompt infants' self-assertiveness because they discriminate between self and other, i. e., as distinct subjective agents.

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This study examined the relationship among motivation to develop social skill, personality traits, discrepancy between ideal and actual friendship, and social skill development. In Study I, undergraduates (N=401) completed questionnaires assessing their motivation to develop social skill, social skills, awareness of self formation, self-esteem, interpersonal orientation, and friendship. The results showed that motivation to develop social skill was positively related to awareness of self formation and interpersonal orientation, but negatively related to social skills and self-esteem. In addition, participants who were aware of the discrepancy between ideal and actual friendship had greater motivation to develop social skill. In Study II, 3 months later, participants selected from the Study I sample (N=253) completed questionnaires that assessed their social skills. Factor analysis extracted 3 scales for social skills : forming relations, dealing with interpersonal problems, and regulating inner conflict. Motivation to develop social skill was positively related to social skills development, for the relationship formation skill and inner conflict regulation skill, but not for skills in dealing with interpersonal problems.

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This study compared parents and specialists (child guidance center workers and nursery teachers) in their awareness of abuse. It also studied the effects of individual parental factors (experiences of being abused, age, and child care environment) on their awareness. Parent of day nursery children (n=169), child guidance center workers (n=68), and day nursery teachers (n=71) completed questionnaires. Compared to child guidance center workers, parents were less likely to view behaviors that did not cause immediate injury or detrimental influence as abuse, and parents were significantly more likely to perceive acts related to everyday childrearing of abuse. On the other hand, compared to parents, child guidance center workers more readily took non-harmful acts to be abusive, in accordance with their awareness of the Child Abuse Prevention Law. Day nursery teachers' awareness was similar to that of parents. We could not conclude that individual factors affected parents' awareness of abuse, although there were significant differences according to factors such as parents' own childhood experiences of abuse and parental age.

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Early therapeutic intervention for children with Down syndrome has been shown to produce highly facilitative developmental effects. In the present study, a sample of 152 mothers of children with Down syndrome completed a questionnaire in order to clarify the features of information given by doctors, methods and timing of the intervention, children's language acquisition and numerical operations, the personality traits of children and mothers, and mothers' childrearing. It was found that the quality of information given by doctors improved, and that early intervention became more diverse. In addition, there was earlier daily encouragement of children's walking and autonomy, for example, toilet training, and mothers' encouragement of children's motivation using praise affected children's acquisition of language and number and their general development.

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Questionnaires about child care difficulties and emotional empathy, and the JIFP test for emotional availability, were administered to 79 mothers with infants under 12 months of age, and 41 mothers with one year-old infants. Results indicated that emotional empathy was related to child care difficulties of mothers with infants under 12 months of age, whereas emotional availability was related to child care difficulties for mothers of 1 year-olds. These findings show that with increasing experience with child care mothers' difficulties are affected more by emotional availability (relevant to mother-child interaction) rather than by emotional empathy (relevant to maternal personality).

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