This research investigated the role of executive functions in young children's understanding of mental states of "knowing" and "not knowing". On a Seeing-Knowing task, 3-6-year old children (N=90) were allowed to see where the target object was hidden, while the research assistant could not see the location. The children were then asked whether they and the assistant knew the location of the object. Many 3-and 4-year olds pointed to the location of the object, but 5- and 6-year olds could correctly describe their (and the assistant's) mental state of knowing vs. not knowing, without having to physically point at them. Whether they were asked about their own knowledge or the assistant's did not affect their performance. Children were able to more easily respond without action when perceptual cues of the hiding location were reduced. There was a significant correlation between performance on the Seeing-Knowing task and on the theory of mind False Belief task. Children s understanding of the mental state of "knowing" developed as their understanding became detached from their actions.

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This study examined whether or not children could rescue a popular animated cartoon hero by deceiving his enemy. The results showed that 80% of 5-year-olds and 100% of 6-year-olds could tell a lie to pass a deception task, regardless of their ability to pass the false-belief task. Only 30% of 4-year-olds passed the deception task, while 40% passed the false-belief task. Some of these younger children hesitated to tell a lie to the enemy. Logistic regression analysis showed the dominance of boys on the deception task, which suggested that a personality factor influenced their responses. On the other hand, the finding that the regression model fit even the 4-year-olds' data suggested that their low pass rate did not derive from their hesitation, Instead, it seemed to result from their difficulty in understanding the deception task, which was easier than the standard false-belief task. These findings are discussed with regard to the early acquisition of theory of mind by Japanese children, which is slightly later than European children.

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Participants were 126 preschoolers, ages 4-, 5-, and 6-years old (42 children in each age group). After watching an object appear in a box, seemingly brought about by the child's wishing, each child was observed alone in a playroom. As to children's verification of the possibility of reproducing the preceding event, a Chi-square analysis with logistic transformation was conducted on whether children initiated several wishing actions, and whether they checked the box for tricks. The percentages of children showing both or either of these behaviors were 26% of 4-year olds, 64% of 5-year olds, and 71% of 6-year olds. Specifically, the proportions of older children who initiated their own wishing and who showed both initiated wishing and checked for tricks were greater than the proportions for 4-year olds. These age differences may be explained in terms of the presence vs. absence of hypothesis testing, as older children went beyond a simple belief in magical causality.

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This study compared father-child and mother-child interactions in a play situation with 3-year old children. Observers watched Japanese fathers and mothers playing with their children in a laboratory setting. Seventy-two father-child and 72 mother-child dyads were rated for play interactions using three scales: "Parental respect for the child's autonomy," "Adequacy of parent's attempts in structure and limit-setting," and "Sensitivity to the child's communication." Classifications of the characteristics of parent-child interaction combined parents' scores on the three scales. The relationships between parents and their children can be classified into several types: H-H-H (all three scales were high), L-L-L (all three scales were low), Limit-High (only limit-setting was high), and Limit-Low (only limit-setting was low). Interaction classifications were significantly related to child rearing attitudes both for mothers and fathers, as measured by a questionnaire, and to children's affective control as observed. There was also a significant difference between father-child and mother-child interactions in the distributions of the four types of interactions. The flexible attitudes of fathers, and rigid attitudes of mothers toward the child, were associated with high limit-setting.

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This research investigated women's reasons for continuing vs. discontinuing employment between marriage and childbirth. Participants were 1,062 married mothers of young children, and the main results were as follows. First, factor analysis of the reasons for continuing or discontinuing work produced six factors: "priority of family role,""work worth doing,""self-supporting tendency,""objection to maternal employment by husband and husbands' parents," "husband's share of household work and child care," and "mother's parents' support and social support for child care." Second, highly educated couples rated the factors of "priority of family role" and "objection to maternal employment by husband and husbands' parents" significantly lower, compared to less educated couples. Women who lived with their parents rated the "work worth doing" factor items significantly higher than did women who lived far from their parents. Third, discriminant analysis using the six factors suggested that the factor "objection to maternal employment by husband and husbands' parents" had the strongest influence on women's decisions to continue vs. discontinue employment.

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The present study investigated mothers' utterances to their infants in a setting of joint attention. Twenty-three mother-infant dyads were videotaped in their homes playing with toys, at two infant ages (7 and 12 months). The sum total of mothers' utterances increased between 7 and 12 months of age, while the names (denominations) of toys in their utterances also increased in number. In addition, there was an age difference in the joint-attention patterns in which maternal utterances were observed most frequently. Mothers talked most frequently about toys at both of the two infant ages, but there were some differences in their speech contents. Specifically, they provided 7-month old infants with emotional and subjective information about toys, and 12-month old infants with objective information. These changes in mothers' utterances, in terms of infant development, may be related to maternal scaffolding.

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In this study, 53 pairs of 5-6 year-old children were videotaped playing with a robot dog ("AIBO" or "DOG.COM") for five minutes, and interviewed about their understanding of a dog's "mind and life." DOG.COM spoke in human words and AIBO is characterized by electronic sounds and smooth movements. The results showed that children communicated well with the robots. Age group comparisons indicated that 6-year-olds spoke to the robots more frequently and a larger number of 6-year-olds referred to AIBO's mental state. In comparing the two types of robots, children interacted with each robot in a different way but responded similarly in the interviews. Half of the children responded that the robot dogs were alive, and depending on the questions over 90% of the children attributed mental states to the robots. These findings suggested the possibility that children perceive robots as having a new type of existence distinct from that of both living beings and inanimate objects.

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Recent studies on robotics have focused on social relationships between people and robots and shown the value of robotic platforms as therapy tools for children with autism. Some researchers reported that autistic children were interested in and respond socially to robots, but it was difficult to evaluate whether children treated robots as human-like social agents. The present study investigated how autistic children developed relationships with robots as social agents. We observed the children longitudinally, interacting with robots at a school for handicapped children, and analyzed the performances of the autistic children, who had persisted in the Intentional actions of the robots. It was apparent that children were sensitive to the intention of robots and modified their fixed patterns of actions through interaction with the robots. These findings indicate that robots can facilitate social responses and that autistic children can develop social relationships with robots.

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