The purposes of this study were : to (1) compare the essential features of the reminiscences among the elderly and younger adults, (2) determine how the quality and quantity of their reminiscences relate to effective adaptation to their surroundings, and (3) clarify the meaning of reminiscences to the elderly. A Reminiscence scale consisting of 8 questions was developed, to measure the quantity and frequency of spontaneous reminiscences by individuals in their daily lives. The three age sub-sample included 132 subjects aged 18-24 (student group); 97 aged 40-64 (middle age group); and 133 ages 65-95 (elderlygroup). The quantity of reminiscence was largest in the student group. Among the elderly group, subjects with higher frequencies of reminiscences tended to be less satisfied with their present lives and were more aware and fearful of death. These elderly also admitted that their reminiscences helped them to divert their thinking, and relieved them from psychological burdens.

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This study explored the effect of superordinate categories on feature attributions and inductive reasoning among preschoolers. In Experiment I, 21 five-, and 19 six-year-olds were presented three sets of stimuli. Each set consisted of twelve drawings from each of three superordinate categories : animals, insects, and vegetables. Subjects were asked to select stimuli as having features relevant to each category. Category members identified as animals, insects, or vegetables were more often selected to have the features, compared with category members not identified. In Experiment II, 21 five-, and 18 six-year-olds were asked to do the same as in Experiment I, except that they were informed that one category member had these same features. The selection rates for category members identified as animals, insects, or vegetables were generally higher than in Experiment I, but the selection rates for category members not identifred were similar to those in Experirnent I. These results were interpreted as evidence that preschoolers based feature attributions and inductive reasoning, to some extent, on superordinate categories.

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This survey concerned the relationship between measures of possible selves, motivation and self-esteem, in elderly and College students. College students (118 men and 136 women ; ages 18-24) and elderly people (118 men and 58 women ; ages 60-77) completed a questionnaire form. Questions concerned participants' possible selves (Markus, & Nurius, 1986), self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965), and achievement-related motives (Yamauchi, 1980). The mean fear-of-success score for college students was higher than that for the elderly. But mean scores for the elderly were higher than those for college students for possible selves (like-to-be self ; probable self ; important-to-become self, self-esteem, and achievement motives. Factor analysis revealed that four factors contributed significantly to participant's current sense of self. For both age groups, the factors of competence, happiness and contentment were significantly related to possible selves scores. The fourth factor, family relationships were related to possible selves, but only for the elderly subsample. Self-esteem and achievement motives contributed significantly to possible selves scores, as revealed by a covariant structure model analysis.

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The purpose of the present study was to examine how Japanese college students and junior high school students process two languages (English and Japanese), using intra-and inter-lingual Stroop tasks and reverse Stroop tasks. On intra-lingual Stroop tasks, subjects were required to name the colors of the words while ignoring the words ; on intra-lingual reverse Stroop tasks, subjects were required to read the words while ignoring the colors of the words. On these tasks, the language of the words was the same as that of the response. On inter-lingual Stroop tasks and inter-lingual reverse Stroop tasks, the language of the words was different from that of the response. The patterns of intra-and inter-lingual Stroop and reverse Stroop interference observed in the two groups suggested different pathways for processing two languages, according to the level of learning of the subjects in English and the type of responses required. These results were discussed in terms of a word association hypothesis, and a concept mediation hypothesis.

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In a previous study (Haryu, 1991), three-year-old children, when asked to choose a familiar vs. unfamiliar object as a referent for a novel label, tended to choose the unfamiliar object. They did so even though they were told that the familiar object was related to the task context, probably because they assumed category terms to be mutually exclusive. The present study examined the possibility that children may resolve the conflict between mutual exclusivity and context by thinking that the unfamiliar object was also relevant to the context. In Study 1, some children explained their interpretations, saying that the unfamiliar object was relevant to the task context. In study 2, when children were told in advance that the unfamiliar object was not relevant to the context, four-year-olds suspended the use of mutual exclusivity, but three-year-olds persisted in its use. This suggests that when interpreting the novel label given in the context as referring to the unfamiliar object, only four-year-olds were able to resolve the conflict between the mutual exclusivity and context.

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Two experiments were conducted to investigate the development of self-recognition in infant chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). In Experiment I, an artificially raised female infant chimpanzee was exposed to a mirror for ten minutes daily, between 76 and 87 weeks of age. She exhibited fifty different behaviors toward the mirror. These were classified into five behavioral categories : social, exploratory, contingent, self-directed, and complex behaviors. The subject's behavior showed the transition from social, exploratory, and contingent behaviors, to self-directed and complex behaviors. She exhibited self-directed behaviors, which is evidence of self-recognition, after 82 weeks (1.5 years) of age. Seventeen infant chimpanzees, ranging in age from 16 to 59 months, were observed in Experiment II. None of them had previously been exposed to a mirror. They were grouped by age and given one 40 minute session of mirror exposure. Mirror-related behaviors were video-recorded and classified as in Experiment I. Behaviors toward the mirror in the 40 minute session changed significantly, especially after 42 months of age. Social behaviors decreased in frequency in the first 10 minute of the session, and were followed by self-directed and complex behaviors. Social behaviors were the most notable in younger subjects, while self-directed and complex behaviors were more prevalent among older subJects. The rapid behavioral change to the mirror within a session in the older subjects was corresponding to the developmental change by aging. The developmental process of mirror self-recognition was similar between longitudinal Experiment I and cross-sectional Experiment II, and was similar to that observed among human infants.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate how children's thinking about death varies between ages 3 and 13. Individual interviews consisting of nine questions took place with 205 children. As was predicted, all age groups viewed death as something bad. As to age-related variation, preschool children did not understand the meaning of death in the same way as do adults. Neither could they differentiate between actual death and "make-believe" death, and preschoolers did not believe that they would eventually die. School-age children had a more mature concept of death, characterized by universality, non-functionality and irreversibility. This understanding apparently leads to the development of images, hopes and desires for a world after death. Children 6-years-old and above also exhibited concepts related to reincarnation.

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The purpose of this investigation was examine parents from a lifespan developmental view. The present study first considered 1) how parents describe their development through care giving or learning from the child and 2) parental feelings about children and child-care. In addition, it compared parental development and feelings between fathers and mothers, as related to paternal involvement with childcare/housework, maternal employment and views on sex-roles. The main findings included the following ; Several personality dimensions such as flexibility, self-control, ego-strength, different perspectives were identified as the content of parent development. Mother scored significantly higher than fathers on all the dimensions of parent developmental change. Mothers were ambivalent in terms of strong feelings of child particularly among the non-employed mothers. Greater paternal involvement in child-care was associated with more positive feeling toward the child, and with less negative attitudes towards child-care among mothers. Parents' views on sex-roles were associated both with fathers' active involvement in child-care and with mothers' career patterns.

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