This paper concerns an investigation of cognitive processes in sex-role learning, an important aspect of personality development and social development.
In particular, from the developmental point of view, we were concerned with differences between boys and girls in manner of perceiving and evaluating male and female roles in social life.
A questionnaire consists of thirty-four semantic differential bipolar adjective type items mainly concerning sex-role.Subjects were required to indicate for each item its desirability for persons of each sex.In other words, they gave two responses to each item.Subjects consisted of middle school, high school, and university male and female Japanese students (thirteen to twenty-one years old).Some similar results were found among all age and sex groups.However, there appeared some quite different results concerning the cognitive processes when we made comparisons among the groups.
The major findings were as follows:
1.The characteristics of the male role were generally perceived to be more well-defined than those of female role and the characteristics of the former were regarded to be more socially desirable than the latter.Especially, younger age groups demonstrated less well-defined judgement regarding the female role.
2.Younger male groups also defined sex-role ambiguously, and older male groups judged sex-role more definitely.
3.Compared to male groups, both younger and older female groups judged the sex-role definitely.
4.In older female groups the characteristics of the female role were perceived to be well-defined. And younger female groups used different criteria in differentiating the male role from the female one. than older female groups did.
Finally we discussed several further problems relating to the present study and we proposed some possible strategies to them.

View full abstract

Probhems and aims.: Generally speaking, there are two aspects in the jud gement of items of a social attitude scale.The one (S) is that in which the items are judged in terms of agreements with the statements of the attitude scale, and the other (S´) is that in which they are judged in terms of oppositions to the statements.When examined statistically, S-S'has a significant difference which was d emonstrated byour previous researches.And then, why is the difference significant will be able to point out, as one of the chief reasons, that the mechanism in the judgement of S is different from that of S.Precisely, attitudes are always related to definite stimuli or stimulus situations.(subject-object relationship).The concept of attitudes are often de noted in termsof its objects, but the content of an attitude is decided by the property of the subjecto bject relationship which has established at that time, and which has fulfilled the important role as a parameter. Therefore, in order to explain the bi-polarity of social attitude, we will adopt the mechanism of value and the mechanism of radicalism-conservatism, as examples of subject-object relationship, and examine them experimentally. Procedure of experiment.: We must, for the first time, construct attitude scales, each statement of which is emphasizing only one of the values, or raidicalism, or conservatism.
(1) We have established, for the first time, attitude scale toward “Labor” by the method of equal- appearing intervals, which consisted of80statements, and the value type of each statement was decided and classified by students'objective ratings into six types: theoretical, social, aesthetic, religious, economical, and political.If we research statistically the frequencies of the value type of each statement toward which the responses of “pro” or “anti” were made, we will be able to decide whetherthe responses are made through homogeneous value-mechanism or through heterogeneous valuemechanism. When the value-type of each statement toward which the bi-polaric responses are made, are not the same but different, we will be able to consider that an individual made responses through heterogeneous value-mechanism.From such a viewpoint as this, we have asked285students to make such bi-polaric responses only one time for one scale.
(2) We have made a social attitude scale which consisted of14radical and8conservative statements out of Eysenck's inventory.We presented it to the same students, asking them to make bi-polaric responses only one time for one scale.The procedure of this experiment is the same as that in the case of value-mechanism described above.
Results.: (1) When one make his bi-polaric responsestoward the items of an attitude scale, which were certified for emphasizing one of six types of value, or radicalism or conservatism, he is used to make his responses, very often, through heterogeneous mechanism, and very few, through homogeneous mechanism.
(2) When one makes his bi-polaric responses toward each item of an attitude scale, there is a significant difference between one pole (S) and the other (S´).Why is the difference significant.We will be able to point out the above conclusion (1) as one of its chief reasons.That is to say, it is because the mechanism in the judgement of S is differ statistically from that of S´.

View full abstract

Purpose: This report intends: 1) to clarify degrees of the post-school adjustment of the men-tally retarded in work in relation to the employers'attitudes toward them, and2) to evaluate two teachers'teaching patterns in the special classes for the mentally retarded as an important factor to produce satisfactory post-school adjustment and furthermore to appraise the entire problem so that a fundamental evaluation of the special education system may be brought about.
Subjects and Procedure: For this study we have selected18cases who graduated in two classes for the mentally retarded and are at present in work in an emotionally stable condition.Following these cases we have done an intensive case study mainly by the interviewing technique.The employers, teachers, parents and, when possible, subjects themselves were interviewed.
Results: 1) Degrees of inner adjustment of the18cases are classified into three levels (high→ low) on the one hand, and on the other hand four characteristic types of employers'attitudes toward these cases are pointed out.Cross-tabulating these two factors, we have found that those cases who show highly satisfactory post-school adjustment are working under employers with active and warm hospitality, and with employee-centered orientation rather than management-centered orientation. 2) We have followed up the teachers'teaching patte rns which might influenc ethe inner adjustment of these subjects, and have been ableto confirm that their teaching patterns are main factors to decide the degrees of post-school adjustment.
As long as the final goal of our series of study is directed to establishing ideal patterns of teaching in the special classes for the mentally retarded, we believe these ideal patterns will be highly important in view of a desirable growth and self-support of the mentally retarded.

View full abstract

The present study aimed at investigating developmental changes in cognitive strategy for concept learning.Ss were required to identity the criteria of concepts and to classify a set of stimuli, utilizing information transmitted by positive or negative instances.
A modified and objectively defined procedure of Vygotsky-type concept formation experiment was undertaken. Variable dimensions of 22 stimuli were size (2values), form (6), color (5) and the presence of a frame (2).These22stimuli could be classified into 4 categories according to their values on relevant dimension, size and frame.
Ninty-five Ss, who were5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-15, 20-above-years-old, participated in the experiment. Their cognitive strategy, i.e., the mode of information seeking and utilization was diagnosed on the basis of structural aspects of1st and 2nd classification and the level of verbalization of concept intentions. As results, 3 developmental stages were identified. Various behavioral indices of Ss which belonged to each stage were compared in detail.
Ss who belonged to the Stage I, who were mostly kindergarten children, could not classify a set of stimuli according to any discernible principle. They seemed not to comprehend the presence of a criterion. They could neither utilize information brought about by new “samples”, nor verbalize the concept intention even after all of the stimuli were placed into relevant categories.
Ss who belonged to Stage II, mainly2-8graders, could identify the concept intention inductively and apply it to other stimuli.Sometimes, their first few calssifications had no discernible criterion, but they could discover and verbalize relevant dimensions after a few instances were presented. Suggestion for drawing their attention to relevent dimensions were effective in facilitating their performance.
Ss at Stage III (above the6-graders) classified stimuli according to their hypothetical, deductivelyintroduced criterion from the start.When they were informed their former classification was not adaptive, they tried another hypothesis until relevant categories were identified.

View full abstract

Object: The aim of this experiment was to invesstigate the effect of learning methods in regard to the direct and indirect methods. The direct method put an emphasis on learning English sentences directly, in the case of learning English sentences. The indirect method put an emphasis on learning English sentences distributed with Japanese sentences.This was said to be a comparative experiment between mechanical and significant learning.
Procedure: The subjects for this experiment were about400 boys and girls in senior and junior high school. The material which was used for this experiment was a series of English sentences and English-Japanese sentences. based on sentence patterns by Hornby and Fries.
English sentences based on Hornby's sentences: 9sentences out of 25 sentences were selected for stimulus omitting complex sentences such as Numbers, 11, 12, 15, 16. Each sentence for stimulus was composed of 7 syllables and 5 to 7 words.
The sentences were divided into 3 high, 3 middle and 3 low depending on how difficult they were on the basis of the result of pre-experiment. English sentences based on Fries' sentences: 9 sentences were selected based on Fries' English sentence patterns including 12, 3b, 14, 1b, 14, 3a, 12, 2a, 15, 1a, 11, 2a, 15, 1b.The sentences were divided into3classes;high, middle and low depending on how difficult they were on the basis of the result of a pre-experiment.
The stimulus sentences were presented to the subjects of both group in a dark room by the control method. English sentences were presented to the A group. English and Japanese sentences werepresented to the B group. Both groups for the experiment had no significant difference in their T score and English achievement, and had been said to be of the same quality. Each sentence was presented in 10 seconds and in 5 or 10 trials in succession. The subjects produced the sentences they had learned by memory. After 10 trial presentations the subject were asked to produce each sentence in 45 to 60 seconds.
Result: In the comparison between English sentences and English Japanese sentences on effective learning, there was no significant difference in the scores. However, concerning the number of trials, 10 times were more effective than 5 times at a 0.5 %level significant difference. Concerning sex difference, girls were superior to boys with no significant difference concerning English sentence groups. Generally speaking, the English Japanese method was comparatively superior to the English direct method with no significant defference.

View full abstract