The present study examined the structure of the psychological function of “ibasho” (existential place), and developmental changes in existential place. Participants (234 elementary school students, 304 junior high school students, and 321 high school students) completed a questionnaire. Factor analysis of the data revealed 6 domains of the psychological function of “ibasho”: perceived acceptance, mental stability, freedom of action, thought and introspection, self-affirmative feeling, and freedom from others. When “ibasho” was classified into three categories according to the presence or absence of others, and the type of others (i. e., alone, with the family, and with friends), it was shown that the participants' selection of “ibasho” varied with increasing age. The discussion examined the characteristics of “ibasho” in relation to these 3 classifications and psychological function.

View full abstract

The present study investigated effects of surface similarity and general rules on young children's analogical reasoning. In 2 experiments, children were presented with 2 types of triad choice tasks. In Experiment 1, the task required them to recognize the relational similarity between the sample and the target in Experiment 2, the structural similarity. Experiment 1, in which the participants were 4-and 5-year-olds, showed that the 4-year-olds could recognize relational similarities in the presence, but not the absence, of surface similarities, whereas the 5-year-olds could recognize the relational similarities in both conditions. Experiment 2, in which the participants were 4-to 6-year-olds, demonstrated that the 4-and 5-year-olds could recognize structural similarities in the presence, but not the absence, of surface similarities, whereas the 6-year-olds could do so in both cases. The qualitative data indicated that the surface similarities increased the production of general rules, and that the older children produced such rules to a greater extent than the younger ones did. These findings suggest that effects of surface similarity on young children's analogical reasoning correlate with the possibility of abstracting general rules.

View full abstract

The present study was conducted to examine the role of friendship goals in the processes of interpersonal stress in college students. College students (N=514) completed measures of friendship goals, behavior of coping with interpersonal stressful events, and mental health. The participants were classified on the 2 dimensions of intimacy and number of friends, and into 4 types of friendship goals. The results indicated that the relation between coping behavior and mental health depended partly on friendship goals. Specifically, greater postponed-solution coping (e. g.,“I let the breakup take its own course”) was associated with reports of reduced distress when participants wanted poor relationships and many friends. Implications of these results for the interpersonal stress process are discussed.

View full abstract

The goal of the present study was to clarify the characteristics of teachers' utterances in actual classroom situations. A category analysis was done of teachers' and children's utterances in 54 elementary school Japanese classes (first to sixth grades). Correlational analysis of the teachers' utterances in the same class by school day showed very high correlations in all classes. Within-class correlations were not significant, using an equivalence test. These results suggest that the individual teachers' class stability and teaching strategy did not change. Moreover, cluster analysis showed that the teachers' utterances depended on their individual styles, rather than on the grade level that they were teaching. Finally, cluster analysis based on categories of the children's utterances suggested that the children's utterances could be classified in terms of their grade level.

View full abstract

A test battery developed to assess attentional functions was completed by 302 middle-school youths (7th to 9th grade). Analysis of subtests revealed that different attentional functions developed differently in these students, in that although the selective attention component continued to develop into adolescence, no age-related improvement appeared in the behavioral inhibition component. Correlational analysis indicated that the behavioral inhibition component was closely correlated with the selective attention, rather than the sustained attention component. The youths who were rated by their teachers as having attentional problems were found to show poorer performance on the behavioral inhibition index. The youths whose self-ratings of their attentional problems agreed with their teachers' ratings exhibited superior performance on the selective attention indices, suggesting that those who have attentional problems plus an awareness that they have such problems can perform selective attention tasks as well as those having no attentional problems.

View full abstract

The present study examines the learning process of student nurses who are in transition from junior college classrooms to hospital nursing practica, in order to contribute to situated learning theory. It has been observed that although student nurses do not acquire a sense of the importance of practice from the theoretical grounding that they get in the classroom, they come to acquire this sense through participation in clinical practica. The fieldwork in Study 1 (participants: 85 students) addressed the question of what differences between the classroom and the clinical practicum relate to this change. In Study 2, which was a qualitative analysis of narrative data using the Modified Grounded Theory Approach, 9 students completed semi-structured interviews. One aspect of the background of the gap between the 2 learning settings was conceptualized as “heterochrony,” that is, differences in the relations in time generated by connections between the students, hypothetical patients, and actual patients in the classroom versus in the nursing practicum. In the classroom, the students' actions were connected only with whether they would pass or fail the course, and the relations between the hypothetical patients and the students' actions were temporary. In the nursing practicum, in contrast, students' actions were connected with changes in the patients' condition, and the students continuously adjusted their actions whenever the patients changed. We conclude that this “heterochrony” could explain the gap in acquiring a sense of the importance of practice from theoretical grounding.

View full abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine links between children's overly positive perception of their own social competence and their subsequent stress responses and aggressive behavior. Elementary school students (grades 4 to 6; N=670) participated in the present study, which used a short-term longitudi-nal design. The results showed that effects of positive illusions depended on the children's stress level. Positive illusions about their social competence were related to a decrease in their stress responses when the children had been stressful to begin with. The results also revealed that detrimental effects of positive illusions depended on the children's level of aggression. The children's overly positive perceptions about their social competence were related to an increase in their aggressive behavior. However, this result was true only for those children who had been highly aggressive at the beginning.

View full abstract

The present study used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to examine factors that facilitate achievement in integrated study (sougou gakushu). The results from questionnaires completed by 106 high school students in Study 1 revealed that achievement in integrated learning was positively correlated with topic selection, learner's motivation, and task progress, as well as students' grades. In Study 2, in order to investigate other factors more thoroughly, we interviewed 4 students who were either extremely high or low in their residual scores on the factors identified in Study 1. The results revealed an additional 4 important factors: (1) relevance of the topics to students' intrinsic values,(2) clarity of plans and frameworks,(3) students' positive attitudes toward help seeking and information gathering, and (4) effective support from teachers. The specific nature of the task demands in integrated learning was discussed.

View full abstract

In Western countries, various programs to prevent depression in children and adolescents, developed mainly using psychological theory and techniques, have been implemented with great effectiveness. However, in Japan, few such preventive programs have been developed, despite the fact that in recent years, more children are depressed. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of an intervention program to prevent depression in elementary school class groups. This universal prevention program aimed to modify cognitive, emotional, and behavioral distortions that lead to depression. The program was administered to 31 fifth-grade children 75 fifth-grade children were the control group. Depression was measured using a self-report measure, the Depression Self-Rating Scale for Children. In addition, peer ratings were employed to measure depression, causal attribution, assertiveness, and control lability of anger and depressive moods. The results showed significant effectiveness after a 2-month follow-up period for all the program components, except for cognitive modifications. Some difficulties concerning how this program could be integrated into the daily school curriculum were discussed.

View full abstract

The purpose of the present study was to present a model for itinerant consultants to use when supporting teachers of children with mild developmental disorders in inclusive elementary schools. In Study 1, the process and evaluations of an itinerant consultation case with successful outcomes were analyzed. This type of consultation was effective in that it had 3 support functions. Assessment and advice produced primary support that helped the teacher understand the child's disability, evaluate his education practices, and elaborate plans. This led to secondary support, which helped the teacher collaborate with school staff and parents. These in turn led to tertiary support, which gave the teacher a sense of security and encouraged him. In Study 2, the outcomes of 12 consultation cases were evaluated with regard to support by the school staff. Examination of the effects on consultation outcomes revealed that 3 levels of effectiveness existed. In the process of consultation, many factors such as the age and disability of the child, the status of the classroom, and the condition of the child's family, had an influence on the support given to the teacher.

View full abstract

The present study had two purposes: investigating effects of observing classmate models and presenting as a model on the preparation of teacher-training students and their self-efficacy on 8 skills involved in teaching preschool-age children, and investigating effects of models' preparation time and eagerness, models' self-evaluations of their presentations, and observers' reactions to the models' presentations on the models' self-efficacy. Participants were 93 students being trained to become nursery school teachers. The results were as follows: (1) observing classmate models increased the observers' preparation and self-efficacy on 4 of the skills measured,(2) presenting as a model increased the models' preparation and self-efficacy on all 8 skills, and (3) the models' self-efficacy increased as their preparation time lengthened and their eagerness increased. These results suggest that observing classmate models and presenting as a model effect teacher- training students' learning of skills for teaching preschool-age children.

View full abstract

The present review examined differences between the theoretical concept of assertiveness and its conceptualization for purposes of measurement. The theoretical concept of assertiveness includes 4 dimensions: open expression of thoughts and feelings, expressions uninfluenced by emotion, flexible reactions based on consideration for others and the situation, and independent judgments of behavior. Existing assertiveness inventories, classified into 4 groups on the basis of the topics measured, were found not to measure these 4 dimensions adequately. In addition, the factors of the existing inventories were found to be based on behavioral conceptualizations. Existing inventories fail to measure the 4 dimensions of the theoretical concept of assertiveness adequately because the inventories focus only on the behavioral aspects of assertive- ness. The present review proposes that if assertiveness inventories included measurement of the cognitive and emotional aspects of assertiveness in addition to its behavioral aspects, they would be able to measure the 4 dimensions of assertiveness. At the same time, measurement of the concept of assertiveness should become more complex. It should be possible to measure assertiveness in accord with its theoretical conceptualization.

View full abstract