The present study examined the mechanism of individual knowledge integration in the classroom through a collaborative integration process in which different ideas were integrated collectively, focusing in particular on the relation between knowledge of the subject matter and everyday knowledge.  Eleventh graders (N=66) solved mathematical problems about the relation between gyration and trigonometric function in 3 stages: pre-test, during the lessons (2 conditions: a collaborative integration process or explanation of the answer by the teacher), and post-test.  In the collaborative integration process, a problem that could be solved using various strategies was presented, and the students as a group structured the strategies with the help of the teacher.  The results showed that in the collaborative integration process, the students’ knowledge was structured through a process in which, based on their understanding of the link between everyday knowledge and concrete knowledge of the subject matter, everyday knowledge and abstract knowledge about the subject were first linked, and then everyday knowledge and more detailed knowledge about the subject were linked.  The post-test revealed that the students’ knowledge had been integrated.

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  Elementary and middle school students’ conceptions of learning were investigated in the present study.  The participants, fifth through ninth graders (N=531), completed a questionnaire that assessed conception of learning 3 times, and a questionnaire that assessed use of learning strategies twice.  Factor analysis revealed 4 aspects of conception of learning : (a) understanding, (b) rote learning, (c) obligation, and (d) depending on school.  Cross-sectional analysis revealed that the fifth graders had more understanding conception than the seventh graders did in all 3 measurements, and the seventh graders had more rote learning conception than the sixth graders did at the first and third measurements.  Longitudinal change associated with school transition was also analyzed.  The seventh graders (in the third measurement) were classified into 2 groups (A and B), based on their conception of learning scores.  An ANOVA revealed that the understanding conception scores of the participants in Group A decreased, and their rote learning conception scores increased over time, but no significant changes were found in the scores of the participants in Group B.  Understanding conception had the highest positive correlations with planning, monitoring and cognitive/work strategies, which suggests the importance of this aspect of conception of learning.

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  Researchers have suggested that students often fail to use learning strategies that experts have found to be effective.  The purpose of the present study was to obtain empirical evidence relating to this point, and to explore factors that may account for this phenomenon by focusing on 3 hypotheses: (a) a cost priority hypothesis, (b) an exam priority hypothesis, and (c) a hypothesis relating to a perception gap in effective learning strategies.  In order to address methodological issues identified in previously published studies, both students’ and experts’ ratings were analyzed based on intra-individual variability in learning strategies.  Self-reported data on math learning strategies obtained from Japanese secondary school students (N=715) indicated that the students indeed did not necessarily use effective learning strategies that had been identified by the experts’ ratings (N=4).  Further analysis indicated that there was a gap between the students and the experts with regard to their perception of effective learning strategies; this provided supportive evidence for the perception gap hypothesis.  The present findings suggest the importance of explicitly instructing students in effective learning strategies.

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  The purposes of the present study were to develop a scale that measured 3 help-seeking styles: self-directed help-seeking, excessive help-seeking, and avoidant help-seeking, and to examine the reliability and validity of the resulting scale.  Participants were university students.  Study 1 demonstrated that the scale had sufficient internal consistency and validity; Study 2 confirmed the test-retest reliability of the scale.  In Study 3, the relation between help-seeking style and future help-seeking behavior was examined, using a longitudinal design.  Results of the analysis confirmed that the scale predicted the pattern of actual help-seeking behavior.  Those students whom the scale had identified as having a self-directed help-seeking style sought help according to the degree of their concerns; those that the scale identified as having an excessive help-seeking style sought help frequently, even when they had few concerns; and those identified as having an avoidant help-seeking style did not seek help even when having several concerns.

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  The present study considers the significant developmental transformation of narcissistic amae in 3 different developmental periods in adolescence: early (13 to 15 years), middle (17 to 18 years), and late (18 to 23 years).  In Section 1, the developmental transformation was examined in terms of the degree and nature of narcissistic amae in those 3 periods.  In Section 2, the influence of narcissistic amae on ego identity was considered through an investigation into the relation between it and multidimensional ego identity in middle and late adolescence.  The results showed that it is reasonable to suppose that in all 3 of these periods of adolescence, the same 3 constructs of narcissistic amae occur: warped amae, need for consideration, and excessive expectation for permissibility.  The early adolescent participants demonstrated a low level of awareness of narcissistic amae, while showing a desire for amae itself.  In contrast, the middle and late adolescents revealed a high level of awareness of narcissistic amae.  In addition, the results suggest that the narcissistic amae of the middle adolescent participants was partially related to ego identity, whereas the late adolescents demonstrated a broader relationship between narcissistic amae and ego identity.

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  The present study investigated influences of Japanese and Chinese students’ ability in a second language on their segmentation of English word sounds.  In Study 1, Japanese students (24 monolingual students and 23 students pre-bilingual in Japanese and English) performed memory-span tasks in which the stimuli were English words with 5 different types of phonological structure.  In Study 2, Chinese students (20 monolingual students and 24 students bilingual in Chinese and Japanese) performed the same tasks as in Study 1.  The main results were as follows: (a) the memory span pattern in the monolingual Japanese students was consistent with the rhythm of mora in Japanese, whereas the memory span pattern in the pre-bilingual Japanese students was influenced by the rhythms of both moras and syllables; and (b) the memory span pattern in the monolingual Chinese students was not consistent with the rhythm of syllables in Chinese, whereas the memory span pattern in the bilingual Chinese students was consistent with the rhythm of mora in Japanese.  These results suggest that the rhythm of mora in Japanese strongly influences the perception and segmentation of English word sounds, irrespective of whether Japanese was acquired as the first or second language.

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  Recently, social skills education (SSE) has been widely practiced in Japanese schools.  Social skills scales are important for evaluating the effects of social skills education.  The purpose of the present study was to review the social skills scales used in Japan from the viewpoint of their application to social skills education.  In the first part of the review, 23 publications on social skills education as practiced in Japan were reviewed, in order to clarify the requirements necessary for evaluating effects of social skills education from the viewpoint of the contents of the social skills scales used.  The review revealed 2 necessary requirements: (a) precise assessment of the social skills that are the target of social skills education, and (b) exhaustive assessment of general social skills.  In the second part of the review, 34 social skills scales used in Japan were reviewed in order to determine whether they fulfilled those 2 conditions.  The results indicated that, using existing social skills scales, (a) it is impossible to do an exhaustive assessment of general social skills, and (b) it is impossible to do a precise assessment of the social skills that are the target of social skills education.  Future directions for research on the development of social skills scales were discussed.

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  The present study is a review of research about the difference between oral and silent reading.  A considerable amount of research has reported that adult readers have only minor differences in their comprehension scores between oral and silent reading.  On the other hand, oral reading seems to produce superior comprehension by young readers who have poor reading performance, because during oral reading, they tend to perform articulatory movements to produce phonological representations and use this kinesthetic feedback for comprehension.  In addition, during oral reading, they seem to utilize auditory information from the written content to facilitate reading comprehension.  When children’s reading ability is developing, it is considered essential for the achievement of effective reading activity that children internalize the process of producing phonological representations and control their eye movements.  Finally, instructional methods for making the shift from oral to silent reading and further developments in reading ability are discussed.

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