The aim of the present study was to clarify moderating effects of classroom climate on the relation between inter-peer-group status and subjective school adjustment. Participants were 7th to 9th grade students (N=1,417), in 46 classrooms in 3 Japanese public schools. The data were obtained from self-reports. The classroom climates measured were (a) natural self-disclosure, and (b) friction between classmates. Status hierarchy was calculated from the standard deviation of inter-peer-group status in each classroom. Multilevel analysis revealed that the 2 types of classroom climate did not moderate relations between inter-peer-group status and the existence of tasks and purposes, but status hierarchy moderated this relationship. A simple slope test showed that, only in strong status hierarchy classrooms, the students in the higher status peer groups tended to report a higher existence of tasks and purposes. The discussion deals with differences between classrooms in terms of inter-peer-group status and subjective school adjustment, and the role of status hierarchies.

  The present study examined effects of reading aloud and subvocalization on text comprehension and eye movements, and also effects of type of subvocalization. In Experiment 1, after 24 undergraduate students read sentences in 4 different experimental conditions: reading aloud, reading silently, reading with subvocalization, and reading without subvocalization, they completed verbatim memory and comprehension tests. The participants had lower scores on the verbatim memory test when they had read without subvocalization, which suggests that subvocalization may contribute to the retention of verbatim memories. The procedure of Experiment 2 was identical to that of Experiment 1, except that the participants (23 undergraduate students) did not complete the verbatim memory test. Their performance on the comprehension test was lower after the condition in which they read without subvocalization than after they read with subvocalization. The analysis of the data revealed 2 types of readers: a full-subvocalization type and a minimal-subvocalization type. The performance of the latter type of readers was not lower when they read without subvocalization; furthermore, they had high performance in the silent reading condition, and their eye movement data indicated that they did more regressions. These results suggest that readers who do minimal subvocalization may move their eyes more freely and do more efficient silent reading.

  Although employment of people with disabilities is promoted, the rate at which people with disabilities lose their jobs is high. Support is required not only to help people with disabilities find employment, but also to help them keep their jobs. A life-career resilience program for people with disabilities was developed and implemented with 46 participants with disabilities (31 men, 15 women; average age 34.83; 93% of whom had been diagnosed with mental disorders) before they began employment, when they were in a transition towards working. Their scores on life career resilience, work motivation, and mental health were compared to the scores on those variables of 48 people with disabilities (22 men, 26 women; average age 35.11; 85% of whom had been diagnosed with mental disorders) who were in the control group. The results suggested that optimism had interaction effects, showing a positive effect of the intervention; however, no significant interaction effects were found with the other variables. These results suggest that participation in this program may have been effective for increasing optimism. The discussion indicated some changes that should be made in implementation of the program in order to reduce risk. Furthermore, an examination of the long-term success and effectiveness of this intervention for assisting people with disabilities to find employment and stability in the workplace is needed.

  The purpose of the present study was to investigate effective interaction processes for facilitating deeper understanding of mathematical concepts, through an analysis of classroom discourse during paired learning in mathematics classes in 4 elementary schools. Speech acts of 51 fourth graders and 58 fifth graders were categorized into 3 types: egocentric, other follower, and cooperative, based on the utterances observed during paired learning of mathematical problem solving. Before and after the paired learning, pre- and post-tests of the level of understanding of mathematical concepts were completed individually by each child, using Siegler's rule assessment approach. The results indicated that the cooperative type of children typically made accommodative utterances and tended to adopt more elaborative strategies than the other 2 types of children did. This finding could be interpreted as evidence that the occurrence of accommodative utterances facilitates deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. Furthermore, a sequential analysis of the utterances of each of the 3 types of children was conducted from the viewpoint of joint attention, in order to clarify features of effective interaction processes. The children's utterances were grouped into 3 categories: inductive, pursuit, and non-pursuit. The results of this analysis suggested that the cooperative type of children tended to make a succession of pursuit utterances more frequently than the other 2 types of children did. These findings suggest that a chain of pursuit utterances in the interaction process may play an important role in facilitating deeper understanding of mathematical concepts.

  In the present study, education on emergency responding after disasters was conducted at 2 elementary schools, in order to teach the students how to predict risks and how to respond in crises. The participants, 281 second graders, studied with multimedia teaching materials which included information about possible dangers when an earthquake occurs in their everyday life, such as on their way to school or while they were sleeping, and ways to protect themselves after disasters. Together with their guardians, they completed homework assignments that considered possible risks when disasters occur when they are on their way to school or in their sleeping area. Because of the young age of the participants, both numerical subjective ratings and free descriptions were evaluated. The results generally confirmed that the children had learned from this experience. The discussion deals with the importance of children learning not only possible dangers relating to disasters, but also ways to protect themselves, and with the importance of learning in cooperation with their guardians.