The purpose of the present research was to develop a scale to measure the skill of expressing gratitude. In Study 1, items for the scale were selected from an analysis of the results from 2 questionnaires completed by university students, and the reliability, content validity, and criterion-related validity of the Gratitude-Expression Skills Scale (GSS) were confirmed. In Study 2, a longitudinal study with university students demonstrated the test-retest reliability and predictive validity of the scale. Study 3 used a role-playing method. The participants were 60 university students (23 men, 37 women). The results demonstrated the criterion-related validity of the scale. These results provide empirical evidence for the validity of the Gratitude-Expression Skills Scale. The scale is different from existing conventional scales assessing the gratitude trait.

  In the present study, a common examinee design was used to verify the equating error and practical consequences of the chained equating method, from the viewpoint of model misfit. The factors of model misfit that were selected were (a) the non-normality of the ability distribution of common examinees, and (b) differential item functioning (DIF). The independent variables were the change in the ability distribution of the common examinees, the number of equating chains, and the type and degree of differential item functioning. The evaluation criteria were the bias and standard error of the estimated scaled scores and the accuracy of classifying the examinees into 4 categories. A simulation study examined influences of the 3 independent variables. The results indicated the following: (a) 99% of the variance of the estimated scaled scores was random error, (b) using a DTM (difference that matters) criterion, the 3 factors did not cause a bias that was problematic in practice, (c) the number of chains had the greatest influence on the standard error, so that if the number of chains was 4 or more, a standard error exceeding the DTM criterion was likely to occur, and (d) the accuracy of classifying the examinees into the 4 categories was hardly affected by the 3 factors.

  The present study examined how the learning strategies used by secondary school students who are studying English vocabulary differ across grade levels, and the extent to which the effectiveness of those strategies may differ across grade levels, and also investigated factors that may influence those strategies. Japanese junior high school students (grades 7-9; n=233) and high school students (grades 10-12; n=304) completed questionnaires. ANOVA showed that a repetition strategy was the most used by the students at all grade levels, and that the use of an association strategy and a utilization strategy did not change or declined across increasing grade level. Vocabulary size was found to be correlated positively with an association strategy only for those students who were in the ninth grade or higher, which suggests that the association strategy may be important as learning progresses. Multiple population analysis revealed that strategy use and learning goals influenced vocabulary size for the high school students, although none of the variables measured was found to influence the vocabulary size of the junior high school students. The results suggest that there was no increase in the use of an association strategy by the high school students, even when that strategy was effective. Teachers should use the results of this study to improve students' learning of English vocabulary.

  In the present study, a Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire (BIQ) – Japanese Version was developed on the basis of parents' and teachers' reports, and its reliability and validity were examined. The parents (n=497) and teachers (n=609) of 3- to 5-year-old children wrote reports. A confirmatory factor analysis of the parents' and teachers' reports indicated that the Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire had a 6-factor structure. Its reliability was acceptable, as internal consistency and moderate stability for 3 months were observed. An analysis of scores on the Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) revealed a significant correlation on many subscales, confirming the instrument's convergent validity. The construct validity of the parents' and teachers' reports was examined by direct observation of children's behavior in a simulated novel situation in which they had to interact with strangers. In the sample of 31 children, significant correlations were found between ratings on the Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire and several observational measures of child behavior. These results were encouraging, because they suggest that parents' and teachers' reports may be useful for assessing childhood behavioral inhibition.

  The present study examined how children and young adults judge the legitimacy of community rules that restrict the range of freedom of individuals, and whether such judgments differ depending on whether the children and adults live in Japan or in England. Participants in the study were 201 children (ages 8, 11, and 13 years) and 61 young adults (average age: Japanese sample: 19.1 years; English sample: 23.7 years). The sample size at each age level for each country was approximately 33. Participants were shown 9 hypothetical community rules and told to assume that they were under discussion by a city council, and that, if the rules were adopted, those who broke the rules would be fined. They were asked to judge the legitimacy of each rule (yes/no), to give their reason for that judgment, and to rate the seriousness of a transgression of each rule and the possible benefit of each rule for the people of that city. Analysis of the data revealed that the 8-year-old children in both countries generally tended to approve of the rules, including those that regulated individual activities, and had a low level of concern about restrictions to individual freedom. The Japanese participants were, overall, more likely than the English ones to approve of community rules that imposed restrictions on the personal domain, focusing on the rules' perceived benefit when judging their legitimacy.

  Parents and teachers sometimes praise children after they have failed at doing something. However, few researchers have examined the impact of insincere praise that follows failure. Japanese elementary school children (N=455; ages 6 to 12 years) answered a questionnaire that included tasks assessing their responses in a hypothetical scenario demonstrating praise after failure and measures of second-order false belief understanding and academic engagement. In the hypothetical scenario, a child failed a mathematics question, but the child's teacher nevertheless provided praise for the child's performance (outcome condition) or for the child's effort (effort condition). The results suggested that, when praise followed failure, the older children responded more negatively than the younger children did. The children with lower emotional engagement exhibited more negative responses to praise. In addition, for the children with high behavioral engagement in the outcome condition, second-order false belief understanding was negatively associated with anger after the child's failed performance had been praised. These findings highlight the importance of considering both socio-cognitive development and individual differences in academic engagement when praising children.

  The present study explored the response of elementary school students to friends who were expressing negative emotions. Observations in a second-grade classroom (class members: 16 boys, 17 girls) recorded 13 instances in which a student expressed negative emotions during a period of approximately 5 months. The other students' remarks and the direction of their gaze when a friend expressed negative emotions were then examined in relation to the students' emotional competence (high or low) and the type of learning activity that they were engaged in at the time (subject or non-subject learning). The analysis revealed that, during non-subject learning, the students in both emotional competence groups made positive comments toward a friend who was expressing negative emotions. However, when engaged in subject learning, the students in the high emotional competence group were unresponsive to their friend. Additionally, when engaged in subject learning, the students, regardless of their emotional competence, tended to criticize positive remarks made to their friend who was expressing negative emotions, because those comments distracted from the learning activity. These findings suggest that students' response to a friend who is expressing negative emotions differs, depending on the type of learning activity that the students are engaged in.