The present study examined effects of a two-period lesson on elementary school students' conceptual understanding of function. Lesson 1 included exploration and justification of functional relationships in presented problems (simultaneous inquiry); Lesson 2 covered exploration of other similar examples consisting of the same mathematical structure as the problem studied in Lesson 1 (exploration of similar examples). Three types of lessons with different tasks were taught by the present author to three 4th-grade classes: Class A: simultaneous inquiry and exploration of similar examples, Class B: simultaneous inquiry about presented problems, and Class C: spontaneous inquiry about presented problems. An analysis of the students' responses on the pre- and post-tests revealed that lessons with simultaneous inquiry and exploration of similar examples, as taught to Class A, promoted a deeper conceptual understanding than either of the other two types of lessons. The effect appeared particularly strong in different types of relationships from the lesson task. Furthermore, analysis of the worksheets suggested that constructing a deep mathematical cognitive framework about the invariance of total quantity and a cognitive framework in which numerical relationships and meaning are mutually connected may promote students' conceptual understanding.

  The present study investigated characteristics of the written language development of Japanese elementary school children, focusing on the association between different genres and their corresponding registers. Children from the 2nd, 4th, and 6th grades (N=500) wrote either a narrative composition or an expository composition. Each composition was analyzed at three levels: character/vocabulary, sentence structure, and discourse. Additionally, the number of errors in notation, vocabulary/grammar, and orthography was counted. The results revealed differences in the frequency of elements in both the character/vocabulary level and the sentence structure level, depending on the type of composition. Across the participants' three grades, the students increasingly selected different modes of expression (registers) depending on the genre of the composition. Multiple regression analysis showed that 40%-50% of the variance in the discourse-level scores could be explained by the number of elements in character/vocabulary, sentence structure, and errors.

  The present study reports the development of the Japanese Version of the Emotional Abuse Questionnaire (EAQ-J), as well as an examination of the reliability and validity of the translated instrument. Students with family troubles (N=314: 103 men, 211 women; ages 18-19 years), selected from 3,000 students on the basis of their responses to an online survey, completed questionnaires. The results of confirmatory factor analysis revealed six factors related to emotional abuse: verbal abuse, emotional rejection, overcontrol, insufficient control, over-expectation, and terrorizing. This is the same factor structure as the English version of this instrument. The total and subscale scores' internal consistency was supported. Significant correlations were confirmed between the total and subscale scores of the Japanese Version of the Emotional Abuse Questionnaire and scores on the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire - Japanese version and the Parenting in Adolescence Scale. These results suggest that the Japanese Version of the Emotional Abuse Questionnaire is a reliable and valid measure of emotional abuse experienced from childhood in the context of parent-child relationships, as demonstrated by its internal consistency and its concurrent and construct validity.

  Understanding fractions is a crucial predictor of future mathematical achievement and career success. However, many children struggle to acquire a conceptual understanding of fractions. Previous studies have shown that Spontaneous Focusing on Quantitative Relations (SFOR) predicts later knowledge of fractions. While effects of Spontaneous Focusing on Quantitative Relations have been examined in primary school children, no published studies have focused on preschoolers. Given that preschool children already possess proportional reasoning skills foundational to understanding fractions, the present study examined effects of "Spot the Relations" activities in fostering these skills. Children (N=72: 41 boys, 31 girls; 5 to 6 years old) who attended one preschool participated in three "Spot the Relations" games. The children in the intervention group played games designed to promote recognition of multiplicative relations such as "half" and "double", whereas the children in the control group played games unrelated to multiplicative reasoning. All of the participants completed proportional reasoning tasks approximately two months prior to the intervention and again about one week afterward. The results revealed that the proportional reasoning performance of only the children in the intervention group improved. This suggests that "Spot the Relations" activities in playful settings may be effective in enhancing proportional reasoning among preschool children, thereby laying a foundation for understanding proportions and fractions that are later taught in primary school.