Several studies have shown the inhibitory effect of explicitly recalling a recent lunch memory on subsequent snack in-take. However, why recalling a particular memory inhibits food intake remains unclear. This study investigated whether the inhibitory effect was due to lunch memories acting as normative cues for appropriate food intake. We conducted two experiments in this study. In both experiments, before the taste test, participants were asked to write about their lunch (recall) or a topic of their choice (control). Experiment 1 replicated the inhibitory effect, in which the recall group par-ticipants ate less than the control group on the taste test. In Experiment 2, we investigated the inhibitory effect on the intake of low-calorie food, such that participants did not need to worry about overeating and thus did not need to con-sider appropriate food intake. Our results revealed no significant difference in the intake of low-calorie food based on whether participants recalled their lunch memories. The result suggests that recalling lunch memory acts is a normative cue for appropriate food intake.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between university entrance exam experiences and career choice self-efficacy (CCSE) and career outcome expectations (COE). Participants were 227 undergraduate students. First, the University entrance exam Experiences Scale (UEs) was developed. Factor analysis revealed 3 factors were obtained: "effort experience", "anxiety during preparation for entrance exam", and "dissatisfaction with results". A hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that "goal selection", "planning", and "degree of independence in decision making" in CCSE were significantly positively related to "effort experience", and negatively related to "anxiety during preparation for entrance exam". "Information gathering" was positively associated with "effort experience", and "dissatisfaction with results". However, COE showed little association with the UEs. These results suggested that university entrance exam experiences, especially effort experience in the process of university acceptance, was important for career choice self-efficacy.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the organization of mental arithmetic tasks on the sense of psychological burden and the relationship to cognitive biases caused by the peak-end rule. Based on the peak-end rule, we created three groups to execute arithmetic tasks with varying levels of difficulty in a different order: descending - hard to easy, ascending - easy to hard and alternating - no discernable order. Twenty-three university students as the experiment participants performed one task per day for three consecutive days. Their psychological burden before and after the intervention was measured with the mental workload scale, stress reactions with the emotional scale, and salivary amylase levels. The result showed the participants preferred the tasks in the descending order the most. Furthermore, it showed they felt the least psychological burden and had the lowest physical and psychological stress reactions. These findings suggested that difference in task structure can influence cognition, according to the peak-end rule, and modulate psychological burden and stress reactions.

The purposes of this study were 1) to examine the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the VIA-IS (VIA-IS-J: Ohtake et al., 2005) and 2) to clarify the relationship between sport career pattern and character strength (CS) using the scale. Study 1 examined model fit, internal consistency, reproducibility, and concurrent validity based on data from 828 Japanese university students' responses to the scale. As a result, the reliability and validity of the scale were confirmed to be within acceptable limits. In the Study 2, the VIA-IS-J was used to examine the relationship between CS and sports career pattern among college students. The results showed that "courage" was significantly higher in both males and females, and "knowledge and wisdom," "human nature," and "transcendence" were significantly higher only in males than in females who had continuously engaged in the same sport in middle and high school. These results suggest the reliability and validity of the VIA-IS-J and the relationship between sports career pattern and CS.

The purpose of this study was to develop a scale of nursing students' sense of pre-practicum adaptation in nursing clinical practicum and to examine factors associated with the sense of pre-practicum adaptation. A total of 357 pre-practicum nursing students participated in the study. As a result of factor analysis of the created pre-practicum adaptation scale, three factors were extracted: "mental urgency," "immediate support," and "awareness of purposeful goals". The reliability and validity of the scale were examined, and it was judged to be a usable scale with a certain degree of quality assurance. The results of examining factors related to the nursing students' sense of pre-practicum adaptation suggested that the scale was particularly related to the nursing students' depressive symptoms.

In this study, SOC (Sense of coherence) subtypes were extracted from 139 university students, and psychological traits of optimism, self-esteem and depression were examined. CL 1, with a low comprehensibility and manageability and an average meaningfulness, had the lowest SOC and a negative psychological trait. CL 2 also had an average SOC and psychological traits. CL 3, with average comprehensibility and manageability and a high meaningfulness, had a slightly positive psychological trait, probably due to a higher meaningfulness in the SOC. CL 4 had a higher SOC overall and a positive psychological trait. Meaningfulness was therefore confirmed to be unique from CL 1 and CL 3.