Japanese Psychological Research最新文献

We explored body-scan postures suitable for people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) tendency by developing and validating the Mindfulness Encouraging/Discouraging Reactions Scales (MERS/MDRS), using university students. In Study 1, we conducted a survey to collect typical positive and negative reactions during mindfulness exercises from 21 participants and created the preliminary items. In Study 2, 192 participants completed existing state/trait mindfulness scales and the preliminary MERS and MDRS after mindful breathing. Based on an item response model, we developed and validated MERS and MDRS. In Study 3, 19 participants were categorized into one of four groups: (a) combined, (b) hyperactive/impulsive, (c) inattentive, and (d) without ADHD tendencies. They performed body-scan meditations with each of the counterbalanced postures (upright, slumped, leaning-back sitting, and supine), and completed the questionnaires. The analysis showed that those with hyperactivity/impulsivity tendency found the body-scan meditation a challenge with the slumped posture and easier to perform in the supine posture; the upright posture provided high and low MERS to the hyperactivity/impulsivity tendency group and combined group, respectively; and sleepiness correlated with MERS in the supine posture (r = .49) and the upright posture (r = .51). We identified helpful body scan postures for people with ADHD tendency, using MERS and MDRS, but it was noted that these scales were created solely based on intuitive impressions for beginners, and it is not recommended that the items included in them be aimed for or avoided.

This study examined the relationship between the intensity of emotional expressions in facial stimuli and receivers' decoding accuracy for six basic emotions: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. A laboratory experiment was conducted using the forced-choice method, in which the intensity of each stimulus was manipulated at every 10% interval using the morphing technique. To explore whether a linear relationship would be observed when the intensity was finely manipulated at 10% intervals, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed. The mean percentage of correct responses for each stimulus was the dependent variable, and the linear, quadratic, and cubic terms of the stimulus intensity were the independent variables. The results showed that the linear model was not adopted as the final model for all facial expressions; that is, the effect of the squared term of intensity was significant for anger, disgust, fear, and sadness, while the effect of the cubic term of intensity was significant for happiness and surprise. Our findings indicate that a higher intensity of emotional expression does not yield higher decoding accuracy.

According to the theory of affective pragmatics, emotional expressions synchronously convey information of the following four types: expressing the expressor's emotions, committing the expressor to a future course of action, representing world circumstances, and directing other people's behavior. Nevertheless, few reports have described studies examining prioritization of the conveyed information. The present study was conducted to explore how information is conveyed by facial expressions of fun in the context of the presence or absence of another person. Results show that expression of the internal state (fun) is conveyed primarily in comparison to other information, but it is weaker in the state of being with a stranger than in the state of being alone or with a friend. Although directing other people's behavior is the least conveyed information in all conditions, the presence of another person amplified the intensity of directing other people's behavior. Overall, these findings provide new evidence supporting the theory related to emotional expressions.

Facial mimicry, known as the tendency to imitate other individuals' facial muscular movements, is key to establishing successful interpersonal relationships. Studies on various cultures have confirmed this tendency, suggesting that facial mimicry is a universal behavioral pattern in interpersonal communication. However, its cross-cultural variability is expected because of the influence of cultural norms regarding facial expressions. By focusing on unstructured dyadic interactions, we addressed the unexplored cross-cultural variability of facial mimicry through a secondary analysis of video data obtained in Japan and Spain and a further analysis of newly collected videos in Taiwan. We also explored the association between the Big Five personality traits and facial mimicry cross-culturally. To measure facial mimicry, the intensity of each facial action unit movement was quantified using OpenFace, which underwent multidimensional dynamic time warping. First, employing the pseudo-synchrony paradigm of random data shuffling, we confirmed that interactants displayed facial mimicry beyond chance during their conversation. Second, we found that the extent of mimicry was significantly different among the three cultures; that is, interactants from East Asian cultures (Taiwan, Japan) showed a greater extent of mimicry than those from Western cultures (Spain) even after controlling for unbalanced gender composition in the data. Third, conscientiousness was significantly associated with the degree of mimicry. However, the association between personality traits and mimicry was not consistent across cultures. Overall, this study discusses the importance of cross-cultural research in facial mimicry, as in the study of facial expressions.

The psychological network approach, which conceptualizes mental disorders as complex systems and provides a statistical toolbox to estimate symptom networks, has evoked innovations in psychopathology research. This perspective paper discusses how to implement this approach in real-world clinical settings, emphasizing that clinical scientists should motivate clinicians and clients to utilize it. To promote the clinical use of the psychological network approach, we provide the following five steps clinical scientists should undertake: (a) provide clinicians and clients with the necessary background knowledge, (b) encourage clinicians to use the narrative network models, (c) provide clinicians with user-friendly software to conduct empirical network analyses, (d) explore clients' experiences during the pilot trials using the psychological network approach, and (e) develop guidelines for interventions using the psychological network approach through the collaboration of clinical scientists, clinicians, and clients. We close the paper by discussing the importance of bridging the academic field and clinical settings, in the hopes that other clinical scientists will participate in the discussion of possible futures for the psychological network approach.

A crucial aspect of human social competence is the ability to spontaneously and rapidly infer from facial cues whether others are likely to approach us with friendliness or hostility—that is, trustworthiness. The rapid and automatic nature of these inferences has prompted the claim that they may originate from evolutionary pressures to detect potential threats, thus enhancing our chances of survival. However, the developmental origins of this social skill remain a topic of ongoing debate. Recent evidence shows that infants' brains and looking time behaviors differentiate between faces varying along the trustworthiness continuum, but the question about the nature of the facial cues they rely on remains open. In this review, we propose the spatial frequency (SF) filtering approach (i.e., the selective removal of spatial frequency bands from the image) as a useful tool for investigating this question, and specifically whether infants' discrimination of facial expressions of emotion share common visual and neural mechanisms with discrimination of facial cues associated with trustworthiness inferences. The SF filtering approach could shed light on the neural and perceptual mechanisms underlying trustworthiness perception in infancy, providing insights into whether and how these mechanisms change across development. The evidence gathered through this method would prove critical to the understanding of the developmental origins of trustworthiness perception.

Humans and primates rely on visual face recognition for social interactions. Damage to specific brain areas causes prosopagnosia, a condition characterized by the inability to recognize familiar faces, indicating the presence of specialized brain areas for facial-recognition processing. A breakthrough finding came from a non-human primate (NHP) study conducted in the early 2000s; it was the first to identify multiple face-processing areas in the temporal lobe, termed “face patches.” Subsequent studies have demonstrated the unique role of each face patch in the structural analysis of faces. More recent studies have expanded these findings by exploring the role of face-patch networks in social and memory functions and the importance of early face exposure in the development of the system. In this review, we discuss the neuronal mechanisms responsible for analyzing facial features, categorizing faces, and associating faces with memory and social contexts within both the cerebral cortex and subcortical areas. Use of NHPs in neuropsychological and neurophysiological studies can highlight the mechanistic aspects of the neuronal circuit underlying face recognition at both the single-neuron and whole-brain network levels.

This paper attempts to theoretically reconsider body image development in infants from a phenomenological viewpoint of the body. Because body image is defined as the mental picture of one's whole body, our main question is how we obtain the perspective to view our own body as a whole in constituting body image. First, focusing on the development of mirror self-cognition in the first 2 years of life, we find that this perspective derives from that of others in embodied interactions with infants. We then trace the process whereby others' perspectives appear in dyadic interactions between infants and caregivers. Since joint attention is established around 9 months, this dyadic interaction is transformed into a triadic relationship between the infant, caregiver, and object, which is experienced as “secondary intersubjectivity.” Infant body image is constituted gradually within this intersubjective context. Based on phenomenological descriptions, we propose that the hands are the first organ and the face the last organ to be incorporated into one's body image. We conclude that the constitution of body image is not merely a sensory task of integrating proprioceptive and visual images of the body, but a social task of internalizing others' perspectives regarding one's own body.

In contemplating the future, we often dwell not in the present but in imagined tomorrows. Yet, the envisioned future may not always manifest into reality. This possibility raises a pivotal question: What factors drive our motivation to actualize these imagined futures? Such motivations may span from ideals and goals to acquisitions, transformations, growth, self-control, inheritance, and maintenance. But do these future-oriented motivations truly fulfill our desires? In recent decades, research in this area has burgeoned, proposing a myriad of theories to enhance future motivation. This special issue sheds light on the latest empirical and theoretical advancements in the psychology of future motivation.

Lee (2024) uses a meta-analysis to examine the strength of the relationship between various types of motivation and accompanying future outcomes that individuals intend to change, based on 337 effect sizes from 62 studies. Considerable variation existed among the 14 theoretically postulated types of motivation, ranging from small negative effect sizes to moderate positive effect sizes. The 14 summary effect sizes were also moderated by the type of future outcomes, the use of a motivational intervention, the use of a longitudinal design, and the time between the point that measured motivation and future outcomes. The findings of this study are critical because they integrate previous studies and raise new questions for future research.

Nishimura (2024), utilizing self-determination theory, explores how aspirations (future motivation) uniquely influence active behaviors in positive classroom participation while controlling for academic motivation (current motivation). The study's findings illustrate a distinct variance in aspirations: Intrinsic aspirations correlate positively with active class participation, while extrinsic aspirations demonstrate a negative relationship with participation. This study is noteworthy for its revelation that future motivation, particularly when intrinsically driven, enhances active learning behaviors beyond the influence of present motivation.

Goto et al. (2024) examine the interplay between students' achievement goals and their preferences for personalized questions in computer-adaptive tests. The study found that while mastery goals aligned with a preference for challenging problems, performance goals correlated with a preference for success-guaranteed problems. Interestingly, only the preference for complex problems predicted future intentions to engage with computer-adaptive tests. These findings suggest that merely introducing computer-adaptive testing in educational settings may not suffice. The study offers practical insights into integrating educational technology, such as computer-adaptive tests, to tailor teaching and learning experiences.

Takehashi et al. (2024) examine the motivational impact of growth mindsets from the perspect

Infant faces are generally perceived as being cute and motivate the observer to look at them longer. This phenomenon is thought to be based on elemental features called baby schema (e.g., a round face and a large forehead). This study investigated the behavioral tendencies of observers in approaching infant faces using a manikin task in which infant and adult face images were presented as stimuli. Participants (N = 40) were instructed to identify with the manikin, discriminate a face on the screen, and respond by moving the manikin closer to the face (approach trials) or farther away from it (avoidance trials). The faces were presented either upright or inverted. The results showed that the approach–avoidance indices (the mean reaction time and error rate of avoidance trials minus those of approach trials) were larger for infant faces than for adult faces regardless of face orientation, although the difference was greater for upright faces than for inverted faces. This approach tendency toward infant faces is possibly due to elemental features rather than face-specific holistic features.