DSpace Collection: 2010-03-30
http://hdl.handle.net/2115/42958
2010-03-302024-03-19T12:43:29ZWhy Do the Eyes Move during Cognitive Activity?
http://hdl.handle.net/2115/42964
Title: Why Do the Eyes Move during Cognitive Activity?
Authors: Hoshi, Yoko; Chen, Shing-Jen
Abstract: Shifting gaze during difficult cognitive activities is a very common phenomenon in our daily life, whereas its underlying neuropsychological mechanisms remain controversial. Preceding studies on adults have indicated that by shifting the gaze people disengage from environmental stimulation in order to concentrate on cognitive tasks. Further studies on children have suggested that approaching this eye movement phenomenon from the developmental viewpoint opens a window on its mechanisms. Here, we used an eye-tracking system to examine eye movements in adults and children while they were performing cognitive tasks, and also employed near-infrared spectroscopy to examine the neural basis of the gaze shift. Adults moved their eyes toward individual specific directions regardless of the task type. In contrast, younger children looked around more extensively with no directionality. Transition to adult-like patterns of eye movements was observed at 10 years of age, which corresponded to the time period of achieving adult levels of performance on a standard measure of executive functions. The eye movements were accompanied by activation of the premotor cortex and/or the lateral prefrontal cortex. These data suggest that the eye movements represent a more positive function than mere disengagement from the environment; probably access to cognitive space. It is also implicated that 10 years of age is a crucial period for cognitive development.2010-03-29T15:00:00ZHoshi, YokoChen, Shing-JenShifting gaze during difficult cognitive activities is a very common phenomenon in our daily life, whereas its underlying neuropsychological mechanisms remain controversial. Preceding studies on adults have indicated that by shifting the gaze people disengage from environmental stimulation in order to concentrate on cognitive tasks. Further studies on children have suggested that approaching this eye movement phenomenon from the developmental viewpoint opens a window on its mechanisms. Here, we used an eye-tracking system to examine eye movements in adults and children while they were performing cognitive tasks, and also employed near-infrared spectroscopy to examine the neural basis of the gaze shift. Adults moved their eyes toward individual specific directions regardless of the task type. In contrast, younger children looked around more extensively with no directionality. Transition to adult-like patterns of eye movements was observed at 10 years of age, which corresponded to the time period of achieving adult levels of performance on a standard measure of executive functions. The eye movements were accompanied by activation of the premotor cortex and/or the lateral prefrontal cortex. These data suggest that the eye movements represent a more positive function than mere disengagement from the environment; probably access to cognitive space. It is also implicated that 10 years of age is a crucial period for cognitive development.Perception of Imitation in the Early Stage of Development
http://hdl.handle.net/2115/42963
Title: Perception of Imitation in the Early Stage of Development
Authors: Nasu, Anna
Abstract: This study investigates how children, younger than one and up to age three, in the first stage of development act when they are being imitated by an adult. When a child perceives that it is being imitated by an adult, it indicates that the child is making a clear distinction between itself and another person. The child objectively compares his behavior with the adult's behavior, and the child needs to be able to perceive the adult's intention. Perception of being imitated is a very important concept because it demonstrates the capacity of the child to recognize another person's intentions. We constructed a controlled situation where a child is playing with toys that he/she chose, while an adult imitates the child using another set of identical toys. As a result, children from one and half years of age, when they are being imitated by an adult, react as if they perceive that they are being imitated. Children indicate their perception by "deliberately changing their toys' direction of movement while watching the adult move his toy" or "exhibiting strange behaviors" or by "correcting the adult's behavior". Children's reactions to being imitated by adults gradually become more complicated and diverse.2010-03-29T15:00:00ZNasu, AnnaThis study investigates how children, younger than one and up to age three, in the first stage of development act when they are being imitated by an adult. When a child perceives that it is being imitated by an adult, it indicates that the child is making a clear distinction between itself and another person. The child objectively compares his behavior with the adult's behavior, and the child needs to be able to perceive the adult's intention. Perception of being imitated is a very important concept because it demonstrates the capacity of the child to recognize another person's intentions. We constructed a controlled situation where a child is playing with toys that he/she chose, while an adult imitates the child using another set of identical toys. As a result, children from one and half years of age, when they are being imitated by an adult, react as if they perceive that they are being imitated. Children indicate their perception by "deliberately changing their toys' direction of movement while watching the adult move his toy" or "exhibiting strange behaviors" or by "correcting the adult's behavior". Children's reactions to being imitated by adults gradually become more complicated and diverse.Correctional Education for Preschoolers with Speech and Language Difficulties in the Russian Federation
http://hdl.handle.net/2115/42962
Title: Correctional Education for Preschoolers with Speech and Language Difficulties in the Russian Federation
Authors: Niwano, Katsuko; Kononenko, Alexei; Arakawa, Keisuke; Kitaoka, Tadashi
Abstract: This paper presents an investigation of special education in preschools practicing integrated education in the Krasnoyarsk region, the Russian Federation. They use the term "correctional education" instead of "special education" for special needs education. Children with speech and language difficulties have speech and language therapy by professional speech therapists and other specialists through both discrete and group lessons in the preschools practicing integrated education. Speech therapy has been an important part of correctional education for children with special needs since the Soviet era because there is a close link between speech and other higher mental functions. They have carried out correctional education based on the elaborated study of "defectology" in the Soviet era. Although the Soviet-style of special education was almost an entirely separate educational system, modern Russia has begun to embrace a new educational system, "integration". Specialists related to special education have found some benefits of integration for children's social development. We visited preschools which include both nondisabled children and children with special needs to observe the speech therapy and other remedial education practices. We also interviewed specialists in pediatric and special education in the city medical-psychological-social centers. One of the goals of the centers is to prepare children for integration into society. They have been influenced by "Western" special education and started to change their differentiating educational system to integration in modern Russia.2010-03-29T15:00:00ZNiwano, KatsukoKononenko, AlexeiArakawa, KeisukeKitaoka, TadashiThis paper presents an investigation of special education in preschools practicing integrated education in the Krasnoyarsk region, the Russian Federation. They use the term "correctional education" instead of "special education" for special needs education. Children with speech and language difficulties have speech and language therapy by professional speech therapists and other specialists through both discrete and group lessons in the preschools practicing integrated education. Speech therapy has been an important part of correctional education for children with special needs since the Soviet era because there is a close link between speech and other higher mental functions. They have carried out correctional education based on the elaborated study of "defectology" in the Soviet era. Although the Soviet-style of special education was almost an entirely separate educational system, modern Russia has begun to embrace a new educational system, "integration". Specialists related to special education have found some benefits of integration for children's social development. We visited preschools which include both nondisabled children and children with special needs to observe the speech therapy and other remedial education practices. We also interviewed specialists in pediatric and special education in the city medical-psychological-social centers. One of the goals of the centers is to prepare children for integration into society. They have been influenced by "Western" special education and started to change their differentiating educational system to integration in modern Russia.Emotional Experience and Immanent Expressive Activity in Human Minds
http://hdl.handle.net/2115/42961
Title: Emotional Experience and Immanent Expressive Activity in Human Minds
Authors: Sato, Kimiharu
Abstract: Vygotsky insisted the need of studying the human consciousness for total understanding the human mind throughout his life. For describing the real human mental activities, Vygotsky focused on the different two phases of the actual mental activities, i.e., verbal thinking and the emotional experience. He considered the emotional experience (perezhivanie) as emerge from the interconnection between individual personal activity and the environment. In this paper, Vygotsky's concept of the emotional experience is interpreted as the actual expressive activity to shape and externalize one's own innate thought or emotion. Artistic expressive behaviors of the artist and preschool children are discussed to examine the dual interconnected processes between the innate mental world and the environmental outer world.2010-03-29T15:00:00ZSato, KimiharuVygotsky insisted the need of studying the human consciousness for total understanding the human mind throughout his life. For describing the real human mental activities, Vygotsky focused on the different two phases of the actual mental activities, i.e., verbal thinking and the emotional experience. He considered the emotional experience (perezhivanie) as emerge from the interconnection between individual personal activity and the environment. In this paper, Vygotsky's concept of the emotional experience is interpreted as the actual expressive activity to shape and externalize one's own innate thought or emotion. Artistic expressive behaviors of the artist and preschool children are discussed to examine the dual interconnected processes between the innate mental world and the environmental outer world.A Case Study of Teenage Babysitting in the United States
http://hdl.handle.net/2115/42960
Title: A Case Study of Teenage Babysitting in the United States
Authors: Kawata, Nozomi
Abstract: This is a case study on adolescent babysitting in the United States, which is a popular phenomenon nowadays in some communities. The author interviewed people in their late teens or twenties and parents from the United States. The former group was asked about their experiences as a babysitter and their experiences of having babysat in early childhood. The latter group was asked about experiences in hiring a teenage babysitter. The data illustrated the perspectives of three parties-babysitter, babysittee, and parent. By exploring the babysitting system, this paper attempts to illustrate two important aspects of the system; (1) How the babysitting system can serve as a nurturance formation device and (2) how it accelerates the transition of an adolescent from childhood to adulthood. In conclusion, the babysitting system was considered that (1) adolescent babysitters develop nurturance through structured and unstructured education and (2) the experience of undertaking a temporary parent/adult role makes for a smooth transition of the adolescent from childhood to adulthood. We hope to provide an effective view of resolving the difficulties that Japanese society currently faces by shedding light on the babysitting system in North America.2010-03-29T15:00:00ZKawata, NozomiThis is a case study on adolescent babysitting in the United States, which is a popular phenomenon nowadays in some communities. The author interviewed people in their late teens or twenties and parents from the United States. The former group was asked about their experiences as a babysitter and their experiences of having babysat in early childhood. The latter group was asked about experiences in hiring a teenage babysitter. The data illustrated the perspectives of three parties-babysitter, babysittee, and parent. By exploring the babysitting system, this paper attempts to illustrate two important aspects of the system; (1) How the babysitting system can serve as a nurturance formation device and (2) how it accelerates the transition of an adolescent from childhood to adulthood. In conclusion, the babysitting system was considered that (1) adolescent babysitters develop nurturance through structured and unstructured education and (2) the experience of undertaking a temporary parent/adult role makes for a smooth transition of the adolescent from childhood to adulthood. We hope to provide an effective view of resolving the difficulties that Japanese society currently faces by shedding light on the babysitting system in North America.Maternal Beliefs, Images, and Metaphors of Child Development in the United States, Korea, Indonesia, and Japan
http://hdl.handle.net/2115/42959
Title: Maternal Beliefs, Images, and Metaphors of Child Development in the United States, Korea, Indonesia, and Japan
Authors: Shwalb, David W.; Shwalb, Barbara J.; Hyun, Jung-Hwan; Chen, Shing-Jen; Kusanagi, Emiko; Satiadarma, Monty P.; MacKay, Russell; Wilkey, Brett
Abstract: The present study examined mothers' thinking about child development, childhood, and childrearing. Participants were mothers of children attending middleclass preschools in the cities of Provo, Utah, U.S.A. (n = 101), Seoul, Bucheon, and Incheon, South Korea (n = 221), Jakarta, Indonesia (n = 312), and Sapporo, Japan (n = 172). There were both cross-cultural differences and similarities on most measures. With regard to basic issues of development, mothers in all four cultures tended to agree more with the influence of environment than heredity on their children, and more with the idea of unique paths of development than universal stages. With the exception of the Jakarta sample, mothers agreed most strongly with the image of children as pure by nature, less so with the image of children as blank slates, and least with the image of children as mischievous. Again with the exception of Jakarta mothers, the cross-cultural tendency was to agree more with the formism root metaphor of child development (Pepper, 1942), second most strongly with the contextualist metaphor, and less so with the mechanistic and organismic root metaphors. Regarding images of childrearing as analogous to plant cultivation vs. animal training, the general tendency across cultures was to prefer the plant cultivation analogy, although the Seoul and Jakarta mothers responded more favorably than the Sapporo and Provo mothers to the animal training analogy. In response to analogies of growing up, mothers in all four cultures were more in agreement with the image of growing up as akin to crossing a stream together with the mother, although Seoul mothers rated the image of children crossing a stream alone more positively than did the other three samples. Sapporo mothers were notable in their agreement with the image of children as lonely. Among the four samples, only Sapporo mothers tended to disagree with the statement that "religion plays an important part in my thinking about children," whereas Provo mothers were in near-unanimous agreement with the impact of religious beliefs. Very few main effects were found for either maternal level of educational background, or for religious affiliation, on any of the preceding variables. Despite sampling and measurement limitations, the data showed both significant cultural group differences and similarities in how mothers think about their children, and indicated that metaphors, images, analogies, and beliefs mothers have about their children are not mutually exclusive. In fact, individual mothers have some degree of belief in multiple competing images of child development. There were indeed substantial individual differences in the data, suggesting that each mother invokes both a cultural ethnotheory and a uniquely personal understanding of children, child development, and childrearing.2010-03-29T15:00:00ZShwalb, David W.Shwalb, Barbara J.Hyun, Jung-HwanChen, Shing-JenKusanagi, EmikoSatiadarma, Monty P.MacKay, RussellWilkey, BrettThe present study examined mothers' thinking about child development, childhood, and childrearing. Participants were mothers of children attending middleclass preschools in the cities of Provo, Utah, U.S.A. (n = 101), Seoul, Bucheon, and Incheon, South Korea (n = 221), Jakarta, Indonesia (n = 312), and Sapporo, Japan (n = 172). There were both cross-cultural differences and similarities on most measures. With regard to basic issues of development, mothers in all four cultures tended to agree more with the influence of environment than heredity on their children, and more with the idea of unique paths of development than universal stages. With the exception of the Jakarta sample, mothers agreed most strongly with the image of children as pure by nature, less so with the image of children as blank slates, and least with the image of children as mischievous. Again with the exception of Jakarta mothers, the cross-cultural tendency was to agree more with the formism root metaphor of child development (Pepper, 1942), second most strongly with the contextualist metaphor, and less so with the mechanistic and organismic root metaphors. Regarding images of childrearing as analogous to plant cultivation vs. animal training, the general tendency across cultures was to prefer the plant cultivation analogy, although the Seoul and Jakarta mothers responded more favorably than the Sapporo and Provo mothers to the animal training analogy. In response to analogies of growing up, mothers in all four cultures were more in agreement with the image of growing up as akin to crossing a stream together with the mother, although Seoul mothers rated the image of children crossing a stream alone more positively than did the other three samples. Sapporo mothers were notable in their agreement with the image of children as lonely. Among the four samples, only Sapporo mothers tended to disagree with the statement that "religion plays an important part in my thinking about children," whereas Provo mothers were in near-unanimous agreement with the impact of religious beliefs. Very few main effects were found for either maternal level of educational background, or for religious affiliation, on any of the preceding variables. Despite sampling and measurement limitations, the data showed both significant cultural group differences and similarities in how mothers think about their children, and indicated that metaphors, images, analogies, and beliefs mothers have about their children are not mutually exclusive. In fact, individual mothers have some degree of belief in multiple competing images of child development. There were indeed substantial individual differences in the data, suggesting that each mother invokes both a cultural ethnotheory and a uniquely personal understanding of children, child development, and childrearing.