Nonverbal Synchrony of Facial Movements and Expressions Predict Therapeutic Alliance During a Structured Psychotherapeutic Interview

Nonverbal synchrony (NVS) of a patient’s and therapist’s body parts during a therapy session has been linked with therapeutic alliance. However, the link between NVS of face parts with therapeutic alliance remains unclear. The clarification of this link is important in understanding NVS. Accordingly, we used a video imaging technique to provide quantitative evidence of this link. The 55 participants in this study were the same as in a previous study. Both the participants' and the therapist's faces were video recorded during structured psychotherapeutic interviews. Our machine quantified 500,500 participants’ faces and 500,500 therapists’ faces from the perspectives of facial movements and expressions. Results show that absolute synchrony of happy and scared expressions were positively related to therapeutic alliance. However, symmetrical synchrony of left eye movements negatively predicted therapeutic alliance, although participants’ sex, age, volume of facial movements, and volume of facial expressions were controlled. Absolute synchrony of facial expressions was regarded as emotional interaction within 2 seconds delay, whereas symmetrical synchrony of left eye movements was regarded as a blocker of emotional interaction

VIRTUAL AGENTS VERSUS CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGISTS

The use of Virtual Agents (VAs) is currently a popular topic in mental health interviews. Advantages of VA over Real Expert (RE) in the interview were reported. However, the advantages of audio-visual VAs over REs during comprehensive mental health interviews remain unclear, and their clarification is important to promote the practical application of VAs in these settings. To explore the advantages, we triangulated data using mixed methods design, aiming to show quantitative advantages of the VAs in their perceived rapport and eye movement, and to describe the qualitative advantages of the VAs in their disclosed mental symptoms during the interview. A total of 55 Japanese university students participated in comprehensive mental health interviews conducted by the VA and RE. Findings show that participants perceived rapport and moved their right eyes more often, along with disclosing numerous mental symptoms, with the RE than the VA. However, they disclosed more sex-related symptoms to the VA than the RE. The VA can be used most practically in sex-related health fields. The anonymity conditions in the VA setting might be relevant to patients’ self-disclosure of sex-related topics

高分子材料の破壊に関する研究

金沢大学工学部研究課題/領域番号:X42440-----51079, 研究期間(年度):1967出典：研究課題「高分子材料の破壊に関する研究」課題番号X42440-----51079（KAKEN：科学研究費助成事業データベース（国立情報学研究所）） （https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/ja/grant/KAKENHI-PROJECT-X42440-----51079/）を加工して作

Strict Limit on CPT Violation from Polarization of Gamma-Ray Bursts

We report the strictest observational verification of CPT invariance in the photon sector, as a result of gamma-ray polarization measurement of distant gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), which are brightest stellar-size explosions in the universe. We detected the gamma-ray polarization of three GRBs with high significance, and the source distances may be constrained by a well-known luminosity indicator for GRBs. For the Lorentz- and CPT-violating dispersion relation E_{\pm}^2=p^2 \pm 2\xi p^3/M_{Pl}, where \pm denotes different circular polarization states of the photon, the parameter \xi is constrained as |\xi|<O(10^{-15}). Barring precise cancellation between quantum gravity effects and dark energy effects, the stringent limit on the CPT-violating effect leads to the expectation that quantum gravity presumably respects the CPT invariance.Comment: 4 pages; accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters; redshift estimates of GRBs changed (i.e z=0.382 was wrong for GRB 110721A) and calculations of \xi limit improved from the previous versio

Trajectories of psychological stress among public servants after the Great East Japan Earthquake

Abstract The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 had a serious psychological impact not only on residents, but also on public servants who worked for residents in prefectures and municipalities. Although public servants worked in highly stressful situations, disaster-related stress among them has not been studied, as has been the case for residents. We examine the stress trajectory of Ishinomaki public servants in Miyagi prefecture (N = 573; 317 men, 256 women), which was directly affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, and analyse the effects of risk factors that included poor workplace communication, insufficient rest, having dead or missing family members, and living in a shelter. Six surveys were conducted (baseline approximately three months after the earthquake, and follow-up in approximately six-month intervals over a four-year period) using the Japanese version of the Kessler six-item Psychological Distress Scale. The analysis was conducted using five models, which included one for each risk factor and all four risk factors. Latent growth curve analysis indicated that stress response follows a cubic trajectory over four years. Psychological distress sharply reduced from 2011 to 2012 before stabilising and then slowly declining from 2014 to 2015. In the results of the analysis for each model, all risk factors affected stress response in the baseline. Individuals with poor levels of workplace communication experienced higher stress than those who had good levels of workplace communication. Our findings show that public servants’ stress responses decrease with time, regardless of whether or not there are risk factors involved. These results suggest that workplace communication in daily life can prevent the deterioration of mental health since risk factors affect the baseline of stress response

Abstract numerical discrimination learning in rats

In this study, we examined rats’ discrimination learning of the numerical ordering positions of objects. In Experiments 1 and 2, five out of seven rats successfully learned to respond to the third of six identical objects in a row and showed reliable transfer of this discrimination to novel stimuli after being trained with three different training stimuli. In Experiment 3, the three rats from Experiment 2 continued to be trained to respond to the third object in an object array, which included an odd object that needed to be excluded when identifying the target third object. All three rats acquired this selective-counting task of specific stimuli, and two rats showed reliable transfer of this selective-counting performance to test sets of novel stimuli. In Experiment 4, the three rats from Experiment 3 quickly learned to respond to the third stimulus in object rows consisting of either six identical or six different objects. These results offer strong evidence for abstract numerical discrimination learning in rats. © 2016 Psychonomic Society, Inc.Embargo Period 12 month