Writing and Speaking Activities based on Swain's 'Output Hypothesis' : Teaching Procedures and Analysis of Pre-tests and Post-tests

This study first delineates the theoretical background of the teaching approach employed. It partly draws on Swain’s ‘Output Hypothesis.’ Although Swain’s original hypothesis includes four features, the approach developed specifically aiming at teaching Japanese learners reduces the features to two. In addition, the use of chunks as discussed, for example, by Widdowson is referred to as well. As a result, Swain’s hypothesis was altered to a modified version with three features: (1) fluency, (2) hypothesis testing, and (3) Widdowson’s idea of chunks which is called ‘approximation’ in this study. The second part of this study explains how a series of experimental lessons are organized and carried out. Then the pre-tests and the post-tests are illustrated. Both pre-tests and post-tests include four different types of questions. The first three are written tests while the last one is an oral interview. The results and the statistical analyses thereof show that the approach is useful in developing certain levels of both writing and speaking skills in the participants

Autistic empathy toward autistic others.

自閉スペクトラム症がある方々による、自閉スペクトラム症がある方々に対する共感. 京都大学プレスリリーズ. 2014-11-06.Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are thought to lack self-awareness and to experience difficulty empathising with others. Although these deficits have been demonstrated in previous studies, most of the target stimuli were constructed for typically developing (TD) individuals. We employed judgment tasks capable of indexing self-relevant processing in individuals with and without ASD. Fourteen Japanese males and one Japanese female with high-functioning ASD (17-41 years of age) and 13 Japanese males and two TD Japanese females ( 22-40 years of age), all of whom were matched for age and full and verbal intelligence quotient scores with the ASD participants, were enrolled in this study. The results demonstrated that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex was significantly activated in individuals with ASD in response to autistic characters and in TD individuals in response to non-autistic characters. Whereas the frontal-posterior network between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and superior temporal gyrus participated in the processing of non-autistic characters in TD individuals, an alternative network was involved when individuals with ASD processed autistic characters. This suggests an atypical form of empathy in individuals with ASD toward others with ASD

Neural substrates of warning effect: a functional MRI study

　　Motor response reaction times towards a target decrease when presentation ispreceded by a stimulus indicating that the target will appear shortly. I used functionalmagnetic resonance imaging to depict the neural substrates of this warning effect duringa Go/NoGo task incorporating a warning stimulus. I hypothesized that the warningstimuli activate the midbrain-thalamic-ACC alertness system irrespective of stimulusmodality, and the areas which are related to early stage of motor processing such aspre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA). Fifteen subjects completed a visualGo/NoGo task, and 12 completed an analogous task in the auditory modality. After avariable-duration warning stimulus was presented, a Go or NoGo cue was presentedwith equal probability. When a Go cue was presented, subjects had to respond as rapidly as possible by pressing a button. When a NoGo cue was presented, subjects were required not to respond. Auditory and visual warning stimuli commonly activated the midbrain and thalamus, which are associated with tasks involving directed attention and alertness. Warning-related activation was found in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which might monitor the task-related utility of the warning stimulus, and in the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), which is associated with movement selection. Warning stimuli might potentiate pre-SMA activity related to movement selection and/or preparation, through the midbrain-thalamus-ACC alerting system

Investigation of a relationship between a discrepancy between ideal and real peer friendship and a self-esteem in early adolescence

青年期は友人関係の重要さが増してくる時期である。特に青年期初期は心理的に不安定な時期であり，これを解消するために友人関係が重要になる。友人関係の種類によっては本人が思い描く友人関係の理想と現実にズレが生じている可能性があり，それらのズレのいくつかは自尊感情と関連することが考えられた。そこで，本研究では青年期初期における友人関係の理想と現実およびそのズレを検討するとともに，友人関係の理想と現実およびそのズレと自尊感情の関連を明らかにすること目的に， 名の中学１年生を対象に質問紙調査を行った。調査の結果，友人関係の５つの因子のうち３つでズレがあることがわかった。さらに，自尊感情尺度得点を従属変数，友人関係の理想と現実のズレが有意であった因子得点を独立変数として重回帰分析を行ったところ，ズレのうち心理的安定化につながると考えられる「自己開示・信頼」因子において負の関連を示すことがわかった。以上のことから，青年期初期には友人関係のいくつかの因子において理想と現実の間にズレが生じており，あるズレは自尊感情と関連することが示唆された。In early adolescence, peer friendships become more important than the parent-child relationship as the adolescent undergoes various psychological imbalance brought about by puberty, such as anxiety and emotional instability. There are many qualitative varieties of peer friendship at this age. Adolescents may have a variety of real peer friendships as well as beliefs about ideal friendships, and there may be a discrepancy between the two. This discrepancy may be associated with an adolescent’s self-esteem. However, it is still unclear which significant discrepancies occur in which types of friendships. It is also still unclear which discrepancies are associated with self-esteem. To examine these issues, we conducted a survey and analysis using a questionnaire. Twenty-four first grade junior high school students (thirteen males and eleven females) participated in the present study and completed the following questionnaire: Self-esteem and Peer Friendship. As a result, we found significant discrepancies between the ideal and real peer friendship in three of five friendship types. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis demonstrated that one of the discrepancies between ideal and real peer friendship was significantly negatively associated with self-esteem. Thus, in early adolescence, in certain friendships,discrepancies arise between ideal and real peer friendships and this may be associated with selfesteem

Autistic empathy toward autistic others

自閉スペクトラム症がある方々による、自閉スペクトラム症がある方々に対する共感. 京都大学プレスリリーズ. 2014-11-06.Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are thought to lack self-awareness and to experience difficulty empathising with others. Although these deficits have been demonstrated in previous studies, most of the target stimuli were constructed for typically developing (TD) individuals. We employed judgment tasks capable of indexing self-relevant processing in individuals with and without ASD. Fourteen Japanese males and one Japanese female with high-functioning ASD (17-41 years of age) and 13 Japanese males and two TD Japanese females ( 22-40 years of age), all of whom were matched for age and full and verbal intelligence quotient scores with the ASD participants, were enrolled in this study. The results demonstrated that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex was significantly activated in individuals with ASD in response to autistic characters and in TD individuals in response to non-autistic characters. Whereas the frontal-posterior network between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and superior temporal gyrus participated in the processing of non-autistic characters in TD individuals, an alternative network was involved when individuals with ASD processed autistic characters. This suggests an atypical form of empathy in individuals with ASD toward others with ASD