文脈情報による視覚的数量知覚の変調に関する研究

早大学位記番号:新8418早稲田大

The Gaze-Cueing Effect in the United States and Japan: Influence of Cultural Differences in Cognitive Strategies on Control of Attention

The direction of seen gaze automatically and exogenously guides visual spatial attention, a phenomenon termed as the gaze-cueing effect. Although this effect arises when the duration of stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) between a non-predictive gaze cue and the target is relatively long, no empirical research examined the factors underlying this extended cueing effect. Two experiments compared the gaze-cueing effect at longer SOAs (700 ms) in Japanese and American participants. Cross-cultural studies on cognition suggest that Westerners tend to use a context-independent analytical strategy to process visual environments, whereas Asians use a context-dependent holistic approach. We hypothesized that Japanese participants would not demonstrate the gaze-cueing effect at longer SOAs because they are more sensitive to contextual information, such as the knowledge that the direction of a gaze is not predictive. Furthermore, we hypothesized that American participants would demonstrate the gaze-cueing effect at the long SOAs because they tend to follow gaze direction whether or not it is predictive. In Experiment 1, American participants demonstrated the gaze-cueing effect at the long SOA, indicating that their attention was driven by the central non-predictive gaze direction regardless of the SOAs. In Experiment 2, Japanese participants demonstrated no gaze-cueing effect at the long SOA, suggesting that the Japanese participants exercised voluntary control of their attention, which inhibited the gaze-cueing effect with the long SOA. Our findings suggest that the control of visual spatial attention elicited by social stimuli systematically differs between American and Japanese individuals

Genetic and Molecular Analysis of Wild-Derived Arrhythmic Mice

A new circadian variant was isolated by screening the intercross offspring of wild-caught mice (Mus musculus castaneus). This variant was characterized by an initial maintenance of damped oscillations and subsequent loss of rhythmicity after being transferred from light-dark (LD) cycles to constant darkness (DD). To map the genes responsible for the persistence of rhythmicity (circadian ratio) and the length of free-running period (τ), quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis was performed using F2 mice obtained from an F1 cross between the circadian variant and C57BL/6J mice. As a result, a significant QTL with a main effect for circadian ratio (Arrhythmicity; Arrh-1) was mapped on Chromosome (Chr) 8. For τ, four significant QTLs, Short free-running period (Sfp-1) (Chr 1), Sfp-2 (Chr 6), Sfp-3 (Chr 8), Sfp-4 (Chr 11) were determined. An epistatic interaction was detected between Chr 3 (Arrh-2) and Chr 5 (Arrh-3). An in situ hybridization study of clock genes and mouse Period1::luciferase (mPer1::luc) real-time monitoring analysis in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) suggested that arrhythmicity in this variant might not be attributed to core circadian mechanisms in the SCN neurons. Our strategy using wild-derived variant mice may provide a novel opportunity to evaluate circadian and its related disorders in human that arise from the interaction between multiple variant genes

Preliminary report of geological and geophysical surveys off Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica

Geological and geophysical surveys off the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica, were carried out during the 1984-1985 Antarctic summer season. The surveyed area involves the continental shelf, slope, rise, the abyssal plain and part of the Kerguelen Plateau. Thickness of the sedimentary layer beneath the continental shelf is estimated to be more than 3.5km from a sonobuoy result. A series of upper strata progrades seaward and is eroded at the sea bottom. In the continental slope, rise and the abyssal plain, the presence of sediments whose thickness exceeds 6km is confirmed. The sediments seem to become thicker toward the continent, particularly the center of Prydz Bay to which the Lambert graben is thought to extend from the inland of Antarctica. In the southwestern margin of the Kerguelen Plateau, the acoustic basement rises toward the Plateau, and is thinly covered by an acoustic transparent layer whose age is relatively old. Dipping strata suggest that the acoustic basement consists of highly consolidated sedimentary layers which have been subjected to a complex tectonic movement related to the origin of the Plateau

Preliminary report of the marine geophysical and geological surveys off Wilkes Land, Antarctica in 1983-1984

During the 1983-1984 Antarctic summer season, a multi-channel seismic reflection survey of 3700km along with geophysical and geological surveys was conducted in the Scott Basin lying in the offing of Wilkes Land. Conventionally processed data of the seismic sections (6-folds) revealed the following geological features. (1) The maximum sedimentary thickness was found to be approximately 3.75s in two-way reflection time under the abyssal plain. (2) The seismic section through DSDP site 268 indicated the distinct unconformity between Early Miocene and Pliocene. (3) The acoustic basement generally shows a gentle monoclinal slope in the continental shelf to the rise, while it shows remarkably complex relief under the abyssal plain. But the formations lying on the basement are almost flat. (4) A basement high extending from the southeast was observed in the eastern area, and anticlinal features on the time section were observed in the western area. Terrestrial heat flow measurements were taken at a total of nine sites, indicating between 1.3 and 1.6 HFU. They were almost the same as the world average of 1.5 HFU. A gravity core obtained from the basement high in the eastern area contained such warm-water planktonic foraminifera as Globorotalia inflata, G. praeinflata, and G. puncticuloides, suggesting the age of Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene

The Gaze-Cueing Effect in the United States and Japan: Influence of Cultural Differences in Cognitive Strategies on Control of Attention

The direction of gaze automatically and exogenously guides visual spatial attention, a phenomenon termed as the gaze-cueing effect. Although this effect arises when the duration of stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between a non-predictive gaze cue and the target is relatively long, no empirical research has examined the factors underlying this extended cueing effect. Two experiments compared the gaze-cueing effect at longer SOAs (700 ms) in Japanese and American participants. Cross-cultural studies on cognition suggest that Westerners tend to use a context-independent analytical strategy to process visual environments, whereas Asians use a context-dependent holistic approach. We hypothesized that Japanese participants would not demonstrate the gaze-cueing effect at longer SOAs because they are more sensitive to contextual information, such as the knowledge that the direction of a gaze is not predictive. Furthermore, we hypothesized that American participants would demonstrate the gaze-cueing effect at the long SOAs because they tend to follow gaze direction whether it is predictive or not. In Experiment 1, American participants demonstrated the gaze-cueing effect at the long SOA, indicating that their attention was driven by the central non-predictive gaze direction regardless of the SOAs. In Experiment 2, Japanese participants demonstrated no gaze-cueing effect at the long SOA, suggesting that the Japanese participants exercised voluntary control of their attention, which inhibited the gaze-cueing effect with the long SOA. Our findings suggest that the control of visual spatial attention elicited by social stimuli systematically differs between American and Japanese individuals