Naming as a function of linguistic form-class and object categories.

We examined whether children rely on linguistic information (i.e. mass vs. count nouns) or object category information (i.e. objects vs. substances) when they name things. A grinder test was used, in which substances (e.g. water) maintain identity through transformation but objects (e.g. a cup) do not. Thirty children aged three through six were asked if the same name could be used for the same item after transformation. The items included pairs of amorphous substances and discrete objects (e.g. water--a cup), perceptually similar discrete objects (e.g. chalk--a crayon), and food items (e.g. corn--a bean). Children accepted the same name for food, ignoring linguistic information, and for objects, relying on linguistic information. In Experiment 2, 32 children aged five through eight were asked if the same name could be used for unfamiliar hardware and food items after transformation when they were labelled by nonsense mass and count nouns. Children tended to use the same name for food, relying on perceptual information. These results are discussed in terms of the active conceptualization about names of objects in relation to object characteristics.

Cross-linguistic contrasts of verification and answering among children.

This review article examines how children verify a statement (e.g., You are a child. Right or wrong?) and answer a corresponding question (e.g., Are you a child? Yes or no?) in English, French, Japanese, and Korean. While people verify affirmative statements and answer affirmative questions similarly across the four languages, they answer negative questions differently across the four languages. In English, answering negative questions works in a way opposite to verification (e.g., Are you not a child? Yes; You are not a child. Wrong). In French, si is used in the place of the yes response in English. In Japanese and Korean, answering negative questions works in a way similar to verification (e.g., Are you not a child? No; You are not a child. Wrong). The effects of these linguistic characteristics are examined. Findings are: (1) All children across the four languages appear to start answering negative questions using the English system; (2) English-speaking children find verifying negative statements more difficult than answering the corresponding questions but Japanese-speaking children find it less difficult; and (3) while English-speaking and Korean-speaking children find true negative statements more difficult to verify than false negative statements, Japanese-speaking children find them less difficult. Language-universal and language-specific processes in verification and answering are discussed.

Depression and self-enhancement among Japanese and American students.

This study examined the cultural generalizibility of the negative relationship between depression and self-enhancement. Japanese (n = 116) and American (n = 125) students completed the Zung (1965) Self-Rating Depression Scale and three measures of self-enhancement (i.e., the tendency to see oneself in a positive light). As expected, Japanese subjects were found to be more depressed and less self-serving than Americans. Negative correlations between depression and self-enhancement measures were obtained for both samples. Regression analyses of the relationships between measures indicated that sample differences in self-enhancement were explained largely by sample differences in depression. It is proposed that, relative to the Americans, Japanese students had a negative self-schema that led to higher depression and lower self-enhancement.

Spatial development across the life span.

Fifth graders, ninth graders, college students, and persons over age sixty-five were given three pencil-and-paper tasks in spatial development. Knowledge of Euclidean space was assessed in each of these three tasks. In Task 1, the participants were asked to draw water lines in tilted bottles on a horizontal stand. In Task 2, they were asked to draw water lines in tilted bottles on a tilted stand. In Task 3, they were asked to give directions from one place to another on a hypothetical map. The performance on Task 1 and 2 increased from fifth grade to college. The performance of the elderly was the same as the college students on Task 1, and less than the college students in Task 2. The elderly participants' performance on Task 3 was better than the other three age groups. These results were discussed in terms of ecological validity, experience, and the number of competing cues to be processed simultaneously. Piaget's formulation on adult cognitive development was used to explain the elderly's performance in relation to other groups [1].