In neuropsychology a new branch called educational neuropsychology is developping, though it is not widely known as yet in Japan. Along the discussion, Sakano, an educational neuropsychologist, stressed the need for teachers to have a proper knowledge of drain functions in order to better gist, proposed the possibility of introducing aconcept from brain researches into the mastery learning theory of Bloom and/or the school learning model of Caroll. Yoshida, who has been aiming at establishing a phenomenology of instruction, pointing out a natural-scientific trend in brain researches not necessarily associated with the educational practice, tressing-understand children and improveteaching- learning processes. Hatta, an experimental neuropsychologist, presented two cases of learning disabled children attributed to a dysfunction in the CNS, that would otherwise have been diagnosed as neurotic. Inaba, a curriculum researcher and the only non-psycholong the important role of the experience and produ-ction by the teachers themselves in educational pra-ctice Itoh, a developmental neuropsychologist, acting as chairman of the symposium, stressed the importance of an educational-philosophical as well as an educational-neuropsychological assessment of the school-age children.
Nowadays educational proble ms are difficult and rapidly increasing: the strong competition for university entrance examinations, children's violence at home and school, and learning disability. Educational psychology is, sometimes, bitterly criticized by school teachers as being incapable to solve quite a few practical problems in schools. This symposium was planned to respond this as an answer to some criticism. The usefulness of educational psychology in practical situations inschoolswas discussed.Methodological problems were considered at length being afraid that short cut arguements on practical problems might weaken somehow our scientific attitude. Misumi discussed the problem from the stand point of a behavioral scientist. He stressed that psychology as a science of education should be oncerned with “value” as well as outer events. He showed an example of experiments in which the results would differ according to the different attitudes of the perimenters. He pointed out the fact that the effects of experimenters were often forgotten in psychological experiments although very important in a science of education. Miyake talking as a developmental psychologist operation between academic psychologists and sc-schoolt eachers was recognized by all the participaschool teachers was recognized by all the participants. Moreover any study based on a mutual co-ope-emphasized the great confusion occurring in the study of educational psychology because theories obtained from experiments were too easily adapted to practical situations without any consideration concerning the differences between their pre-conditi ons. He pointed out that developmental psychology was in need both of experimental and ecological researches, case studies included. Hosoya proposed that educational psychology would become more effective if focussed on phenomena related to an attainment of the ucational goals in class rooms. He added that researchers should respect the stand point of those concerned in edu cational process rather than the simple observers or lookers. Kawai added that clinical psychology could be helpful to solve some practical problems in schools but the methodological problem remains a big hurdle. He pointed out that two points were to be taken into consideration conserning the methodological problem: i. e. nobody can be "objective" observer in clinical situations ; and researchers must be on the alert concerning acausal constellations of events as well as causal changes of events As a conclusion the necessity of an adequate co-ration would pave the way to a discovery of naw and appropriate methodologies
Among children diagnosed as language retarded or mentally retarded, there is a group of children showing communicative behaviours: lack of responsiveness to speech spoken to them by other people and reluctance in using speech as a communication tool. It is worth investigating such communication behaviours in these children in clarifying the nature of their developmental defect and in finding an effective therapeutic approach toward them. The first speaker, Oishi, investigated pre-linguistic behaviours of 6 children showing the above mentioned communicative behaviours and he found that their pointing beheviour showed a differentvelopmental feature from that of normal children. Oishi proposed that their lack of responsiveness to other peoples speech may have as an underground factor a delay in acquisition of symbolic function in contrast to a relatively good development of concrete concepts such as acquiring object names. The second speaker, Ishida, gave a case report of a seven year-old girl who had the same communicative behavious in her earlier years. Although the child acquired her ocabulary with ease, she had difficulty in understanding meanings of the questio ns asked her and in learning an appropriate way to respond to each question. She learned to answer questions when she was given a framework in which questions and answers were organized or when she was given a visual example. Ishida proposed that the manipulation. Stiee further questions were raised where a causative factor of lack of responsiveness would be restricted to cognitive disorder, and the child's lack of responsiveness may be due to the difficulty the child had in acquiring and selecting the necessary framework within which she was supposed to answer. The third speaker, Kondo, gave a report of twoautistic chil dren who showed a strong tendency to hane ignored speeches spoken to them in their early years. Their language development was characterized by a deficient ability to understand sentences, inability to be attentive to what was spoken to them, and inability to derstand what was spoken to them. Kondo suggested that their lack of responsivenessmay have as an underground factor a lack of interest towards people and some kind of cognitive disorder. The discussant, Nagahata, made remarks on each speaker. To Oishi, he raised a question whether lack of responsiveness seen in her cases would be bue to linguistic imcompetence or inattentiveness toward other people's speech. To Ishida, he pointed the similarity between her case and the semantic pragmatic syndrome and discussed a functional disorder Ishida's case might have. To Kondo, he questioned the Kind of defect in her cases giving an impressin of queerness. During this symposium, it was suggested by various people including comments from the floor that lack of responsiveness would be closely. related to a cognitive deficit on level of, symbol formation and kind of peiceptual disorders being thought of as a, causative factor.
This series of symposia started four years ago. At the first conference (1980) three essential elements were found for the development of early infants: blern of relations among infants as cited' above. The third session (1982) took up the problem of leading and discussed the roles and relations of adults as leaders of infants. The fourth session (1983) discussed “Infant development and structure of infant-care”. The fifth session (1984) discussed the structure of dynamic process of infant-care by analyzing Infant-Teacher relationships in a day-care center. Tashiro, one of the speakers, tried to examine the relation between nfants (0, 1, and 2 years of age) and teachers, through the analysis of the reports of personal experiences having been read at national infant-care conferences held during the past fifteen years. She paid attention to such plays as ‘bopeep’‘chasing one another’, and‘hide and seek’. The results: bopeep' was considered a play based on the interaction between one infant and one teacher,(2)‘hide and seek’ asked for two teachers to play the two parts: i.e. hiding and seeking ; and (3) teachers's immediate response was considered asimportant to interest infants while at play. She pointed out two things rather difficult for her to analyze the above reports ; little or no mention was made of how each infant was located in the play, and of why each carer behaved o. Ogino, another speaker, analyzed the dynamic process of infant-caring through observation, that is, by close observation of a VTR in which infants and carers were seen laying in sadpits of three-daycare centers sampled at random. Ogino first video-recorded, then wrote a diagram of infant-caring process, then recorded episodes (those appro priate to reveal the qualities of infantcaring), and then interviewed the infant-carers about their intentions. The results were as follows: troubles were caused in the infant-teacher relationship when (1) one could not respond properly to another ; (2) flexibility was lacking ; and (3) when its aim was tconsciously entertained. On the other hand no problems in the infant-teacher relationship were observed when (1) infant-carers cooperated with each other ; (2) various responses were noticed ; (3) each role was differentiated among infant-carers (onecarer telling infant to do so and another encoura approach, it was pointed out that practical analysis and developmental study. must be made synthetic with each other in order to induce out a great qua-(1) material environment.(2) human relations among infants. and (3) way of leading. The second session (1981) discussed the method of approach to the pro-encouraging him or' her); (4) sonic images were presented by infant-carers ; (5)‘ interaction of one’carer with one infant was followed by another ; (6) the playscene was so structurally presented s to be understood by infants ; and (7) it was devised in such a way that a good relation of a pair o. infant and teacher would influence those of others. Yamada, a discussant, referred to Tashiro from a psychological viewpoint, saying that those plays were essential activities to one-year-old infant at the stage of language acquisition and self building, since‘not being’implies not only‘negation’but‘description of some thing absent’ Yamada also commented on Ogino, and added that Ogino's way of observation by the use of VTR (hitherto used to make clear the relation of nfant and mother) was a new way of application, but that some abstraction would be necessary to comprehend the cause and its effect. Tadatsu, another discussant, said that she was deeply impressed, from the psychological point of view, with the real way life was treated adding that the study of hospitalism in America was turning its attention on what was important in order to secure the development of an infant as a human being.
Nowadays the concept of criterion-referenced measurement/evaluation is applied in the fields of educational measurement and practice. But various problems to be clarified ramain in theory and in its practical application. The first speaker, Fujita, presented various patterns of frequency distribution of test scores based upon more than 10,000 samples ; he also analyzed the relationship between score distribution pattern and item construction and/or scoring system. Healso pointed out the basic assumption that inner process of learning was continuous but its external expression was discrete. The second speaker, Nojima, reported of the recent studies of criterion-referenced measurement in United States. He, at first, analized the term “criterion” and then reviewed the ways and concepts of its meaning. The third speaker, Ueda, reported some influences‘on teachers’attitude and practice by introducing criterion-referenced asurement/evaluation into schools. And he pointed out some urgent tasks that would promote the educational practices based upon a mastery learning model. Yoshizaki and suga, discussants, after raising several questions concerning each speaker's presentation, Prof. Hachino, Prof. Murakoshi, and some others from the audience put up questions and opinions to which the speakers willingly replied.
In this symposium of telephone-counseling, after many points were indicated by four trainers of ama teurs.and two professional telephone-counselors inside or outside the “Inochi-No-Denwa” activities, the following merits and demerits of telephone-counseling common among professional and amateur ounselors have been identified in a general discussion. Telephone-counseling might be useful for callers to communicate: (1) “more immediately, more widely, more economically” than with analytical method ; this regardless of disturbing telephone allergic person in his call, and promoting any psychological damage or “telephone dependent syndrome” in callers, especially from amateur counselors;(2) “more intimately” as one of the “hot media” this regardless of promoting any social intercourse taking or counter transference, especially from amateur counselors; (3) promoting positive ransference in callers by imaging up of counselors although “more remotely” without any interview ; this regardless of missing the possible depressive state in callers. Thus, it might be useful for callers and counselors to.(4) release while protecting themselves, because of the anonymity of the media; this regardless of disturbing with their rapport-making, and of delaying their therapy by the transference of coses between multiple amateur counselors; (5) communicate “more equally” because callers might freely hang up; this regardless of the counselor's anxiety about “a slender line” finally,(6) help lonely men in modern times with a “more intimate” method, and develop a spirit that “every life should be equally important” for peace in the world ; this gardless of some demerits. Moreover, Nobuo Andoh (Kyushu University) commented, as the chairman of the second symposium, that telephone-counseling should be important for community mental hygiene, and he added some clarifications on the purpose of such system in the years to come.
This symposium was organized to clarity tasks, present and future, of Morality Psychology defined by Ohnishi, the organizer, as one branch of psychology, i.e.an investigation of the psychological mechanism and process of person achieving moral values. Ohnishi presented the components and aspects of morality modified on Dr. Rest's proposal and reviewed papers, presented at the Annual Convention of the Japanese Association of Educational Psycho logy during the last decads. Naito presented the tasks of morality psychology from the view point of a cognitive-developmental theory.morality should be in.vesti gated from various viewpoints, and that its specific theory should be constructed. Ninomiya reviewed the researches of childhood morality from the Piaget theory and proposed further studies on childhood morality and a better clarification of them. Yamagishi reviewed the esearches of adolescence and adulthood morality from the view point of kolbergian and acknowledged the necessity of more positive research based on particular experiences in adolescence and adulthood. Ujiie spoke on a research of moral behaviors and proposed a research made in more concrete and real situations. From the audience, Dr. Nagano commented on a clear differentiation betweenmorality should be in.vesti gated from various viewpoints, and that its specific theory should be constructed.
The first symposium on this theme (1980) criticized various gaps in ordinary educational psychology from trancendental viewpoint. The second symposium (1981) studied epistemological relation between a researcher and his objects. The third Symposium (1983) analysed concrete contents of educational psychology. This fourth symposium enabled us to discuss more practical and clinical research on educational process. According to, Takeshita, educational psychology should include a study of the educational process itself. Education is the activity that an educator chooses some value from many values and teaches it to his students. All the school activities cannot be education. And some activities outside the school can be considered as part of education. Takeshita presented some points that should deserve amelioration: 1. ploblem teachers' choice in educational objectives. 2. control of beducational conditions. 3. making relation between selected objective and teaching materials. 4. necessity of researchers' clinical and practical attitude. 5. necessity of communication with people in other areas. Takizawa, the second speaker asserted that educational psychology should be applied psychology. So, it might be better for educational psychology to be a part of pedagogy; but, it has developped as a part of psychology. Thus, it uses the methods developped in general psychology. But, such muthods did not fit properl y in educational practices. For example: 1. ccording to prepared to future education, i.e. the period. such deductional method, many data can be gathered; stile, the thinking process of individual cannot be explained. 2. According to behaviorism, objectivity and verifiability were considered part of educational psychology. still,“thinking process”. and “difference between success and understanding” were dfficult to classify. Hosoya, the third speaker said that he would like to present a part of his teaching, practice concerning his experience in educational psychology, and would be happy to receive some advice from the audience, so he would be able to improve himself as a teacher. His objective was to enable his students to do factorial thinking through the experiment of Muller-Lyer's optical illusion. In this case, he used anticipation or hypothesis containing some objectives different from usual anticipation or hypothesis. He gives his students such questions that make them active to realize their aims or expectations. Discussins after the speaker's propositions focused on two issues:(1) Educational psychologists should have educational objectives.(2) “From success to understanding” or “from understanding to success”: on this matter Takizawa pointed out that a child thinking goes from success to understanding with a gap or difficulty between them. Additionally two issues have been presented by the audience.(1) Not only success and nderstanding but also empathic understanding is an important aspect of an educational process.(2) We should be as the fifth age of computer.
The symposium was organized by the Research Committee of J.A.E.P. in order to discuss how the changing concepts of children's ability had relations With the theories of instruction. Hayamizu pointing btit the teacher's attribution, on children's achievement reflected her view on ability and achievement while it would influencher style of interaction: with each child, Kawai, based on his experience, expressed the view that a well formulated concept of general ability, coupled with research efforts of longe range ATT, were still needed. Nagano, on the other hand, stressed the need to consider a dynamic rather than a static definition of ability. The discussion by sugimura high-lighted several issues concerning some of the presented ideas. A lively discussion followed on how to conceive a nrnnpr ability in erincatinnal nractice.
This symposium was designed to clarify a range of possibility on the development of ability of children according to the various conditions in their growth. Suga proposed two mathematical models on a development of ability. The first was an interactive model that the child ability could develop infinitely by the xternalanipulation of his environment. The second was a recursive model showing there would be a plateau in the course of development' of ability. According to the second model there was a limit of development of ability ; therefore subsequent learning would be only a transitory regulation and the development of this ability would stop. From such standpoint Suga discussed early education and ability improvement. Matsubara. from the point of view of counseling, said that age would be the most suitable period to develop such ability. So he insisted that the condi. tions should be. prepared (interest, motivation, language, environment and teaching technique) so to give full play to the child's ability. Ueno, taking into account clinical diagnosis and remedial teaching on developmental handicaped children, defined ability as adjustment power. He said that in the clinic of handicaped children importance should be given to a dynamic notion of a mobile and hangeable ability in Stead of a static noton of an ability expressing the present state of affairs. Muto, considering the whole process of making a signification as a development of ability, insisted' that there was no difference on the man's ability because every human being was able to make a signification,. but a difference of man's ability is a difference of strategies of make a signification. So according to his opinion, developmental psychologist should make research on the developmental differences of such strategies. Discussion following the speaker's proposition focused ‘mainly on the’ aim Of, the development of ability. In short, it seemed that the tandpoints of each speaker could be explained by a structuralistic concept of development in spite of their various, standpoints.
The relations between cognition and behavior were inquired from various aspects. Before analyzing their relations, different aspects of both terms were examined.The main aspects examined are as fallows. 1. Cognition as a drive of behavior. 2. From behavior to cognition as a direction of development. 3. As a dimension in personality; cognition and behavior as orientations of value in personality. 4. As functions to be distributed as a mental re-;source. 5. Cognition as a ontroling function of behavior For the control of behavior by cognition, two levels were differentiated: control of behavior by cognition in perceptual level and control of behavior by cognition in representational level. Several experiments on both levels were reported. For the cognition in perceptual level, three xperiments on rhythm synchronization and rhythm-pattern reproduction were reported as examples of performances as functions of rhythm-pattern comprehension. Also an experiment on the relation of hearing and pronunciation of English phoneme (L & R) by Japanese subjects was reported. For the cognition inepresentational level, two experimentso- n the influenceso fknowledgeo n sentence completiona nd memoryw ere reported where subjects with high level knowledge showed better performance than subjects with low level knowledge. An experiment on social cognition was reported where subjects with high cognitivec omplexitys howedb etter performancei n the prediction of.behavior of assumed person integrated from complex informations. Another experiment on self cognition was also reported where subjects with high self consciousnesss howedl ess good performance in the color,n aming of Stroopt-typ,el ists with self-relevant words. In th last part, an aspect of impotence of cognition in the control of behavior was examined, and it was stressed that the beliefe of causality between cognition and behavior was an important variable to maintain the controling function of cognition on behavior.
Prof. Bower proposed that the newborn baby responds to formal, abstract properties of stimulation being independent of any specific sense. A simple example of such a property was provided by inputs that specify the radial direction of a source of stimulation. Considering a sound source: if it comes from straight ahead, a sound source produces exactly the same stimulation in each ear ; if it hits the right ear, the right ear would be stimulated earlier and more intensely than the left ear. At a formal level the same system would operate for detection of an olfactory source, a vibratory source and a visual source. Prof. Bower explained a machine named sonic guide which, at a formal level, could present the same information as vision through the auditory sense. Using a sonic guide, even a newborn could learn to avoid an approaching object in the dark. In an experiment on reaching of newborns, they performed well in the dark with the sonic guide, even better than with vision in the light. Moreover, if congenitally blind babies were provided with the sonic guide at an early stage, they would grow like sighted children, showing none of the lesions characterizing blind babies. Formal, abstract and higher-order variables whose sensory content is novel to us as a species, can be utilized easily and thus have the support of a normal program of development. Concerning the imitation of the newborn, Prof. Bower argued that the newborn might not see the face but the movements of the face. Movement is considered an intermodal and has a higher-order variable. The baby is able to see the movements of the model's face and feel the movements of his own face. In order to test such statement, the moving pattern of dots attached to the face of a lady is presented to the newborns. A three-day-old infant can imitate pure movements, mouth opening and closing and so on. It has even been reported that 12 month olds are able to identify the gender of other infants from slides. Prof. Bower showed they can easily identify such gender from the pure movement of lights attached to the joints of a baby, one at each shoulder, elbow, wrist, knee and ankle joint. Finally, from these evidences, Prof. Bower proposed that the newborn's perceptual world is form without content, being simply a structure of places and events, without the rich sensory bloom characterizing our own adults' perceptual world. Following the above, he demonstrated, based on a classic experiment on intermodal perception, the possibility for us to perceive the same world as the newborns do.