ABSTRACT
THE JAPANESE JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY (2018, vol.29)


Vol.29 No.1

Ogawa, Motoi (Soshu Hospital) & Takagi, Hideaki (Faculty of Liberal Arts, University of the Sacred Heart): The Processes and Characteristics of a Mother's Forgiveness toward Her Child: A Qualitative Study of Adolescents and Their Mothers. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.1, 1-12.

The issue of forgiveness in mother-child relations has seldom been studied empirically, although Heisaku Kosawa has deepened our knowledge of this subject through psychoanalytic methods based on Ajase complex theory. The aim of this study is to clarify possible processes whereby mothers forgive their children, and their children are forgiven by their mothers. Specifically, 10 mothers were interviewed about what process they followed when they actually forgave their children, and their 12 adolescent children were asked about their processes of being forgiven. The data were analyzed using the Modified Grounded Theory Approach (M-GTA). The results showed that forgiving and being forgiven each has a four-level process model. The results assert that a mother tries to maintain her function as a parent even after some hurtful and/or puzzling experiences, and that her attitude consequently leads the child to realize that he/she is actually forgiven. In addition, we considered some possible recognition gaps between the forgiving mother and the forgiven child, and the clinical problems associated with these gaps.
yKeywordsz Forgiveness, Mother-child relationship, Ajase complex, M-GTA


Takasaki, Fumiko (Faculty of Education, Kumamoto University): Developmental Changes in Attitudes toward Praise. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.1, 13-21.

One reason why praise of others is not always effective is a gap between the intentions of the giver of praise and the perceptions of the recipient of praise. In this research, the factor which caused such a gap was defined as “attitudes towards praise,” and this factor was analyzed in terms of developmental changes in attitudes. A sample of 1,058 individuals that included middle school students, high school students, college students and adults completed a questionnaire on attitudes towards praise and their experiences as providers and recipients of praise. The results showed that as individuals became older, “approval” and “instrumental” attitudes grew stronger while “standardization” and “hesitation” attitudes grew weaker. While experiences of being praised strongly affected the formation of attitudes towards praise, it was evident that people were influenced more strongly by how they were praised than how often they were praised. It was also shown that how often one praised others influenced the praisers' attitudes, as mediated by their experience with successful communication of praise.
yKeywordsz Praise, Attitudes, Experiences of praising others / being praised

Nagaoka, Chika (Faculty of Management, Otemon Gakuin University): Effects on the Attitudes of Readers of Descriptions of People with Developmental Disabilities. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.1, 22-33.

This research examined the effects of written descriptions of people with developmental disabilities on the reluctance of abled readers to interact with disabled people. Participants without disabilities were asked to read one of 4 types of stimuli (between-subject factors) that were manipulated as two factors: concreteness (high/low) and description of interactions between a person with developmental disabilities and other persons without disabilities (included/not included). They were next asked to imagine a peer with some of the characteristics from the written stimuli and complete the friendship and self-assertiveness subscales of a questionnaire. The results indicated that participants who read a highly concrete document were significantly less reluctant to interact, compared to those who read a less concrete document. The participants who read a document describing interactions were not more significantly reluctant to interact than those who read a document that did not describe an interaction. The discussion focused on use of knowledge from social psychology and suggested guidelines for documentation of developmental disabilities.
yKeywordsz Developmental Disabilities, Attitude, Stereotype, Concreteness

Kabaya, Shinsuke (Department of Psychology, Aichi Shukutoku University): Mothers' Attuned Responses to Their Toddlers' Negativism: Coherence with Responses at the Pre-Toddler Stage. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.1, 34-47.

Recent research has focused on a kind of empathetic response called an “attuned response,” as exhibited by mothers of young children with secure attachment styles. Kabaya (2013) found that these mothers responded to their pre-linguistic infants' negative emotions by making “mind-related comments with a smile.” The present longitudinal study examined another sample of infant-mother pairs (N=40) to investigate whether mothers with secure attachment styles continue to exhibit such attuned responses to their toddlers' negativism, which is accompanied by mother-toddler conflict. Mothers' facial and verbal responses to their children's emotional expressions were observed when their children were 8- and 14-months old. Regression analyses showed that mothers with secure attachment styles responded to their 14-month-old toddlers' emotions of anger or negativism with “mind-related comments with a neutral face.” These mothers also responded to their 8-month-old infants' negative emotions in the same way. This consistency suggests that mothers with secure attachment styles empathetically verbalize their pre-toddlers' and toddlers' negative emotions.
yKeywordsz Attuned response, Attachment, Toddler, Longitudinal observations

Vol.29 No.2

Morizawa, Ryosuke (School for the Mentally Challenged at Otsuka, University of Tsukuba), Yoshii, Sadahito (University of Yamanashi, Graduate Faculty of Interdisciplinary Research Faculty of Education) & Nagasaki, Tsutomu (Jissen Women's University, Department of Human Sciences and Arts). Support for the Cooperative Activity of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Use of “Informing” and “Requesting” in Partner's Role Execution. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.2, 53-60.

The study examined whether encouragement of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to learn “informing” and “requesting” would enable them to provide mutual support (support for the other when necessary) and engage in cooperative activity. An intervention condition was set in a game where a child with ASD and his partner worked together to complete a jigsaw puzzle, to encourage them to learn “informing” and “requesting.” The results showed that “requesting” and “informing” did occur, and children with ASD became able to provide the support needed by the partner to complete the jigsaw puzzle. It was also observed that when children achieved the completion of the jigsaw puzzle, they displayed “sharing” in which children with ASD shared joy with their partner. This suggested that cooperative activity did occur. Further, in daily life as well, it was observed that cooperative activity with teachers occurred and supportive behavior towards classmates was displayed. Thus, it was suggested that children with ASD can engage in “sharing of emotions” and perform cooperative activity by learning to inform and make requests.
yKeywordsz Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cooperative Activity, Informing, Requesting


Uriu, Yoshiko (Faculty of Human Development and Education, Kyoto Women's University). Large-Scale Inventory Survey on Physical and Mental Health of Children and Adolescents Aged 10-15: Fatigue, Daily Life Conditions, and Family Class. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.2, 61-72.

The physical and mental health of elementary and junior high school students were investigated. The participants completed a questionnaire that inquired about their experiences of chronic physical complaints and negative feelings. Exploratory factor analysis indicated a four-factor structure: “Fatigue,” “Annoyance,” “Depression,” and “Insufficient concentration.” The relationships between these four factors were examined by structural equation modeling, which indicated that Fatigue influenced the other factors and that conditions of everyday life, including a short sleeping time among others, influenced Fatigue. A three-way (school×sex×family class) Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was conducted on each score. This ANOVA confirmed the significance of each effect, with the exception of family class differences, which were only significant in elementary school students. These findings suggest that chronic physical complaints and negative feelings are reinforced not only by detrimental daily life conditions related to lower family class, but also by higher demands for academic achievement in junior high school students of higher family class.
yKeywordsz Physical and mental health, Family class, Daily life conditions, Academic achievement, Elementary and junior high school students



Nishio, Chihiro (Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo), Kudo, Kazutoshi (Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, Department of Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo) & Sasaki, Masato (Faculty of Art and Design, Tama Art University). An Ecological Study of the Development of Infants' Independent Walking, and Resources in the Home Environment. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.2, 73-83.

We observed 3 infants at their homes for a month from the time they began to walk, to examine the process of walking initiation. Walking initiation processes were broken down into 4 aspects: (1) postures before walking initiation, (2) hand use for support before walking initiation, (3) stepping strategies, and (4) carrying objects or not. The infants did not always initiate walking with forward steps and no objects in hand. Instead, they often stepped sideways, changed directions by twisting their bodies, shifted their posture, or carried objects. Although various types of walking initiation were observed, each infant seemed to have her/his own preferable types of walking initiation. The results suggested that the initial direction infants faced before walking initiation, and whether furniture was available that could give infants support, constrained how they initiated walking. The development of walking can be understood as a task that emerges in a system that consists of the individual infant and the home environment.
yKeywordsz Development of walking, Walking initiation, Posture, Naturalistic observation, Home environment, Infant development



Kaichi, Yanaoka (Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University, Japanese Society for Promotion of the Science), Ayano, Tsuda (Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University) & Chisa, Nishimura (Faculty of Education, Kyoto University). An Observational Study on the Process of Script Formation in 3-Year-Olds. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.2, 84-94.

This study clarified how 3-yea-olds form scripts, using a longitudinal observational method. As evidence for script formation, we focused on a hierarchical structure of action sequence, unchangeable order, and exchangeable order among actions. Twelve 3-year-olds who were newly enrolled in preschool participated in our study. In study 1, we observed the “morning preparation” setting at a preschool, over a two-month period. After a month and a half, children spontaneously executed the action sequence according to the instructed order that their teacher taught, but after two months they tended not to follow the instructed order and executed some action steps in an exchangeable order. Study 2 found that ten 3-year-olds who had enrolled in their preschool in the previous year showed a pattern similar to that in Study1. In addition, we asked the children's teachers to divide the sequence of “morning preparation” into several groups of activites. As a result, 3-year-olds accommodated the interchange of an exchangeable order within the group, but they followed the instructed order among the sequence of groups. These findings offered novel insights regarding the process of script formation among 3-year-olds.
yKeywordsz Script, Order of actions, Preschoolers, Preschool morning preparation, Observational study


Vol.29 No.3

Satou, Yuuki (Graduate School of Psychological Science, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido) & Kanazawa, Junichiro (School of Psychological Science, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido). Relationship between Maternal ADHD Symptoms and Parenting Style: Focusing on Emotional Dysregulation. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.3, 105-113.

Previous findings suggest that Japan and other countries have different parenting styles. As an extension of these cross-cultural differences, the present study examined the mediating effect of emotional dysregulation (the inability to properly modulate and regulate emotions) on the relationship between maternal ADHD symptoms and parenting styles. Participants were 179 mothers of preschool and elementary school children. The results of the mediation analysis revealed that emotional dysregulation does indeed mediate the relationship between maternal ADHD and parenting style. As part of assistance to mothers with ADHD symptoms, it is useful to add coping methods for ADHD while implementing parent training. These results clarify the fact that emotional dysregulation is related to parenting style. This fact suggests that improvement of emotional dysregulation is one of the best ways to cope with ADHD, and this could be added to parental training.
yKeywordszParenting style, Mother, ADHD, Emotional Dysregulation


Akagi, Mayumi (Graduate School of Contemporary Psychology, Rikkyo University). The Influence of Mother-Daughter Relations on Daughters' Identity and Mental Health. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.3, 114-124.

Female university students (N299) completed a questionnaire, and factor analysis of the data extracted five factors which were used to develop a scale with five sub-scales to assess mother-daughter relationships (the “Mother-Daughter Relationship Scale”). These sub-scales were used to classify participants into four types: (1) Rebellious (unhealthy separation), (2) Connected (healthy connection), (3) Independent (healthy separation), and (4) Subordination with conflict (unhealthy connection). The results indicated that both “connected” and “independent” types had features of high identity achievement, low “Pressure from mother” and low “Sense of inferiority toward mother.” However, both “Rebellious” and “Subordination with conflict” types had features of low identity achievement, high “Pressure from mother” and high “Sense of inferiority toward mother.” These findings suggest that “separation” or “connection” are not critical issues, but that mother-daughter relations characterized by low “Pressure from mother” and low “Sense of inferiority toward mother” are important for daughters' identity achievement.
yKeywordszMother-Daughter relations, Identity, Mental health, Adolescence, Separation/connection




Hamana, Mai (Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo). Young Children's Evaluation of Negative Situations and the Intensity of Their Emotional Reaction: A Comparison between the Evaluation of Damage to Self and to Others. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.3, 125-132.

The present study investigated young children's assessments of intention and degree of damage inflicted in the hypothetical situation in which the target of an aggressive act was either the child her/himself or a stranger. A total of 56 children, 4- to 6-year-olds, participated in the study. They evaluated the intention of the agent, the difficulty of the situation, the target's ability to cope with the situation, and the intensity of the negative emotions of the target in two conditions: the self-target condition and the other-target condition. The results showed that children evaluated the agent's intention more favorably in the self-target condition than in the other-target condition in cases where they evaluated the other-target condition first, followed by the self-target condition. In addition, they evaluated the target's ability to cope more favorably, the situation as less difficult, and the intensity of the negative emotional experience as weaker in the self-target condition than in the other-target condition. These results suggested a relationship between the children's evaluations of the situations and their emotional inferences.
yKeywordszYoung children, Emotion, Hostility, Intention, Ability




Nakata, Ryuzaburo (Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University), Kubo-Kawai, Namiko (Department of Psychology, Aichi Shukutoku University), Okanoya, Kazuo (Graduate School of Arts and Science, the University of Tokyo, JST ERATO Okanoya Emotional Information Project) & Kawai, Nobuyuki (Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University, JST ERATO Okanoya Emotional Information Project). Elderly Adults Became Aggressive than Younger Adults in a Simulated Traffic Jam: Enhanced Left Frontal Brain Activity Associated with Approach Motivation. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.3, 133-144.

Previous studies suggest that left-superior asymmetry in brain activity reflects the approach motivation of anger, i.e., when people get upset asymmetry increases. It is unclear whether this asymmetry of brain activity reflects blood flow as evidenced by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). This asymmetry may be greater in elderly adults than in younger adults because of their weaker inhibitory potential in the frontal lobe. The present study showed that elderly participants exhibited left-superior brain activity (front-dorsolateral area) in response to a traffic jam created by a driving simulator, whereas the young adults did not. In addition, slowing down of driving speed in response to unknown car trouble did not yield asymmetric brain activity in the frontal lobe in either younger or older adults. These results suggest that (1) only elderly adults experience subjective anger in a stimulated traffic jam, and (2) elderly adults exhibit left-superior frontal brain activity as evidenced by their NIRS scores. This seems to reflect increased approach motivation (i.e., anger), which suggests vulnerability in the inhibitory potential of elderly adults.
yKeywordszAnger, Approach motivation, Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), Elderly, Driving simulator




Vol.29 No.4

Misato, Hayashi (Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University). International Outputs from Japanese Studies on Comparative Cognitive Development: In-between Different Cultures. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.4, 156-163.

Comparative studies on cognitive development in primates including humans provide deeper insights to understand the evolutionary origins of cognitive development in human children. Primatology in Japan has the long history of publishing research achievements in international academic societies from the beginning. This report summarized the comparative studies on cognitive development in chimpanzees by focusing on object manipulation as a non-verbal comparative scale. Direct comparison between chimpanzees and human children revealed fundamental similarities in some tasks testing their ability of performing combinatory manipulation which is a prerequisite of the tool-using behavior. However, human children performed better in a task requiring social referencing during object manipulation. Efforts for expanding the study theme to other great apes which has relatively limited developmental data and to other cognitive functions outside the object-manipulation context are also reported as well as the importance of mother-infant interactions as a foundation of cognitive development. Studies on chimpanzees, as an ultimately different culture, gives us clues for promoting international outputs from Japanese studies in the domain of comparative cognitive development.
yKeywordsz Comparative cognitive development, Chimpanzees, Combinatory manipulation, Mother-infant interaction


Yasuhiro, Kanakogi (Otemon Gakuin University) & Yuko, Okumura (NTT Communication Science Laboratories). Conducting Infant Research in the International Competition: Its Significances and Challenges. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.4, 164-171.

When we consider a significance of international research outcomes, it depends on individual thoughts and there may be various motivations and reasons. Some researchers may advocate the uniqueness of Japanese children, other researchers may suggest the cultural difference. However, the authors have continued to submit our own studies to international journals based on the simple motivation to survive against international competition. First, we review our international infant studies which we have submitted to international journals. Specifically, we introduce empirical experiments of social cognitive development that investigate understanding others, moral/prosocial behaviors, and social learning in early infancy. Then, we discuss the personal significance and its challenge of international research outcomes, which we have acquired in the process of international competition, and then think about the future of Japanese developmental psychology.
yKeywordsz Infant, Social cognition, Understanding others, Moral, Social learning


Mizokawa, Ai (Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Nagoya University). Disseminating “Japanese Developmental Psychology” Worldwide: Exploring Child Development in the Social Context. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.4, 172-180.

This article gives an overview of the author's research on development of mental state understanding and interpersonal communication, and discusses the significance of disseminating developmental psychology from Japan to the world. First, it describes a review of two studies on Japanese children's understanding of apparent crying, and two studies on Japanese and Italian children's sensitivity to teacher and peer criticism, focusing on the development of children's theory of mind. An examination of these studies indicated the need to pay attention to the various social contexts in which child development is embedded when we try to capture the development of mental state understanding and social interaction. It also revealed the difficulty in capturing a holistic picture of Japanese children's development using Western perspectives and research paradigms. Future directions for disseminating the findings of Japanese developmental psychology worldwide are discussed.
yKeywordsz Japanese children, Theory of mind, Emotion, Social context, Culture


Fujii, Takayuki (Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University) & Takagishi, Haruto (Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University). Development of Altruistic Behavior in Children: Significance and Prospects of Developmental Research from Japan. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.4, 181-188.

The internationalization of developmental research in Japan has progressed in recent years, with many Japanese research papers having been published in international journals in English. However, the submission of scientific papers to international journals is not necessarily the optimal choice in the field of psychology in Japan. The authors have continued to make presentations at international conferences regarding the results of developmental psychology studies based on an interdisciplinary approach that goes beyond traditional confines. Here we introduce the authors' developmental research on the effects of others observing altruistic behavior in children, alongside our rationale for selecting this theme in the context of developmental research from Japan. Finally, the authors state their informed opinion regarding the significance of international research dissemination and the prospects of developmental psychology in Japan.
yKeywordsz Altruistic behavior, Observation, Preschool children


Tetsuji, Ito (College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ibaraki University). Prospects for a Research Dialog toward the World: Considering the Cross-Border Concept of “Adaptation”. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.4, 189-198.

The purpose of this paper is to consider how to pave the way for research dialog toward the world. For this, I considered the cross-border perspective of the concept of “adaptation” along the three axes of “academic field/ genre,” “country/region,” and “period/time” and examined what kind of image of adaptation emerged. A framework for reexamining this concept, used, for example, in developmental psychology, from a multifaceted perspective was indicated. Through such conceptual and theoretical examination I tried to gain a fresh understanding of adaptation. The study clarified that, adaptation, constitutes an issue of agency, is not at all a self-evident concept, can include both changes of humans themselves and external circumstances (physical and social environment), and, there are forms of adaptation that do not become visible just by living in a specific country/region or a specific era/time. Finally, I highlight that our attempt involves a research dialog toward the world and examine how the research results of developmental psychology can be oriented to the world and broadened through dialog.
yKeywordsz Research dialog, Cross-border, Adaptation, Framework, Issue of agency


Norimatsu, Hiroko (CLLE, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UT2J, France). Uniqueness of Japanese Studies in Developmental Psychology. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.4, 199-207.

In this article, we consider the meaning of communicating Japanese developmental research to the world, and propose some concrete suggestions. Concretely, we pick up and summarize some characteristics and uniqueness of Japanese studies, based principally on the Japanese Journal de Developmental Psychology. Firstly, we outline the methodological strong points of Japanese developmental researches, as the development of quantitative and qualitative methods, the proportion of longitudinal studies, and the debates on the individual difference in development. Secondly, we present some examples of studies, for their originality of behavioral indicators, or choice of activities as salient context. Thirdly, from the viewpoint of cultural comparative psychology, we summarize the uniqueness and benefits of Japanese developmental studies, and discuss them including generational and historical changes. Behind these characteristics, the epistemological conception of Japanese researchers is certainly involved. Finally, concrete proposals for facilitating the communication of Japanese developmental research to the world are summarized.
yKeywordsz Japanese studies in developmental psychology, Unique viewpoint, Methodological characteristics, Influence of researcher's culture, Epistemology on development


Takahira, Sayuri (College of Education, Tamagawa University). Implicit and Explicit Issues in the Internationalization of Japanese Developmental Studies. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.4, 208-218.

The internationalization of study of development in Japan and contributions to international society has been an issue for a long time. In this study, based on three symposiums held in the 2017 Conference of the Japan Society of Developmental Psychology, the internationalization of studies of development is discussed from the following three perspectives. The first examines cultural dependency of study of development from the viewpoints of developmental research from Europe and America (especially English-speaking countries), the second examines the current status in internationalization by Japanese researchers and the academic trends of studies of development, based on high-quality cases of development studies, and the third examines the role and potential of the Japan Society of Developmental Psychology and the association's journal and considers the possibilities of supporting researchers toward internationalization. Finally, this paper discusses what should lie at the root of studies that tend to be overlooked by researchers aiming for internationalization.
yKeywordsz Cultural dependence, Interdisciplinary research, International joint research, Internationalization, Research support


Kibe, Chieko (Faculty of Core Research, Ochanomizu University). Effects of Paternal Depression on Family Relationships: A Longitudinal Investigation in Early Childhood. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.4, 219-227.

This study examined the longitudinal effects of paternal depression in the context of the family system based on findings on the relational mechanism obtained in the previous study (author, 2016b). Data were collected from both mothers and fathers of 135 children attending 12 different kindergartens in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Surveys were conducted when the children were three and five years old. The causal relation between paternal depression and father-child relationships and paternal depression and parental relationships were investigated using a cross-lagged effects model. Results revealed that paternal depression negatively affected the quality of father-child relationships as well as parental relationships, both of which were measured through self-reports by fathers. Findings suggest that paternal depression has a detrimental effect on fathers' perception of the quality of family relationships. This study has confirmed the importance of considering paternal depression in early childhood and the need to also consider its influence on family members.
yKeywordsz Paternal depression, Father-child relationships, Parental relationships, Early childhood, Effects on relationship perception


Sunami, Naomi (Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo). Process and Characteristics of Difficulties Experienced by Teachers of Children with ADHD Tendencies: Qualitative Research Based on Teacher Narratives. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.4, 228-242.

The purpose of this study is to examine the process and characteristics of teachers' involvement and difficulties with children with ADHD tendencies in regular classrooms. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 elementary school teachers and were analyzed using the grounded theory approach. This resulted in eight category groups. Then, a hypothesis model was generated. When improvement is not seen in [situations of adaptive difficulties], [teacher distress] arose. Next, the teachers developed a multidimensional understanding of the children by [understanding the characteristics] of the children's behavior and cognition and [understanding the children] in terms of their inner world; involvement under this new viewpoint was organized through the [re-examination of responses]. Based on these results, the involvements that seemed to be useful for the children with ADHD tendencies in regular classrooms were arranged as (a) direct involvement with children, (b) involvement with the environment, and (c) multidimensional understanding of the children; then, educational suggestions were presented. Finally, meanings of the difficulties for teachers were considered.
yKeywordsz Regular classroom, ADHD tendency, Teacher distress, Involvement, Qualitative research


Yusuke, Murakami (Department of Physical Education, Division of General Education, Kanazawa Medical University) & Yukinori, Sawae (Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba). Characteristics of Motor Development in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder as Indicated by Movement Variability: Longitudinal Study Based on the Multiple Time Scale Method. The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology 2018, Vol.29, No.4, 243-252.

From the perspective of the dynamic systems approach, previous studies have redefined motor development theory, and movement variability has been an essential evaluation index for analyzing motor development. Accordingly, this study investigated the characteristics of motor development in a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) focusing on movement variability. The child's jumping movements were analyzed using a longitudinal design that incorporated multiple time scales. Results indicate that the child with ASD made a total of 129 variable jumping movements during the 13 months of the study. These variable movements were seen to alternate between the stability and instability aspects. Furthermore, qualitative changes in his jumping movements occurred in response to changing task constraints, that is, - primarily, the way he cared about his own body or external constraints. These findings suggest that for children with ASD, adapting to task constraints is a critical factor for increasing movement variability and long-term motor development.
yKeywordsz Microgenetic scale, Task constrains, Instability aspect, Movement variability