Yayoi Miyaoka

A Web-accessible database of characteristics of the 1,945 basic Japanese kanji.

In 1981, the Japanese government published a list of the 1,945 basic Japanese kanji (Jooyoo Kanjihyo), including specifications of pronunciation. This list was established as the standard for kanji usage in print. The database for 1,945 basic Japanese kanji provides 30 cells that explain in detail the various characteristics of kanji. Means, standard deviations, distributions, and information related to previous research concerning these kanji are provided in this paper. The database is saved as a Microsoft Excel 2000 file for Windows. This kanji database is accessible on the Web site of the Oxford Text Archive, Oxford University (http://ota.ahds.ac.uk). Using this database, researchers and educators will be able to conduct planned experiments and organize classroom instruction on the basis of the known characteristics of selected kanji.

Factor Structure of Japanese Versions of Two Emotional Intelligence Scales

This article reports the psychometric properties of two emotional intelligence measures translated into Japanese. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to examine the factor structure of a Japanese version of the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) completed by 310 Japanese university students. A second study employed CFA to examine the factor structure of a Japanese version of the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS) completed by 200 Japanese university students drawn from the first study. A four-factor model was replicated for both the WLEIS and for the SEIS. Structural equation modeling indicated that higher WLEIS and SEIS scores were related to higher self-reported satisfaction with life.

The Effects of Phrase-Length Order and Scrambling in the Processing of Visually Presented Japanese Sentences

The present study investigated the effects of phrase length and scrambling in the processing of Japanese sentences. Reading times of short phrases, long phrases, verbs, and whole sentences, measured by the method of self-paced reading, did not differ in terms of phrase-length order and scrambling. In addition, four types of sentences constructed on the basis of phrase-length order and scrambling did not affect duration times of correctness decision-making for sentences. However, error rates differed between canonical and scrambled sentences regardless of phrase-length order. This result implies that scrambled sentences were harder to judge as correct sentences than canonical sentences. Thus, scrambling affects the appropriate integration of information, whereas phrase-length order is simply an indication of preference and not of cognitive processing. To explain the present result, the authors propose the “configurational structure without movement,” which predicts no difference in speed between the processing of canonical and scrambled sentences, apart from error rates.

Pre- and Post-head Processing for Single- and Double-Scrambled Sentences of a Head-Final Language as Measured by the Eye Tracking Method

Using the eye-tracking method, the present study depicted pre- and post-head processing for simple scrambled sentences of head-final languages. Three versions of simple Japanese active sentences with ditransitive verbs were used: namely, (1)

Priority Information Used for the Processing of Japanese Sentences: Thematic Roles, Case Particles or Grammatical Functions?

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The cognitive processing of Japanese loanwords in katakana

canonical, (2)

A Corpus Investigation of the Right-hand Head Rule Applied to Japanese Affixes

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