Development of emergent processes and threshold of consciousness with levels of processing.

Introduction: The transition of experience from unconscious to conscious, the emergent process, is a crucial topic in consciousness studies. Three frameworks exist to explain the process: (1) consciousness arises in an all-or-none manner; (2) consciousness arises gradually; (3) consciousness arises either all at once or gradually, depending on the level of stimulus processing (low- vs. high-level).

Young children's subjective and objective thresholds and emergent processes of visual consciousness using a backward masking task.

Visual consciousness studies in humans have primarily focused on adults. However, whether young children's visual consciousness is similar to or different from that of adults remains unknown. This study examined young children's and adults' subjective awareness and objective discrimination for thresholds and emergent processes of visual consciousness in two experiments.

COVID-19 school and kindergarten closure relates to children's social relationships: a longitudinal study in Japan.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led children to experience school closures. Although increasing evidence suggests that such intense social quarantine influences children's social relationships with others, longitudinal studies are limited. Using longitudinal data collected during (T1) and after (T2) intensive school closure and home confinement, this study investigated the impacts of social quarantine on children's social relationships.

Comprehensive flood control involving citizens in a Japanese watershed.

In July 2009, the city of Fukuoka, Japan experienced a flood disaster along the Hii River, which runs through densely populated, concrete-covered areas of the city. The drainage system was overwhelmed and the river overflowed due to heavy rainfall and rapid runoff. The event led citizens in its watershed to plan and implement comprehensive flood control.