There has been a strong presumption that the rodent vibrissae are fine tactile feature detectors, sensing position, shape, and texture of objects. However, how rat vibrissae extract fine surface features, and their quantitative acuity during texture discrimination remain unknown. The goal of this thesis is to elucidate the functions of the rat vibrissa system during fine texture discrimination at the behavioral level. The first goal of this thesis is to detail training strategies developed specifically for rodent vibrissa-dependent texture discrimination tasks. In Behavioral Setup 1, rats were trained to discriminate smooth vs. grooved aluminum surfaces, and to palpate across a moderate gap for water reward. In Behavioral Setup 2, rats were trained to discriminate between sandpaper of two different roughnesses, presented across a gap. Results showed that rats could learn texture discrimination in 8 weeks (Setup 1) and 2-10 weeks (Setup 2) of training. The second goal of the thesis was to examine the relative functional roles of the micro/macrovibrissa system during texture discrimination. The specific roles of the two systems are not known. We tested whether macrovibrissae are sufficient for fine texture discrimination by removing the microvibrissae. Microvibrissa trimming did not decrease performance indicating that macrovibrissae alone can support texture discrimination. We also investigated the acuity of the vibrissa system in identifying texture differences. Sandpapers were varied to measure the psychophysical limit of texture discrimination. Though results were only obtained in one rat, these observations suggest that rats can discriminate sandpapers with finer resolution than previously known

Cognitive modeling, approximation of human cognitive functions in a computational system, is a traditional methodologyin the field of cognitive science. Usually this methodology has been used as a tool for scientific understanding of humanmind, and evaluated by fitting to human data. In this presentation, the author proposes a framework of interactive cognitivemodeling as an application of the above methodology for understanding and supporting individual human cognition. Theframework consists of cognitive architecture, visualization of the model behavior, knowledge database of personal userand sensing devices to include the users reaction. This presentation shows two systems of interactive cognitive modelingin the field of web browsing and photo browsing.

In our study, we address conflicts between individuals and groups, such as cyberbully on social media, as a challenge related to the distinction between the self and others. To address this issue using technology, we propose the concept of introducing facial synchronization in the virtual realm as a means to manipulate the boundary between oneself and others. We designed an experiment using Cyberball that simulates an ostracism environment, effectively partitioning the boundary between the self and others. This task was conducted in Virtual Reality (VR), with the agent's facial expressions synchronized with those of the participant. Our findings indicated a reduction in feelings of alienation within the ostracism environment. This discovery has potential implications for communication media, particularly in enhancing interfaces for individuals who may experience exclusionary behavior on social media.

What factors induce empathy for virtual agents? To explore this question, we examine the relationship between humans and agents in the inverted cyberball task where a participant chose to help an ostracised agent. This study especially controls experience in the preparation task from self-involvement as the base of empathy. In the one condition, participants have induced the same experience as the ostracised agent, while in the other condition, participants observed ostracising relations between two agents. As a result, self-involvement in the preparation task does not influence the helping behavior of the ostracised agent. The factor relating to the helping behavior is whether the participants noticed the relation. This notice was also associated with empathy trait. From these results, we can conclude that empathy can acquire others' perspectives even when they have no experience with the pain of ostracism.

Language acquisition is supported by an ability called phonological awareness, which allows children to become intentionally aware of phonological units. It is known that erroneous pronunciation appears during the formation of phonological awareness. To clarify children's internal processes during this formation, this research aims to examine the factors that correct an erroneous phonological generation process. To do this, we utilized the innate and experiential factors of the memory retrieval mechanism in the cognitive architecture ACT-R. Specifically, we performed simulations to examine the interaction tasks that contribute to the acquisition of phonological awareness. As a result, it was shown that repeating a single task causes incorrect convergence and that this convergence can be prevented by performing other kinds of learning between tasks. In the future, it will be necessary to examine learning between tasks that can be associated with real situations and to confirm the overall process of phonological awareness formation.