In Masuda & Nisbett (2001), JPSP, 81, 922-934.

Description

In this task, participants observe eight animated vignettes of underwater scences in which there were various types of living things floating around: fish, sea animals, and water plants. Each vignette was presented twice (17-20 sec each). The task of participants was to observe each vignett and report what they had seen by memory. The results of this research indicate that Japanese participants were more likely to report field information such as the color of the water, plant formation, and innert animals than Americans. The fish scene and its findings were cited by New York Times, Lingua Franca, and University of Michigan Alumni News Letter. The original fish stimuli were created by Kaiping Peng (e.g. Morris & Peng, 1994), and the modified versions have been frequently used by researchers at the University of Michigan for various research purposes. The current version was created by Takahiko Masuda using Photoshop (Adobe) and Director 6 (Macromedia). This is the latest evolved version of "Michigan Fish."

How to run the program?

The vignettes are saved as Macromedia Projector format. You don't have to have any specific applications. However, an end-user Macintosh computer (Apple, recommended machine G3 or more with 256 Mbz RAM or more) and a 17 inch monitor (1024 X 768 pixels) are required. Currently, both Japanese and English versions are available. The recognition task stimuli are also available. Although these stimuli are animations, there are a couple of sample still pictures.

In Masuda & Nisbett (2001), JPSP, 81, 922-934

Description

These stimuli were originally used for the follow up and replication study of the "Michigan Fish" task. Both American and Japanese undergraduates observed each picture for five seconds and evaluated how much they like each animal. After this first phase of the experiment, participants were asked to judge whether they have seen the animals in the first phase, while ignoring changes in the backgrounds. The results indicated that, 1) although participants were asked to ignore changes in the backgrouds, they tended to misjudge especially when they saw original animals in novel backgrounds; 2) This effect is significantly stronger for Japanese participants than for American participants. Originally, there were 96 different pictures. Recently, we developed the additional stimuli including animals, fish, machines, and other objects for a neuro-cognitive study. The number of the stimuli can be up to 200.

How to run the program?

The raw pictures are saved as pict file. All pictures were presented using Psyscope 1.4.4. (Freeware distributed by Cohen, MacWhinney, Flatt, and Provost: 1993) However, an end-user Macintosh computer (Apple, recommended machine G3 or more with 256 Mbz RAM or more) and a 17 inch monitor (1024 X 768 pixels) are required. Currently, both Japanese and English versions are available. The recognition task stimuli are also available. Although these stimuli are animations, there are a couple of sample still pictures.

In Masuda & Nisbett (2006), Culture and change blindness. Cognitive Science, 30, 381-399.

Description

Various studies in cognitive psychology found that people are not always sensitive to major changes in a scene (e.g. Rensink, O'Regan, & Clark, 1997). The stimuli were used for investigating whether there are any cultural variations in the detection of changes. Each vignette presented a different industrial scene with various machines and backgrounds selected from both American and Japanese sources: (a) an airport, (b) a construction site, (c) an American city, (d) an American farm, (e) an American harbor, (f) a Japanese city, and (g) a Japanese farm. Each vignette consisted of a pair of brief movie clips. Each vignette contained a similar number of changes in a machine's attributes (e.g. changes in colors of a car), in machine's location, in machine's speed, and field information. Both American and Japanese undergraduates participated in this task. Each time after participants watched a pair of movie clips, they described the changes that they saw on a sheet of paper. The results indicated that 1) Japanese undergrads were more likely to detect changes in a machine's location and in field information; whereas 2) American undergrads were more likely to detect changes in a machine's attributes.

How to run the program?

The vignettes are saved as Macromedia Projector format. You don't have to have any specific applications. However, an end-user Macintosh computer (Apple, recommended machine G3 or more with 256 Mbz RAM or more) and a 17 inch monitor (1024 X 768 pixels) are required. Although these stimuli are animations, there are a couple of sample still pictures.

In Masuda, Ellsworth, Mesquita, Leu, Tanida, & van de Veerdonk (2008) Placing the face in context: Cultural differences in the perception of facial emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 365-381.

Description

The stimulus pictures were created with Photoshop (Adobe). To create these cartoons, we referred to Ekman and Friesen's (1975) book of basic facial expressions. In each picture there were five figures, one central and four in the background. The central figure was in the middle of the picture and the other four were behind the central figure. Each picture presentes a central figure"s emotional expression (anger, sadness, happiness, neutral), which showed one of two different levels of that particular emotion (moderate vs. strong) in combination with the background figures' emotional expression (anger, sadness, happiness, neutral). We have two different characters as the central figure, an Asian boy and a Caucasian Boy. The results of the study indicated that the Japanese were more likely than their American counterparts to be influenced by the changes in the background facial expressions even when they judged the central figure's emotional exprression.

How to run the program?

The stimuli are saved as .pct file and .bmt file. You can program the stimulus presentation using Visual Basic, E-prime, or PsyScope. A 17 inch monitor (1024 X 768 pixels) is recommended.