The Japanese Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Toward Persons With Autism Spectrum Disorders1

This study aimed to develop a Japanese Multidimensional Attitudes Scale (J-MAS) as a useful instrument to assess negative attitudes toward persons with autism spectrum disorder among typical Japanese persons. Five hundred and fifty-two Japanese participants completed the Japanese translation of the original version of the MAS, which was derived via the translation/back-translation method. An exploratory factor analysis revealed four factors (Cognitions, Negative Affects, Behaviors, and Calm) that corresponded to the factor model of the original version of the MAS. Nine items were statistically negligible, accordingly. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the factor model of the J-MAS is fairly good, and preferable to the factor models of the English, Spanish, French, Korean, and German versions for a sample of typical Japanese persons. These results indicate that the J-MAS provides a valid assessment of attitudes toward persons with autism spectrum disorder among typical Japanese persons.     

Philosophizing with a historiographical figure: Descartes in Degérando’s Histoire comparée des systèmes de philosophie (1804 and 1847)

Abstract

The writings by the ‘state philosophers’ of nineteenth-century France are often seen, either as entirely driven by political or ideological concerns, or reduced to mere history of philosophy. Hence, ironically, those who established the philosophical canon that still now informs philosophy teaching in France were themselves excluded from that canon. Using the heuristic concept of a philosophical figure, this article intends to show how, for these philosophers, historiography represented a seemingly inoffensive, but in reality, extremely efficient means of searching out philosophical alternatives to the institutionally dominant philosophy of Victor Cousin (1792–1867). Focusing on the almost forgotten case of Joseph-Marie Degérando (1772–1842), I show how he used the philosophical figure of Descartes and how he used it to counter Cousin.     

The conscious experience of color constancy and neural responses to subliminal deviations – A behavioral and EEG/ERP oddball study

IntroductionColor constancy, a property of conscious color experience, maintains object color appearance across illuminant changes. We investigated the neural correlates of subliminal vs. conscious stimulus deviations of color constancy manipulations.MethodsBehavioral and Oddball EEG/ERP experiments were conducted (n = 20). Psychophysical illuminant variation discrimination thresholds were first estimated, to establish individual perceptual awareness ranges, allowing for simulation of natural daylight spectral and spatial variations on colored surfaces, at different ambiguity levels.ResultsBehavioral results validated illuminant choice. ERPs showed a significant modulation of posterior P1 component specifically for the subliminal global uniform deviation condition, respecting color constancy. Neural correlates of conscious percepts were identified at posterior N2-P3 latencies, parietal (P3b) and frontal regions.ConclusionsWe identified an early subliminal correlate of low-level illuminant change, which reflects automatic unconscious detection of global color constancy deviations. Its suppression under conscious perception is probably due to top-down suppression according to prediction error models.