Studies in cognitive psychology have shown that the deployment of visual attention operates under spatial limitations, rendering its assignment to multiple locations difficult or costly. This study explored whether this conventional understanding applies to human metaattention as well. I measured the spatial distribution of metaattention during viewing of natural scenes and found that participants believed they could attend to multiple locations simultaneously. Study 2 tested whether this tendency could be modified by information about the tendency to overestimation. After participants were (...) informed of this tendency toward overestimation with both verbal instruction and demonstrations of attentional blindness and blindness to these phenomena, the selectivity of metaattention increased. Study 3 demonstrated that participants overestimated their attentional abilities by comparing the metaattentional drawings and the actual behavioral performances of the same participants. These results were consistent with recent findings of metaattentional overestimation in change detection and suggested human insensitivity in monitoring attentional limitations. (shrink)

We examined the effects of unconscious priming on temporal-interval production. In Experiment 1, participants were instructed to keep visual displays on a screen for 2500 ms intervals. Half of the displays were repeated across blocks throughout the entire experiment, and the others were newly generated from trial to trial. The displays consisted of patterns so complex that the participants could not intentionally memorize them. The results showed that significantly more time elapsed for old displays than for new displays before participants (...) indicated that a 2500 ms interval had elapsed. Experiment 2 replicated this effect and excluded an alternative account based on perceived pattern complexity. The effect of repetitive presentation was obtained despite the fact the participants did not recognize the repetition, suggesting that unconscious priming increased temporal production. These results suggest that time perception is affected by an unconscious process. (shrink)

Although Tanizaki Jun'ichirō's literary essay In'ei raisan (In praise of shadows) (1933) now sometimes receives serious attention, it is still often dismissed as nostalgic—missing the significance of Tanizaki's ontology of the shadow for our information-saturated era, with its conformist tendencies to block out all negativity. This essay relocates In'ei raisan within two historical contexts: first, the Kyoto School, including Kyoto's negotiation with Martin Heidegger, and a wider attempt to overhaul the empiricist, property-driven hardwiring of progress derived from the British empire; (...) second, the recently burgeoning field of 'critical transparency studies', for which the promise of perfectly clear representation risks a bureaucratic authoritarianism absorbing all agency. To a remarkable degree, the diagnosis by twenty-first century critical transparency studies of a narcissistic, technocratic addiction to positivity is already there in Tanizaki's shadows. These shadows deserve reconsideration for their potential to derail our condition of 'stuckness' in a progress defined by an empiricist instrumentalization of the world. (shrink)

Against the Artists. Jun'ichirō Tanizaki and the Man of Art. -/- This essay explores the concepts of "art" (gei) and "man of art" (geinin) in Tanizaki's works. These two notions belong to an ancient Japanese aesthetic tradition. The concept of 'gei' means "realization", "skill", but also "technique" and "ability". Traditional stage performances such as 'nō', 'kyōgen', 'bunraku', 'kabuki', are typical examples of 'gei'. On the other hand the concept of 'geinin' implies three pivotal aspects: 1) a strict and harsh aesthetic (...) education; 2) an environment suitable to develop the man of art's sensitivity; 3) a long process of emotional maturation. This perspective, according to this paper, sheds light on the peculiar Japanese aesthetic "difference" in relation to the concepts of art and artist developed - on the contrary - in Western tradition. (shrink)

Das Problem der Intersubjektivitiit Intersubjektivität ist Husserl schon seit der Darstellung der Ideen I in Zusammenhang mit dem Problem der phiinomenologischen phänomenologischen Reduk tion sehr stark bewusst und wird, wie die neue VerOffentlichung Veröffentlichung 'Zur Phänome Phiinome nologie der Intersubjektivität'l Intersubjektivitiit'l ausdrücklich ausdrucklich zeigt, zeit seines Lebens in seinem Denken mit mehr oder weniger Intensitiit Intensität behandelt. Bekanntlich hat Husserl Hussed die Einfühlungslehre EinfUhlungslehre in seinem spiiten späten Versuch mit der 'Selbstobjektivation' 'Selbstobjektivation',, 'Selbstauslegung' des absoluten, anonymen, transzen 2 dentalen ego (...) erkliirt. erklärt. Gerade auf diesen Punkt konzentriert sich zutreffende Kritik und zeigt die Unvermeidbarkeit des transzendentalen Solipsismus; was als Grund für fUr echte echte Intersubjektivitiit Intersubjektivität gesucht gesucht wird, wird, niimlich nämlich die die Gleichursprunglich Gleichursprünglich keit keit von von Subjekten, Subjekten, fUhrt führt schliesslich schliesslich auf auf den den Weg der Radikalisierung der trans zendentalen Reduktion und der Erklärung Erkliirung mit der immanenten Zeitigung des transzendentalen ego in die 'einseitige Verlagerung des Gewichts auf ein konsti tuierendes Ur-Ich, dem kein ebenso ursprungliches ursprüngliches Du gegenübersteht, gegeniibersteht,...'3. (shrink)

The Reformation had a profound impact on hermeneutical practices by challenging ecclesiastical authority and emphasising interpretive freedom, addressing a crucial gap in historical theology. This study aimed to assess the influence of Martin Luther’s principle of self-interpretation of the Bible and Matthias Flacius’ organismic methodology, which builds on that principle, on the foundations of modern hermeneutics, particularly the methodological hermeneutics represented by Schleiermacher and Dilthey. Set within the context of the 16th-century Reformation, the study conducted a rigorous textual analysis of (...) historical theological documents, revealing a significant paradigm shift towards more inclusive and rational interpretations of sacred texts. This shift, aligning with emerging humanistic values, marked a lasting transformation in the field of hermeneutics.Contribution: The primary contribution of this study lies in its detailed exploration of the historical roots of modern hermeneutics, highlighting the Reformation’s pivotal role in shaping contemporary interpretive methodologies. By elucidating the connections between theological reforms and hermeneutical practices, this research enriches the discourse on the development of hermeneutics and underscores the enduring relevance of Reformation-era innovations. These insights provide valuable perspectives on the interplay between historical and contemporary hermeneutical theories, closely aligning with the intersection of historical theology and interpretive methodologies, thus offering a significant contribution to the field. (shrink)

We propose a new dynamical mechanism for information processing in mind and brain. We emphasize that a hermeneutic process is one of the key processes manifesting the functions of the brain and that it can be formulated as an itinerant motion in ultrahigh dimensional dynamical systems, which may give a new realm of the dynamic information processing. Our discussions are based on the notion of chaotic information processing and the observations of biological chaos.

In this engaging book, Kosman offers a vigorous extended defence of a distinctive and highly ambitious claim, namely, that Aristotle’s account of potentiality/ability and actuality/activity in book Theta of the Metaphysics is an integral and central part of Aristotle’s account of what being is, which means that, for Kosman, Aristotle defends the thesis that being is, precisely, activity. In addition to the distinctive character of this claim, there are two notable suppositions behind it, which, likewise, Kosman defends. First, the Metaphysics (...) is addressed to a single, overall question, namely ‘What is it for something to be?’, a question that Aristotle introduces in book Gamma, takes on in books Zeta and Eta, gives a distinctive answer to in Theta and takes to its point of culmination in Lambda. This question, as Kosman spells out instructively and at length, is tackled by Aristotle through a distinction between primary being, or substance , and other beings .. (shrink)

L’avocat japonais a été institué en 1872 à l’image de l’avocat français, au cours du mouvement de modernisation qui a suivi l’ouverture du pays. Mais l’état d’esprit y était et reste celui de la bureaucratie judiciaire. L’avocat n’a obtenu son indépendance qu’en 1949. Malgré les apparences, son rôle ne semble pas suffisamment développé pour permettre à la Justice d’avancer pleinement dans le sens de la protection des droits et libertés. Après avoir dressé un aperçu général de l’évolution et de l’état (...) actuel de la profession d’avocat, nous examinerons la possibilité d’étendre ses fonctions à de nouvelles activités. (shrink)

Using the concepts of chaotic dynamical systems, we present an interpretation of dynamic neural activity found in cortical and subcortical areas. The discovery of chaotic itinerancy in high-dimensional dynamical systems with and without a noise term has motivated a new interpretation of this dynamic neural activity, cast in terms of the high-dimensional transitory dynamics among “exotic” attractors. This interpretation is quite different from the conventional one, cast in terms of simple behavior on low-dimensional attractors. Skarda and Freeman (1987) presented evidence (...) in support of the conclusion that animals cannot memorize odor without chaotic activity of neuron populations. Following their work, we study the role of chaotic dynamics in biological information processing, perception, and memory. We propose a new coding scheme of information in chaos-driven contracting systems we refer to as Cantor coding. Since these systems are found in the hippocampal formation and also in the olfactory system, the proposed coding scheme should be of biological significance. Based on these intensive studies, a hypothesis regarding the formation of episodic memory is given. Key Words: Cantor coding; chaotic itinerancy; dynamic aspects of the brain; dynamic associative memory; episodic memory; high-dimensional dynamical systems; SCND attractors. (shrink)

江戸後期に活躍した平田篤胤の思想を宗教性に注目して内在的に把握し、さらにその展開を門人組織=気吹舎の実践が幕末社会ではたした役割から捉えかえし、思想史研究・社会史研究・宗教史研究の三つの視点と方法を有 機的に結びつけた注目の成果。.

If an agent prefers one kind of agents to the other agents, then the agent has first-order preferences. If the agent prefers agents with one kind of preferences to the other agents, then the agent has second-order preferences. The article proposes a sound, complete, and decidable logical system capable of expressing higher-order preferences.

A clear account of the principles of fuzzy logic-based design, from a computer/electronics engineering perspective. This pedagogical work incorporates current fuzzy logic techniques, emphasizing hardware/software design for fuzzy systems and fuzzy logic development tools.

This research examines the possibility of developing a new corporate social responsibility (CSR) auditing system based on the analysis of current CSR literature and interviews conducted with a number of interested and knowledgeable stakeholders. This work attempts to create a framework for social responsibility auditing compatible with an existing commercially successful environmental audit system. The project is unusual in that it tackles the complex issue of CSR auditing with a scientific approach using Grounded Theory. On the evidence discovered to date (...) in the literature review and the interviews, CSR seems to be perceived by many as the social strand of sustainable development. However, there is far less agreement regarding its measurement. Both the literature review and the interview analysis indicate that developing an applied CSR auditing procedure will be a challenging task. This is principally due to the lack of formal study of this complex subject, which, despite the widespread debate it has engendered, still lacks a single and broadly accepted definition. The concepts developed from the findings of this research, together with the key factors identified in a literature review of CSR, were developed into a prospective CSR audit protocol. (shrink)

A recent study has reported that the successful implementation of cognitive regulation of emotion depends on higher-level cognitive functions, such as top-down control, which may be impaired in stressful situations. This calls for “cognition free” self-regulatory strategies that do not require top-down control. In contrast to the cognitive regulation of emotion that emphasizes the role of cognition, traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine views the relationship among different types of emotions as promoting or counteracting each other without the involvement of cognition, (...) which provides an insightful perspective for developing “cognition free” regulatory strategies. In this study, we examined two hypotheses regarding the modulation of anger and aggressive behavior: sadness counteracts anger and aggressive behavior, whereas fear promotes anger and aggressive behavior. Participants were first provoked by reading extremely negative feedback on their viewpoints (Study 1) and by watching anger-inducing movie clips (Study 2). Then, these angry participants were assigned to three equivalent groups and viewed sad, fear-inducing, or neutral materials to evoke the corresponding emotions. The results showed that participants displayed a lower level of aggressive behavior when sadness was later induced and a higher level of anger when fear was later induced. These results provide evidence that supports the hypothesis of mutual promotion and counteraction relationships among these types of emotions and imply a “cognition free” approach to regulating anger and aggressive behavior. (shrink)

To understand the public opinion concerning the genethics in culturally different populations, we conducted two focus groups in Japan, with one focus group each in China and Panama between April 2008 and August 2009. Generally, the participants in Japan were more cautious to disclose their personal thinking in a clear manner. Most participants in China and Panama hoped to have children free from any genetic disease if at all possible. The major difference between China and Panama seems to be whether (...) or not they will accept the issue of genetic abortion. Compared to China and Panama, fewer participants accepted a reprogenetics procedure in Japan. ―A goal of genetic counseling is to reduce the number of patients of genetic disease‖ is supported to a greater degree in China and Panama than in Japan. Most participants in China as well as Panama, and fewer participants in Japan accepted the concept of sharing genetic information with relatives, even though it is useful for preventing a possible genetic risk. The difference of the answers for the questions is depending on the cultural and value diversity in each country, while some of them are related into a paucity of knowing the principle of biogenetics. Education as to medical genetics and the principle of bioethics is most important to make genetics more accessible to the general public. (shrink)

Behavioral economics has potential to offer novel solutions to some of today's most pressing public health problems: How do we persuade people to eat healthy and lose weight? How can health professionals communicate health risks in a way that is heeded? How can food labeling be modified to inform healthy food choices? Behavioral Economics and Public Health is the first book to apply the groundbreaking insights of behavioral economics to the persisting problems of health behaviors and behavior change. In addition (...) to providing a primer on the behavioral economics principles that are most relevant to public health, this book offers details on how these principles can be employed to mitigating the world's greatest health threats, including obesity, smoking, risky sexual behavior, and excessive drinking. With contributions from an international team of scholars from psychology, economics, marketing, public health, and medicine, this book is a trailblazing new approach to the most difficult and important problems of our time. (shrink)

In recent years, the construct of character has received substantial attention among developmental scientists, but no consensus exists about the content and structure of character, especially among children and early adolescents. In a study of positive development among racially diverse Cub Scouts in the greater Philadelphia area, we assessed the construct and concurrent validity of a new measure of character, the Assessment of Character in Children and Early Adolescents, among 906 Scouts and 775 non-Scout boys and girls. We identified an (...) eight-correlated-factor model as providing the best fit with our data. We further established measurement invariance and explored latent mean differences for ACCEA scores across two Scout groups, non-Scout boys and non-Scout girls. Girls were generally superior than boys on all character attributes. We further examined concurrent validity of ACCEA by correlating the character attributes with youth sense of school competence, intentional self-regulation and parental perception of youth school performance. We discuss implications for future character research and point to the value of the ACCEA measure being used by practitioners in character development programs. (shrink)

The simultaneous recording of brain activity in two or more people, termed hyperscanning, is an emerging field of research investigating the neural basis of social interaction. Hyperscanning studies of adult–infant dyads have great potential to provide insights into how social functions develop. In particular, taking advantage of functional near-infrared spectroscopy for its spatial resolution and invulnerability to motion artifacts, adult–infant fNIRS may play a major role in this field. However, there remains a problem in analyzing hyperscanning data between adult and (...) young populations. Namely, there are intrinsic differences in hemodynamic time latencies depending on age, and the peak latency of the hemodynamic response function is longer in younger populations. Despite this fact, the effects of such differences on quantified synchrony have not yet been examined. Consequently, the present study investigated the influence of intrinsic hemodynamic differences on wavelet coherence for assessing brain synchrony, and further examined the statistical removal of these effects through simulation experiments. First, we assumed a social signal model, where one counterpart of the dyad sends a social signal to the other, which eventually results in simultaneous brain activation. Based on this model, simulated fNIRS activation sequences were synthesized by convolving boxcar event sequences with HRFs. We set two conditions for the event: synchronized and asynchronized event conditions. We also modeled the HRFs of adults and infants by referring to previous studies. After preprocessing with additional statistical processing, we calculated the wavelet coherence for each synthesized fNIRS activation sequence pair. The simulation results showed that the wavelet coherence in the synchronized event condition was attenuated for the combination of different HRFs. We also confirmed that prewhitening via an autoregressive filter could recover the attenuation of wavelet coherence in the 0.03–0.1 Hz frequency band, which was regarded as being associated with synchronous neural activity. Our results showed that variability in hemodynamics affected the analysis of inter-brain synchrony, and that the application of prewhitening is critical for such evaluations between adult and young populations. (shrink)

November 4th-5th, 2012 at Kyoto University. Organizers: Hisashi Nakao & Pierre-Alain Braillard.