Measuring the effectiveness of biomimetic robots as therapeutic tools : translating the felt security scale from English to Japanese

Biomimetic robots that resemble companion animals, and that replicate aspects of animal social behavior, could play a useful therapeutic role in the treatment of disorders such as anxiety and depression, and could act as an alternative or complement to animal-assisted therapy (AAT). Previous work in AAT has noted the importance of feelings of care, love, self-esteem to the success of a therapeutic animal intervention. These feelings, alongside safety, have been measured in human-human interaction studies using a questionnaire-based measure called the Felt Security Scale (FSS). This paper presents the translation of the FSS into Japanese in order to produce a cross-cultural instrument for evaluating the effectiveness of robot-assisted therapy (RAT). We describe the development of the new Japanese Felt Security Scale (JFSS), its validation with native Japanese speakers, and a comparison of outcomes as measured against the Japanese Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (Japanese ECR). We propose that the FSS provides a useful tool for investigating the effectiveness of biomimetic robots as therapeutic tools in English- and Japanese-speaking cultural settings.