People

Yasuhiro Kanakogi

Full Professor

He earned his Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Letters at Kyoto University, Japan. As a developmental psychologist, he is broadly interested in social cognition in infancy, ranging from action prediction to moral understanding. After completing his Ph.D., he conducted research at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at The University of Tokyo, the Graduate School of Education at Kyoto University, and NTT Communication Science Laboratories. He served as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Psychology, Otemon Gakuin University, before joining The University of Osaka in 2020. His work has been published extensively in prestigious journals such as Nature Communications and Nature Human Behaviour. He is also the father of one child.

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Hiromichi Hagihara

Associate Professor (Lecturer)

Hiro completed his Ph.D. at the Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Japan. He is not only a developmental cognitive scientist but also a pediatric clinician, holding national licenses as a certified public psychologist and an occupational therapist. He experienced his postdoc period at The University of Tokyo (PI: Sho Tsuji), Trinity College Dublin (PI: Rhodri Cusack), the University of Warwick (PI: Sotaro Kita), and RIKEN (PI: Reiko Mazuka). His research broadly explores how young children construct knowledge about the world, how this knowledge evolves through language development, and how social environments (e.g., caregivers, educators) get involved in this developmental process. He has an unwavering love for tomatoes.

researchmap Google scholar  @hagiharahiro2

Hitomi Chijiiwa

JSPS Research Fellow

• She received her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Letters at Kyoto University, Japan. Her research specializes in comparative cognitive science. She is currently a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow (PD) and investigates the relationships between children and companion animals such as dogs and cats. She enjoys traveling abroad and listening to music in her free time.
• Personal website  researchmap    @osaka.wannyan.lab

Hiroki Yamamoto 

Visiting Researcher

• He received his Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Letters at Kyoto University, Japan. His research focuses on infant behavior in everyday environments. Using head-mounted cameras, he analyzes first-person perspective scenes from both infants and caregivers. He is always happy to be treated to delicious sushi.
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Moeko Ishikawa

Ph.D. Student

• She is a third-year doctoral student specializing in developmental cognitive science and developmental psychology. She is a certified public psychologist in Japan and a recipient of the JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientists (DC1). Her research focuses on persistence — an ability that is widely recognized as a predictor of future success, especially when facing challenges. She aims to understand which children tend to be more persistent and how best to support the development of persistence. She’s been pretty determined not to lose since she was ten — and she brings that same spirit to her research every day.
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Rizu Toda

Ph.D. Student

• Rizu is a second-year doctoral student in the Ph.D. program. Her research focuses on developmental cognitive science and developmental psychology. She is a certified psychologist and a recipient of the JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientists (DC2). Her research aims to understand how children develop the ability to build positive relationships with others and comprehend social norms necessary for living in society. She loves good food and international travel, having visited 21 countries so far. She has a twin sister with whom she conducted research together until completing her master's degree.
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Minori Onishi

Master’s Student

• She is interested in human “unintentional” behavior, focusing on moral behavior in early childhood. Her research explores what kind of environment encourages children to stop antisocial behavior or engage in prosocial behavior. She enjoys traveling and photography and aims to visit all 47 prefectures.

Momoka Sakaguchi

Master’s Student

• Momoka studies the development of morality in early childhood, with a particular interest in how children acquire moral judgment through their relationships with others. She loves listening to music and often plans short trips to attend live concerts.

Yaying (Tiffany) Bai

Master’s Student

Yaying Bai, who goes by Tiffany, explores the cognitive foundations of moral judgment in early childhood, focusing on how children interpret others’ intentions in social contexts. She is also interested in transnational perspectives on development in East Asia. Before committing to cognitive approaches, she studied the visual culture of children. She holds an M.A. from Columbia University and graduated summa cum laude from UCLA. Outside the lab, she plays the saxophone and listens to podcasts.

Yaru Hu

Master’s Student

 Hu is interested in the development and prevalence of gender stereotypes among young children. Her research explores how these concepts become rooted in young minds, with a particular focus on effective intervention strategies. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music and is currently learning to play the drums.

Weitung Lee

Master’s Student

 Lee studies the development of language in early childhood, with a particular interest in how infants learn phonological neighbors—words that are phonologically similar to ones they already know and are considered difficult to learn due to this similarity. He loves playing with children and playing video games.

Sumie Maruyama

• She helps ensure research progresses smoothly. In her free time, she enjoys mountain climbing and taking care of houseplants.