Home- Research
We explore the earliest stages of human life—studying how infants and young children think, feel, and behave using scientific methods. Since children are still developing their motor and language abilities, we employ a variety of creative approaches to investigate their minds. Our research examines how children interact with the world: for example, how long and where they look when shown animations or photographs, whether they reach for or avoid objects placed in front of them, and how they respond to picture books and games. Through these methods, we aim to uncover the workings of the developing mind.
Our lab consists of two research groups, which are jointly administered and engage in ongoing collaboration and scholarly exchange.
Click on each group to learn more!
Social Cognition Group
Leader: Yasuhiro Kanakogi - Professor
Research Topics
Our group focuses on how infants begin to understand others and navigate the social world. We are particularly interested in how infants interpret others’ actions, how early moral capacities—such as empathy and a sense of fairness—develop, and how infants learn from the people around them.
- Understanding others’ actions: How do infants make sense of what people do?
- Moral development: When do babies begin to judge whether others’ actions are right or wrong?
- Social learning: From whom, and what kinds of behaviors, do infants choose to learn?
Research Methods
To investigate the development of social cognition, we show children animated videos on a computer screen and measure their responses, including eye movements and physiological signals such as heart rate. We also record their behavior on video to observe which types of content capture their attention.
Sprouting Language Group
Leader: Hiromichi Hagihara - Associate Professor (Lecturer)
Research Topics
We focus on several topics on early childhood, including developmental changes in word comprehension, how children interact with objects, how caregivers engage with children, and the development and refinement of research methodologies in developmental science.
- Developmental changes in word comprehension: How do infants understand words like "wan-wan" (a Japanese equivalent of “woof-woof” or “doggy”) or "kukku" (similar to “choo-choo” for “train” or “vehicle”), and how does that understanding change as they grow?
- Interaction with objects: How do infants engage with objects, including everyday items and toys?
- Caregiver involvement: What kinds of strategies do caregivers use to support their children’s development?
- Advancing research methodology in developmental science: How can we improve developmental research—for example, by supporting researchers or reducing the burden on participants—to make studies more effective and feasible?
Research Methods
We investigate early language development by recording parent-child play sessions and tracking where children look on a screen when they hear specific words paired with images or videos. In some studies, we also incorporate artificial intelligence models to support our analysis.