Cognitive Informatics

A Laboratory for Comparative Cognition and Neurobiology

Associate Professor

Dr. of Psychology

Nobuyuki
Kawai

Experimental Psychology, Cognitive Science,
Comparative Cognitive Science on learning and memory

 

Research Interest

My main interest has been to address why humans are so intelligent. I have been conducting learning, memory and attention studies on humans and nonhumans to discover the key to human-specific intelligence (Kawai & Matsuzawa, 2000, Nature). I am also interested in finding which aspects of human cognition are shared with other nonhuman animals, especially primates (Shibasaki & Kawai, 2009, JCP). In order to determine boundaries of human cognition, I have been conductingpsychological experiments from developmental and evolutionary perspectives (Kawai et al., 2004, Brain Res.; Kawai et al., Dev. Psychobiol.).

Research Topics
  • Primates' Intelligence (working memory, language acquisition, animal learning)
  • Cognitive Development and fetal learning in humans and nonhuman primates
  • Cognitive aging in humans and nonhuman primates
  • Psychology and Physiology of Emotions
    (Basic emotions, anger, prejudice, Japanese traditional Noh drama, etc.)
  • Threat detections (for snakes and angry faces)
  • Visual Attention for faces
  • Animal model (for Autistic Spectrum Disorder)
  • Neuroscience
Affiliation
Graduate School of Information Science, Nagoya University
Postal Address
Graduate School of Information Science, Nagoya University
Furo-cho, Chikusaku, Nagoya, JAPAN, 464-8601
Telephone Number +81-(0)52-789-5179
Fax Number +81-(0)52-789-4712
E-mail Address kawai[at]is.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Educational Background
1990 Graduated from Kwansei Gakuin University B. A. degree in Experimental Psychology
1995 Kwansei Gakuin University (complete doctoral course)
1998 Received Ph.D. degree from Kwansei Gakuin University
Professional Background
1994-1996 JSPS Doctoral Course Fellow, Kwansei Gakuin University
1996-1999 JSPS Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Kwansei Gakuin University
1999-2001 COE (Center of Excellence) Postdctoral Research Fellow, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University
2001-2004 Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Human Informatics, Nagoya University
2004-present Associate Professor, Graduateo School of Information Science, Nagoya University
2009-present Group Leader, JST ERATO Okanoya Emotional Information Project
Awards and Honors
2001 Takashima Award (Primate Society Japan)
2005 Young Scientist Award for Science and Technology
(The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan)
2010 The JSPS Prize (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science)
2010 Japan Academy Medal Prize (The Japan Academy)
2010 The Frank A. Beach Comparative Psychology Award (American Psychological Association)
Grants Awardeded
 
Professional Services
- Peer Reviewer
Animal Cognition International
Journal of Psychology
Journal of Comparative Psychology
Psychological Science

                         ... and more
- Grant Review Panels
 
Publications
Emotions
  • Kubo, K., Okanoya, K., & Kawai, N. (2012). Apology isn't good enough: An apology suppresses an approach motivation but not the physiological and psychological anger. PLoS one, 7(3), e33006. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033006.

Threat detections
  • Shibasaki, M., & Kawai, N. (2009). Rapid detection of snakes by Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata): An evolutionarily predisposed visual system. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 123(2), 131-135.
  • Masataka, N., Hayakawa, S., & Kawai, N. (2010). Human young children as well as adults demonstrate 'superior' rapid snake detection when typical striking posture is displayed by the snake. PLoS one, 5(11), e15122.
  • Hayakawa, S., Kawai, N., & Masataka, N. (2011). The influence of color on snake detection in visual search in human children. Scientific Reports, 1, 80; DOI:10.1038/srep00080
  • APA Monitor (2010). September (Monitor on Psychology Volume 40, No. 8 September 2009)

Primate Intelligence
  • Kawai, N. (2004). Action planning in humans and chimpanzees but not in monkeys. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 27(1), 42-43.
  • Matsuno, T., Kawai, N., & Matsuzawa, T. (2004). Color classification by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in a matching-to-sample task. Behavioural Brain Research, 148(1-2), 157-165.
  • Matsuno, T., Kawai, N., & Matsuzawa, T. (2006). Color classification in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). In T. Matsuzawa, M. Tomonaga, & M. Tanaka (Eds.) Cognitive development in chimpanzees, Pp. 317-329. Springer-Verlag: Tokyo.
  • Kawai, N. & Matsuzawa, T. (2001). "Magical number 5 " in a chimpanzee,丂Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24(1), 127-128.
  • Kawai, N. (2001) . Ordering and planning in sequential responding to Arabic numerals by a chimpanzee. Psychologia, 44(1), 60-69.
  • Kawai, N., & Matsuzawa, T. (2001). Reproductive memory processes in chimpanzees: Homologous approaches to research on human working memory. In T. Matsuzawa (Ed.) Primate origins of human cognition and behavior, Pp. 226-234. Springer-Verlag: Tokyo.
  • Kawai, N. & Matsuzawa, T. (2000). A conventional approach to chimpanzee cognition, Trends in Cognitive Science, 4(4), 128-129.
  • Kawai, N. & Matsuzawa, T. (2000). Numerical memory span in a chimpanzee. Nature, 403(6765: Jan 2000), 39-40.

Cognitive Aging
  • Kawai, N., Kubo-Kawai, N., Kubo, K., Terazawa, T., & Masataka, N. (2012). Distinct aging effects for two types of inhibition in older adults: A near-infrared spectroscopy study on the Simon task and the flanker task. NeuroReport, X(XX), xxx-xxx. doi: XXXXXX.
  • Kubo-Kawai, N, & Kawai, N. (2010). Elimination of the enhanced Simon effect for older adults in a three-choice situation: Aging and the Simon effect in a go/no-go Simon task. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63, 452-464.
  • Kubo-Kawai, N, & Kawai, N. (2007). Interference effects by spatial proximity and age-related declines in spatial memory by Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata): Deficits in the combined use of multiple spatial cues. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 121, 189-197.

Cognitive development and fetal learning
  • Kawai, N. (2010). Toward a new study on associative learning in human fetuses: Fetal associative learning in primates. Infant and Child Development, 19, 55-59.
  • Okamoto-Barth, S, Kawai, N., Tanaka, M., & Tomonaga, M. (2007). Looking compensates for distance between mother and infant chimpanzee. Developmental Science, 10(2), 172-182.
  • Kawai, N. (2006). Cognitive abilities before birth: Learning and long lasting memory in a chimpanzee fetus. In T. Matsuzawa, M. Tomonaga, & M. Tanaka (Eds.) Cognitive development in chimpanzees, Pp. 48-63. Springer-Verlag: Tokyo.
  • Kawai, N., Morokuma, S., Tomonaga, M., Horimoto, N., & Tanaka, M. (2004). Associative learning and memory in a chimpanzee fetus: Learning and long lasting memory before birth. Developmental Psychobiology, 44(2), 116-122.
  • Morokuma, S., Fukushima, K., Kawai, N., Tomonaga, M., Satoh, S., & Nakano, H. (2004). Fetal habituation correlates with functional brain development. Behavioural Brain Research, 153(2), 459-463.
  • Okamoto, S., Tomonaga, M., Ishii, K., Kawai, N., Tanaka, M., & Matsuzawa, T. (2002). An infant chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) follows human gaze. Animal Cognition, 5(2), 97-114.
  • Kawai, N., & Sugioka, K. (1999). A study of emotionality assessed using licking suppression in rats with microencephaly induced by prenatal methylazoxymethanolacetate (MAM) treatment. Behavioral Science Research, 38, 1-6.

Neuroscience
  • Kawai, N., Kubo-Kawai, N., Kubo, K., Terazawa, T., & Masataka, N. (2012). Distinct aging effects for two types of inhibition in older adults: A near-infrared spectroscopy study on the Simon task and the flanker task. NeuroReport, X(XX), xxx-xxx. doi: XXXXXX.
  • Kubo, K., Okanoya, K., & Kawai, N. (2012). Apology isn't good enough: An apology suppresses an approach motivation but not the physiological and psychological anger. PLoS one, 7(3), e33006. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033006.

Visual attention for faces (humans and primates)
  • Kawai, N. (2011). Attentional shift by eye gaze requires joint attention:: Eye gaze cues are unique to shift attention. Japanese Psychological Research, 53, 292-301.
  • Kawai, N. (2008). Crossmodal spatial attention shift produced by centrally presented gaze cues. Japanese Psychological Research, 50(2), 100-103.
  • Okamoto-Barth, S, & Kawai, N. (2006). The role of attention in the facilitation effect and another “inhibition of return”. Cognition, 101(3), B42-50.
  • Okamoto-Barth, S, Kawai, N., Tanaka, M., & Tomonaga, M. (2007). Looking compensates for distance between mother and infant chimpanzee. Developmental Science, 10(2), 172-182.
  • Okamoto, S., Tomonaga, M., Ishii, K., Kawai, N., Tanaka, M., & Matsuzawa, T. (2002). An infant chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) follows human gaze. Animal Cognition, 5(2), 97-114.

Animal learning
  • Shibasaki, M., & Kawai, N. (2011). A reversed work-ethic effect: Monkeys avoid stimuli associated with high-effort. Japanese Psychological Research, 53, 77-85.
  • Kawai, N., Kono, R., & Sugimoto, S. (2004). Avoidance learning in the crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) depends on the predatory imminence of the unconditioned stimulus: a behavior systems approach to learning in invertebrates. Behavioural Brain Research, 150(1-2), 229-237.
  • Nakama-Kitamura, M. , Kawai, N., Hayashi, T., & Imada, H. (2002). An analysis of the effects of contextual cues on the development of morphine tolerance in rats. Japanese Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, 22, 79-84.
  • Kawai, N. (2000). The number of trial upon the effects of US duration in conditioned licking suppression with rats. Japanese Journal of Animal Psychology, 50(1), 21-26.
  • Kawai, N., & Kitaguchi, K. (1999). Evidences for within-compound learning in an instrumental conditioning with rats, Behavioural Processes, 44(3), 317-322.
  • Kawai, N., & Imada, H. (1998). Effects upon rats' responses on a running wheel of single alternation of large and small rewards and external cues. Japanese Psychological Research, 40(2), 117-123
  • Kawai, N., Nishida, N., & Imada, H. (1998). Effects of postconditioning manipulations following compound conditioning on conditioned licking suppression in rats. Psychologia, 41(1), 49-59.
  • Kawai, N., & Nakajima, S. (1997). US postexposure effect on conditioned flavor preference in the rat. Psychological Record, 47(3), 499-518.
  • Nakajima, S., & Kawai, N. (1997). Failure of retrospective inference in the rats' taste aversion. Japanese Psychological Research, 39(2), 87-97.
  • Kawai, N., & Imada, H. (1996). Between- and within-subjects effects of US duration on conditioned suppression in rats: Contrast makes otherwise unnoticed duration-dimension stand out. Learning and Motivation, 27(1), 92-111.
 
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Learning and memory are rudimentary abilities used by humans and animals to acquire knowledge. We are exploring the origins of these abilities from phylogenetic and ontogenetic perspectives. We previously demonstrated that even invertebrates (crayfish) possess reinforcement learning ability with some restrictions. Furthermore, we conducted a pioneering work in which even a full-term chimpanzee fetus had associative learning and long-lasting memory abilities before birth. We also demonstrated that a numerically trained chimpanzee named Ai had a comparable short-term memory span to humans.

Several years ago, we showed that a chimpanzee was capable of learning even before birth and could retain it even after the birth for a few months. To show this, we first let a fetus hear two kinds of sound through the mother’s body. Unlike the one sound, the other sound was always accompanied by a vibration which surprised the baby, making her respond lively. We kept this treatment for a month up to the birth. The baby was then taken away from her mother at the one month and two months of age for a test. When given the two kinds of sound, she made the response of surprise only to the sound that had been accompanied by the vibration. This did not happen to a baby with no such experience of prenatal learning. In this experiment, a mammalian fetus was shown to be capable of learning an association between otherwise unrelated sound and vibration. It is the first to show this kind of learning before birth for any mammalian species, including humans.

More recently, we confirmed that monkeys, just like humans, detect hazardous stimulus such as snakes faster than they do so for non-hazardous stimuli. Innocuous as it may seem, this finding provides a certain answer to the question of why humans are scared of snakes. Traditionally, there had been two hypothesesfor this question: one took our snake-phobia as our innate inclination, while the other took it that we acquired the fear through observations, stories, and experiences. In the meantime, monkeys raised by human care were said to show no snake-phobia while wild monkeys were scared of snakes. This had suggested that the snake-phobia was in general an acquired trait. We hypothesized that human-raised monkeys, though not snake-phobic, might process visual information of snakes faster than that of other objects, and tested it by the following way. We trained human-raised monkeys to choose one picture, from among nine pictures shown on a touch-screen, which differs from the rest, as fast as possible. Sometimes they were to choose a flower picture from snake pictures (or vice versa), and sometimes a car picture from chair pictures (or vice versa). When choosing between car and chair, their response time was the same regardless of which one to choose. But, between snake and flower, they chose the snake from the flowers faster than they made the flower-from-snakes choice. We did the same experiment with college students, and obtained the same results. The college students were tested for snake/innocuous animal sets (e.g., snake/koala) as well, and chose the snake faster again. Therefore, at least our visual information processing should be somehow special when the object is a snake, because even monkeys who have not seen a snake in their lives find the snake faster. Based on certain brain imaging research, it is suggested that the amygdale, located at the bottom of the brain and involved in affect information processing, precipitates the normal visual processing when a stimulus like an angry face is shown. It is possible that the same precipitation takes place for a snake stimulus.