Global Research Center for Logic and Sensitivity (SU)

Center Director: OKADA Mitsuhiro (Professor, Faculty of Letters)

Primary Campus: Mita

Since 2002, Keio University has been implementing the 21st Century COE Program, "Formation of an Integrated Methodology for Understanding the Mind." Since 2007, the Graduate School of Human Relations, the Graduate School of Letters, and the Graduate School of Media and Governance have jointly carried out the Global COE Program, "The Center for Advanced Research on Logic and Sensibility." This center aims to serve as a startup for establishing a new global research center for logic and sensitivity based on these achievements. Through the previous COE and GCOE programs, there have been two major advancements. The first is the development of interdisciplinary education and research between the Graduate School of Human Relations and the Graduate School of Letters. The second is the globalization of research and education. The GCOE currently has agreements with seven overseas institutions. Furthermore, the "Center for Human Intellect Research," launched in 2011, is a broad, interdisciplinary center encompassing fields from medical sciences and science and technology to the humanities and social sciences, and the environment for interdisciplinary research at Keio University is well-established. Therefore, to further advance research on logic and sensitivity in human judgment, this center aims to 1) conduct cross-disciplinary research and 2) establish and maintain the research center as a global hub.

Interdisciplinary education and research, global hub, logic and sensitivity

■ Implementation of the Business Plan for the Fiscal Year, Research Results, and Degree of Achievement

Progress was made as planned, and sufficient results were achieved. We were able to advance interdisciplinary research on human logic and sensitivity. We analyzed the relationship between the logical/cognitive aspects and personality aspects of human behavioral judgment, using not only standard behavioral data but also behavioral genetic data from twin studies. We investigated how differences between graphical and linguistic representations affect logical reasoning and preference judgments. We also advanced comparative cognitive science research on logic and sensitivity, including the cognitive development of infants, young children, and animals. The effectiveness of combining physiological data with neuroscience research on decision-making was demonstrated. Starting this fiscal year, we also began new research on the psychiatric science basis of "empathy." Multilayered research on aesthetic evaluation was also conducted. In addition to conducting numerous research exchanges with our international partner institutions, this fiscal year we also advanced plans for collaboration with the CNRS Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (INSHS) in France. At the year-end symposium, we invited guest speakers from partner institutions on other campuses, such as the Faculty of Science and Technology, SFC, and the School of Medicine, as well as from research institutions outside the university. We discussed the center's research themes and planned collaborations for the next fiscal year.

In individual research, we continued our study from the previous fiscal year on the relationship between decision-making in the Allais paradox and factors such as logical reasoning ability, IQ, and personality, obtaining new findings. Our research on "empathy" using experimental animals such as pigeons and crows can be considered pioneering. Multilayered results were obtained regarding behavioral judgment, including in infants and young children. Logical and philosophical results were obtained on the foundations of logical judgment. Additionally, we investigated whether differences between graphical and linguistic representations lead to differences in reasoning and judgment, and achieved positive results. These findings have been published or are scheduled for publication soon.