LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Yamamoto Lab
Machine-translated · View original
The lab explores the evolution of social intelligence, such as empathy and cooperation, through studies of chimpanzees, horses, and elephants.
AboutAbout the lab
Tackling the mystery of the evolution of intelligence through diverse animals
The Yamamoto Lab studies the mystery of the evolution of intelligence in a wide range of animals, combining cognitive research in captivity with fieldwork in the wild.
It is particularly interested in social intelligence, the intelligence exercised within society. Its key words are empathy, understanding others, cooperation, culture, and group society.
The lab also works toward a better society of coexistence between animals and humans.
For graduate study, the lab is part of the Graduate School of Science, Division of Biological Sciences (Primatology and Wildlife Science group), and accepts students through the professor's role as a graduate-level faculty member of the Wildlife Research Center.
Key terms
- Social intelligence
- Intelligence exercised within groups and society, such as reading the feelings of companions and cooperating with them
- Social network analysis
- A method of quantitatively examining, as a web, who is connected to whom and how strongly within a group
NewsLab news
Paper on the diet of wolves that feed on wild horses accepted for publication
Paper published on spontaneous drumming in chimpanzees
Paper published on how wild horse groups maintain boundaries between each other
Paper published on behavior that keeps wild pony herds together
Paper published on Asian elephants reading human attention
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies social intelligence in chimpanzees, bonobos, Japanese macaques, horses, dogs, cats, elephants, and other animals, covering everything from hormones to society and ecology, using cognitive and behavioral experiments, drone observation, social network analysis, and more.
*Illustrative imageBehavior that spreads among chimpanzees
The lab showed that chimpanzees exhibit "social contagion": when they see another individual urinate, they urinate too.
*Illustrative imagePerformance that changes when being watched
The lab showed that when chimpanzees work on a numerical task, their performance changes depending on whether an audience is present.
*Illustrative imageGrooming and intelligence
In wild Japanese macaques, the lab found that individuals closer to the center of the grooming network perform better on a task requiring impulse control. It also put forward a hypothesis on why reciprocal grooming is rare in the animal kingdom.
*Illustrative imageElephant society and mind
In captive Asian elephants, the lab showed that self-directed behaviors indicate social stress, and also showed that elephants read a person's attention from the direction of their body and face.
MembersFaculty
The Yamamoto Lab is made up of faculty members, secretaries, researchers, and doctoral and master's students (including international students).
- ProfessorShinya Yamamoto
VoicesStudent voices
Ratings and reviews reflect the experiences of individual current or former students, not the lab's official views. Whether a lab has reviews, or how many, says nothing about the lab itself.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
Student ratings (0 students)
--
--
--
--
--
--
Student voices answer questions like these
- What's great about this lab?
- What did you learn after joining?
- What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
- Who is this lab for?
- Where do graduates go?
Your experience can help younger students choose their lab. Your name won't be shown.
Write a lab reviewAnonymous · Your draft is saved if you stopThe information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “077 Alpha male chimpanzee checking his arm at Kibale forest National Park Photo by Giles Laurent” Giles Laurent / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Behavior that spreads among chimpanzees: “Chimpanzees at UWEC – Feeding Time in a Safe Haven” Ssemmanda will / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Performance that changes when being watched: “Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Little Rock Zoo 1984” Euthman / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Grooming and intelligence: “Japanese Macaques grooming” Dave Pape / Public domain (cropped)
- Elephant society and mind: “Elephas maximus maximus - 01” Carlos Delgado / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
About LabLog
LabLog is a lab review app for students only. Student members at each university interview students in labs and publish what they say. Student voices can only be read by students who sign up with a university email address. Operated by bestiee Inc.
Learn more about LabLog ↗Search engines and AI may reference the basic lab info and rating summaries on this page and the description of LabLog. Student voices are for student members only. Automated collection by programs (scraping, or input to or training of AI) is prohibited under Article 8 of the Terms of Service. If you need data for research or analysis, please contact us.