Tetsuro Matsuzawa

Current Position

Distinguished Professor, Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study,
with Joint Appointment as Professor, Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University
President, the International Primatological Society
General Director, Japan Monkey Centre
Editor-in-chief, PRIMATES
Editorial Board, The Royal Society, Phlosophical Transaction B
Chair, Scientific Program of International Congress of Psychology 2016

Education and Career Track

Birth day: 15th Oct. 1950, born in Japan (Nationality: Japanese)
1969: Entered Kyoto University　(Philosophy major)
1974: Graduated the Faculty of Letters, Kyoto University; Entered Graduate School of Kyoto University (Psychology major): PhD (Science) from Kyoto University in 1989
1976- March 2016: Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University
(1976: Assistant professor, 1987: Associate professor, 1993: full professor, 2006-2012: Director)
Major: Primatology, especially establishing Comparative Cognitive Science

Research Summary

Matsuzawa has been studying chimpanzee intelligence both in the laboratory and in the wild. The laboratory work is known as “Ai-project” since 1976. He has also been studying the tool use in the wild chimpanzees at Bossou-Nimba, Guinea, West Africa, since 1986. Matsuzawa tries to synthesize the field and the lab work to understand the nature of chimpanzees. He published journal papers and also the books such as “Primate origins of human cognition and behavior”, “Cognitive development in chimpanzees”, “The chimpanzees of Bossou and Nimba”, from Springer. He got several prizes including Prince Chichibu Memorial Award for Science in 1991, Jane Goodall Award in 2001, and The Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2004.

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Publications List

Books

Matsuzawa T, Humle, T & Sugiyama, Y (2011) The Chimpanzees of Bossou and Nimba. Springer.
Lonsdorf, E, Ross, S & Matsuzawa T (2010) The mind of the chimpanzee: Ecological and experimental perspectives. The University of Chicago Press.
Matsuzawa T, Tomonaga M, Tanaka M (2006) Cognitive Development in Chimpanzees, Springer.
Matsuzawa T (2001) Primate origins of human cognition and behavior, Springer-Verlag.

Papers (Reviewed Journal Paper)

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Book Chapters

Matsuzawa T (2010) A trade-off theory of intelligence. In: Mareschal, D et al. (eds.), The making of human concepts. Pp. 227?245, Oxford University Press.
Matsuzawa T & Kourouma, M (2008) The green corridor project: Long-term research and conservation in Bossou, Guinea. In: Wrangham, R & Ross, E (eds.), Science and conservation in African forests: The benefits of long-term research. Pp. 201?212, Cambridge University Press.
Matsuzawa T, Nakamura, M (2004) Caregiving: mother-infant relations in chimpanzees. In: M. Bekoff (ed.) Encyclopedia of animal behavior, Pp.196-203, Greenwood Press.
Matsuzawa T (2002) Chimpanzee Ai and her son Ayumu: An episode of education by master-apprenticeship. In: M. Bekoff, C. Allen, & Burghardt, G. (eds.) The cognitive animal Pp.189-195, Cambridge: The MIT Press
Matsuzawa, T (2001) Primate foundations of human intelligence: A view of tool use in nonhuman primates and fossil hominids. In: Primate origins of human cognition and behavior, T. Matsuzawa ed., Pp. 3-25, Tokyo: Springer-Verlag
Matsuzawa T, Biro, D., Humle, T., Inoue-Nakamura, N., Tonooka, R. & Yamakoshi, G. (2001) Emergence of culture in wild chimpanzees: Education by master-apprenticeship. In: Primate origins of human cognition and behavior, T. Matsuzawa ed., Pp.557-574, Tokyo: Springer-Verlag.
Matsuzawa T (1999) Communication and tool use in chimpanzee: Cultural and social contexts. In: Hauser, M. & Konishi, M. eds., The design of Animal communication, Pp.645-671, Cambridge University Press.
Matsuzawa T (1998) Chimpanzee behavior: comparative cognitive perspective. In: Greenberg, G. & Haraway, M. eds., "Comparative psychology: A handbook", Garland Publishers Inc., NY, 360-375.
Matsuzawa T & Yamakoshi, G. (1996) Comparison of chimpanzee material culture between Bossou and Nimba, West Africa. In Russon, A., Bard, K., & Parker, S. (eds.), "Reaching into thought". Cambridge Univ. Press, 211-232.
Matsuzawa T (1996) Chimpanzee intelligence in nature and in captivity: isomorphism of symbol use and tool use. In McGrew, W. et al. (eds.), "Great Ape Societies". Cambridge Univ. Press, 196-209.
Matsuzawa T (1994) Field experiments on use of stone tools by chimpanzees in the wild. In Wrangham, R. et al.(eds.), "Chimpanzee Cultures". Harvard Univ. Press, 351-370.
Itakura, S., & Matsuzawa,T. (1993) Acquisition of personal pronouns by a chimpanzee. Roitblat, H.,Herman, L., Nachtigall, P. (eds.), "Language and Communication:Comparative Perspectives". Lawrence Erlbaum, 347-363.
Tomonaga, M., Matsuzawa T, & Matano, S. (1991) Perception and processing of complex geometrical figures in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). In Ehara, A., Kimura, T., Takenaka, O., and Iwamoto, M. (Eds.), "Primatology today". Elsevier: Amsterdam, 313-316.
Matsuzawa T (1991) The duality of language-like skill in a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). In Ehara, A., Kimura, T., Takenaka, O., and Iwamoto, M. (Eds.), "Primatology today". Elsevier: Amsterdam, 317-320.
Matsuzawa T (1990) Spontaneous sorting in human and chimpanzee. In Parker, S. and Gibson, K. (Eds.), "Language and intelligence in monkeys and apes: Comparative developmental perspectives". Cambridge University Press, 451-468.
Matsuzawa T (1989) Spontaneous pattern construction in a chimpanzee. In Heltne, P. and Marquardt, L. (Eds.), "Understanding chimpanzees". Harvard University Press, 252-265.
Matsuzawa T, Asano, T., Kubota, K., & Murofushi, K. (1986) Acquisition and Generalization of numerical labeling by a chimpanzee. In D.M.Taub and F.A.,King (Eds.), "Current perspectives in primate social dynamics". Van Nostrand Reinhold: New York.

Invited Talks (2004-)