■ Present position
Department of Comparative Study of Cognitive Development (funded by Benesse Corporation),
Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University
■ Correspondance
41-2 Kanrin, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan
Tel/Fax: +81-568-63-0549
E-mail: imura[@]pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp *please remove"[" and "]".
■ Research Interest
Evolutional and developmental origins of pictorial depth perception
■ Education
Kwansei Gakuin University, B.A., 2001 (Psychology)
Kwansei Gakuin University, M.A., 2003 (Psychology)
Kwansei Gakuin University, Ph.D., 2006 (Psychology)
■ Experience
April, 2001-March, 2007:
Member of Cooperative Research Program, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University
April, 2004-March, 2007:
Research Fellow, Chuo University
April, 2005-March, 2006:
Research Fellow for Ph.D. students, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
April, 2006-March, 2007:
Posdoc Research Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
April, 2007- April, 2009:
Posdoc Research Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
January, 2008-September, 2008:
Honorary Research Associate, Developmental Psychology, University College London
May, 2009-
Assistant Professor, Department of Comparative Study of Cognitive Development (funded by Benesse
Corporation), Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University
■ Articles
[Peer Reviewed papers]
Imura, T., & Tomonaga, M. (2003). Perception of depth from shading in infant chimpanzees (Pan
troglodytes). Animal Cognition, 6, 253-258. [PubMed]
Imura, T., Yamaguchi, M.K., Kanazawa, S., Shirai, N., Otsuka, Y., Tomonaga, M., & Yagi, A.
(2006). Perception of motion trajectory of object from the moving cast shadow in infants.
Vision Research, 46, 652-657. [PubMed]
Tomonaga, M., Imura, T., Mizuno, Y., & Tanaka, M. (2007). Gravity bias in young and adult
chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): tests with a modified opaque-tubes task. Developmental
Science, 10, 411-421.[PubMed]
Imura, T., Tomonaga, M., & Yagi, A. (2008). The effects of linear perspective on relative size
discrimination in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and humans (Homo sapiens). Behavioural
Processes, 77, 306-312. [PubMed]
Imura, T., Yamaguchi, M.K., Kanazawa, S., Shirai, N., Otsuka, Y., Tomonaga, M., & Yagi, A.
(2008). Infants’ sensitivity to shading and line junctions. Vision Research, 48, 1420-1426.
Imura, T., Tomonaga, M., Yamaguchi, M. K., & Yagi, A (2008). Asymmetry in the detection of
shapes from shading in infants. Japanese Psychological Research, 50, 128-136.
Imura, T., Shirai, N., Tomonaga, M., Yamaguchi, M. K., & Yagi, A. (2008). Asymmetry on the
perception of motion in depth by moving cast shadows. Journal of Vision, 8(13), 1-8.
Imura,T., & Tomonaga, M.(in press). Moving shadows contribute to the corridor illusion in a
chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Comparative Psychology.
■ Chapter
Imura, T., Tomonaga, M. , & Yagi, A. (2006). Processing of shadow information in Chimpanzee
(Pan troglodytes) and human (Homo sapiens) infants. Matsuzawa, T., Tomonaga, M., &
Tanaka, M. (Eds). Cognitive Development in Chimpanzees, Springer, pp.305-315.
■ Proceedings
Imura,T., Tomonaga, M., Yamaguchi, M.K., & Yagi, A. (2006). Perception of object's motion
trajectory from moving cast shadow in human and Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata)
infants, and an adult chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). The Japanese Journal of Psychonomic
Science, 25, 121-122.
Imura, T., Shirai, N., Tomonaga, M., Yamaguchi, M. K., & Yagi, A. (2006). Asymmetry on the
perception of approaching or receding objects defined by moving cast shadows. The
Japanese Journal of Psychonomic Science, 25, 267-268.
■ Presentations
[Peer Reviewed Presentations]
Imura, T., Tomonaga, M., Yamaguchi, M. K., and Yagi, A. (2004). Perception of depth from
shading in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and human (Homo sapiens) infants. 14th Biennial
International Conference on Infant Studies, Chicago, USA, May 2004.
Imura, T., Tomonaga, M., Yamaguchi, M. K., & Yagi, A. (2005). Perception of motion trajectory
from moving cast shadow in human infants. Vision Sciences Society 2005 Annual Meeting,
Sarasota, USA, May, 5, 2005.
Imura, T., Tomonaga, M., & Yagi, A. (2005). The effect of cast shadow for shape perception
from attached shadow on visual search in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and humans (Homo
sapiens). 28th European Conference on Visual Perception, A Coruna, Spain, August, 24,
2005.
Imura, T., Yamaguchi, M.K., Kanazawa, S., Shirai, N., Otsuka, Y., Tomonaga, M., & Yagi, A.
(2006). Perception of 3-D shape from moving cast shadow in human infants. Vision Sciences
Society 2006 Annual Meeting, Sarasota, USA, May, 4, 2006. Abstracts, p.152.
Imura,T., Yamaguchi, M. K., Tomonaga, M., and Yagi, A. (2006). Perception of motion trajectory
from moving cast shadow in humans and Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). 15th
Biennial International Conference on Infant Studies, Kyoto, Japan, June 21th, 2006.
Program, p.49.
Imura, T., Shirai, N., Yamaguchi, M. K., Tomonaga, M., and Yagi, A. (2006). Asymmetry on the
perception of motion in depth by moving cast shadows. 29th European Conference on Visual
Perception, St. Peteresburg, Russia, August, 21, 2006.
Imura, T., & Tomonaga, M.(2007). Visual search on the ground-like surface defined by texture
gradients in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and humans (Homo sapiens). Vision Sciences
Society 2007 Annual Meeting, Sarasota, USA, May, 12, 2007.
Imura, T., Yamaguchi, M.K., Kanazawa, S., Shirai, N., Otsuka, Y., Tomonaga, M., & Yagi, A.
(2007). Perception of shape from shading and line junctions in infants. 30th European
Conference on Visual Perception, Arezzo, Italy, August, 28, 2007.
Imura, T., & Tomonaga, M.(2008). Visual search on the ground-like surface defined by pictorial
depth cues in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and humans (Homo sapiens). International
Primatological Society XXII Congress, Edinburgh, UK, August, 4, 2008.
Imura, T., Tomonaga, M., Yonas, A. (2008). Perception of depth from linear perspective and
binocular information in a chimpanzee. 31th European Conference on Visual Perception,
Utrecht, Netherlands, August, 28, 2008.
■ Awards
December, 2005:
The best presentation award, 35th annual meeting of the Japanese Psychonomic Society
June, 2006:
The best presentation award, 36th annual meeting of the Japanese Psychonomic Society