Kana Imuta

Dr. Kana Imuta is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Psychology, University of Queensland, with a focus on developmental and social psychology. She is affiliated with the Early Cognitive Development Centre.

• PhD from University of Otago

Research Interests:

• Child development and theory of mind
• Accent/dialect-based social preferences
• Emotional contagion and imitation behavior
• Memory development and educational contexts

Recent Publication Trends: Meta-analyses on linguistic bias in hiring, theory of mind correlations with aggression, empathy in infants, and social preferences in preschoolers. Her work explores digital learning efficacy and emotional motivation for deliberate practice.

Supervision: Currently advising multiple PhD students on accent discrimination, social judgments, sharenting impacts, and loneliness research. Previously supervised projects on sunk cost effects and future event preparation.

• Current funding: ARC Discovery Projects (2024-2027) for accent discrimination psychology
• Past funding: UQ Early Career Researcher Grant (2014) for speech perception studies