Mitsuhiko Ishikawa

Mitsuhiko Ishikawa is an Associate Research Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London and a JSPS Post-doctoral Fellow at Doshisha University. His research focuses on social interactions, particularly how infants and adults process gaze information and its impact on decision-making. He employs behavioral (eye-tracking) and neurophysiological methods (EEG, heart rate, pupil dilation) to study social reward processing and action value calculations. Ishikawa holds a PhD in Experimental Psychology from Kyoto University (2021), an M.A. (2018), and a B.A. in Cognitive Neuroscience from Nagoya University (2016).

• Education:
  • PhD, Experimental Psychology, Kyoto University (2018–2021)
  • M.A., Experimental Psychology, Kyoto University (2016–2018)
  • B.A., Cognitive Neuroscience, Nagoya University (2012–2016)

His research interests include gaze perception, physiological arousal in social contexts, and cultural influences on face scanning behaviors. He has explored how direct gaze modulates reward anticipation and physiological responses in infants, using computational models like reinforcement learning. Ishikawa has contributed to collaborative projects such as the ManyBabies Consortium and presented at conferences globally, including ICIS and the European Conference on Developmental Psychology.

Awards:

• JSPS Ikushi Prize (2021)
• Kyoto University President’s Award (2020)
• Society for Improvement of Psychological Science Mission Award (2019)
• Overseas research grants (Kyoto University and JSPS)

Grants & Roles:

• Recipient of JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship (2021–present)
• Committee member for the Association for Psychological Science (2019–2021)
• Teaching experience at Kyoto University (2016–2019)

His work bridges developmental psychology, neuroscience, and robotics, examining how social signals guide infant behavior and cultural differences in social cognition.