萩原 広道

Hiromichi Hagihara is a Lecturer at Osaka University's Graduate School of Human Sciences, where he conducts interdisciplinary research at the intersection of developmental psychology, cognitive science, and rehabilitation. He also holds part-time positions at Osaka Seikei University as a lecturer in Nursing and serves as a visiting researcher at RIKEN and the University of Tokyo's WPI-IRCN. His work bridges academic research with practical applications in child development and education.

Dr. Hagihara earned his PhD in Human and Environmental Studies from Kyoto University in 2021. His educational background includes a Master's degree from Kyoto University (2018) and undergraduate studies in both Natural Sciences and Health Sciences (Occupational Therapy) at Kyoto University.

Dr. Hagihara's research focuses on early language development, particularly the structure and evolution of "words" and "meaning" in infants and young children. He investigates how children acquire language within social contexts and how this relates to their cognitive and motor development. His work also explores quantitative assessment tools for pediatric rehabilitation, aiming to bridge the gap between clinical practice and scientific research. He advocates for connecting academic disciplines and connecting research with practical application in the field.

His recent publications show a strong emphasis on developmental cognitive science, with particular focus on children's language acquisition, forgiveness understanding, and scale errors. His interdisciplinary approach combines methodologies from psychology, neuroscience, and rehabilitation science to examine child development from multiple perspectives.

• 2024 Osaka University Award for Young Faculty
• 2024 Best Poster Award at Japan Baby Science Society
• 2024 Many Babies Certificate of Achievement
• 2024 Excellent Award at Osaka University Student Research Presentation
• 2022 Top Downloaded Article in Infancy journal

Dr. Hagihara actively mentors students through research projects, including the development of the educational board game "DAIGAKU," which simulates university life experiences. He has secured multiple competitive research grants, including a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on infant social interactions and language development.

He leads the Osaka University Babylab (https://babylab.hus.osaka-u.ac.jp/), which conducts cutting-edge research on infant cognition and language development. His team collaborates with researchers internationally, including at the University of Warwick, Trinity College Dublin, and the ManyBabies consortium.