Introduction
Introduction to CERSS
The Center for Experimental Research in Social Sciences at Hokkaido University (CERSS) is a research institution dedicated to promoting the advancement of experimental research in social and human sciences. The Center seeks to understand the relationship between the human mind, behavior, and society, or in other words the “sociality of mind.” Since it was founded in 2007 as a constituent center in the Creative Research Institution at Hokkaido University, CERSS has provided the infrastructure for a wide variety of experimental studies. Topics that have been explored at the center include trust and cooperation, interpersonal and group behavior, economic behavior, social neuroscience, cultural evolution, and environmental behavior. CERSS also serves as a valuable training facility for young scholars across a variety of fields.
Facility Usage Records of CERSS by Non-Member Researchers
2017
Mifune, Nobuhiro (Kochi University of Technology). “Pre-emptive strike experiment”.January, 2018. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 200.
Mifune, Nobuhiro (Kochi University of Technology). “Social dilemma experiment”.December, 2017. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 255.
Kurosaka, Kengo (Hokkaido Musashi Women’s Junior College). “A Public Goods Experiment with Endogenous Move Structure”.December, 2017. Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab. Test participants: 174.
Kameda, Tatsuya (University of Tokyo). “Cognitive physiological process of decision making under uncertainty”.August, 2017. Facilities used: The Experiment Lab for Perception/Sensation Systems. Test participants: 94.
Kameda, Tatsuya (University of Tokyo). “Decision making in distribution”.August, 2017. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 158.
Kameda, Tatsuya (University of Tokyo). “Social influences on foraging decisions”.August to September, 2017. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 96.
Kameda, Tatsuya (University of Tokyo). “Sequential working Study”.August to September, 2017. Facilities used: The Experiment Lab for Perception/Sensation Systems. Test participants: 125.
2016
Yoko Kitakaji (Hiroshima University)・Yoichi Hizen (Kochi University of Technology).”An Experimental Study of Discussion Effect on Public Goods Provision”.March, 2017. Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab. Test participants: 36.
Kameda, Tatsuya (University of Tokyo). “Sequential working game study”.August, 2016. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 136.
Kameda, Tatsuya (University of Tokyo). “Decision making study on risk”.August, 2016. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 61.
Kameda, Tatsuya (University of Tokyo). “Decision making study on uncertainty”.August, 2016. Facilities used: The Experiment Lab for Perception/Sensation Systems. Test participants: 83.
Kameda, Tatsuya (University of Tokyo). “Categorize judgement study about physical stimuli”.August, 2016. Facilities used: The Experiment Lab for Perception/Sensation Systems. Test participants: 59.
Kameda, Tatsuya (University of Tokyo). “Experiment of decision making and consensus building”.August, 2016. Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab. Test participants: 80.
2015
Li, Yang (Tamagawa University). “Psychological bases of preemptive attack”.January, 2016. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 120.
Kameda, Tatsuya (University of Tokyo). “Emotion and social decision making: An fMRI study”.August, 2015. Facilities used: The Experiment Lab for fMRI. Test participants: 27.
Kameda, Tatsuya (University of Tokyo). “Studies on social decision making”.August, 2015. Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab, The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 249.
Kameda, Tatsuya (University of Tokyo). “Experiment of social learning during decision making”.August, 2015. Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab, The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab, The Experiment Lab for Perception/Sensation Systems. Test participants: 228.
Krockow, Eva (University of Leicester). “Cross-cultural studies on experimental game”.August, 2015. Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab, The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 100.
Kavanagh, Christopher (University of Oxford, Institute of Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology). “The effects of ritual on trust”.July, 2015. Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab, The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 60.
Horita, Yutaka (National Institute of informatics). “Experimental studes on public goods game”.June, 2015. Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab. Test participants: 180.
Kavanagh, Christopher (University of Oxford, Institute of Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology). “Studies about threat and identity fusion”.April, 2015. Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab. Test participants: 92.
2014
Inukai, Keigo (Social and Economic Research of Osaka University). “An fMRI study on decision making for others”.September, 2014. Facilities used: The Experiment Lab for fMRI. Test participants: 29.
Nakatsuka, Ryota (University of Tokyo). “Choice and estimation during group decision making”.September, 2014. Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab. Test participants: 137.
Yokoyama, Ryoichi (University of Tokyo) and Hirayama, Izumi (University of Tokyo). “An fMRI study on theory of mind during uncooperative zero-sum game”.August, 2014. Facilities used: The Experiment Lab for fMRI. Test participants: 20.
Hirayama, Izumi (University of Tokyo). “Matching experiment”.July-August, 2014. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 70.
Saito, Yoshimatsu (University of Tokyo). “Distribution-gambling task”.September, 2014. Facilities used: The Experiment Lab for Perception/Sensation Systems. Test participants: 66.
Horita, Yutaka (National Institute of informatics), Masuda, Naoki (University of Bristol), and Kawarabayashi, Ken-ichi (National Institute of informatics). “Experimental study on distribution network”.June-July, 2014. Facilities used: The Experiment Lab for Perception/Sensation Systems. Test participants: 131.
Kimura, Tsukasa (Kwansei Gakuin University) and Katayama, Jun’ichi (Kwansei Gakuin University). “An ERP study on cultural differences in emotion supression”.June-July, 2014. Facilities used: The Experiment Lab for EEG. Test participants: 27.
Inukai, Keigo (Social and Economic Research of Osaka University). “Cognitive Experiment on uncertainty and distributive behavior in group society”.May, 2014. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 75.
2013
Kavanagh, Christopher (University of Oxford, Institute of Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology). “Ritual Intuition”.August, 2013. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab, Group Experiment Lab, and the Experiment Lab for Perception / Sensation Systems. Test participants: 108.
Kamijo, Yoshio (Kochi University of Technology), Okano, Yoshitaka (Kochi University of Technology), and Mifune, Nobuhiro (Kochi University of Technology). The “Comparison of Preemptive Attack Rate Among Individuals and Groups”.July, 2013. Facilities used: The Experiment Lab for Perception/Sensation Systems. Test participants: 160.
2012
Hashimoto, Hirofumi (University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociologies, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science). “Socio-Ecological Basis of Cultural Beliefs – Comparative Study of Japan and the United States”.Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 118.
Daido, Kohei (Kwansei Gakuin University, School of Economics). “Verification of Behavioral Contract Theory Model by Laboratory Experiment”.November, 2012.Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 144.
2011
Lyons, Sarah (University of Maryland, Department of Psychology). “Study on Culture and Social Stigma”.August, 2011. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 22.
Mori, Shintaro (Kitasato University, School of Science). “Study on Phase Transition of Voting Behavior”.June, 2011. Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab. Test participants: 118.
Chug, Joanna S (College of William and Mary, Department of Psychology). “Comparative Cultural Study Between Japan and the U.S.: The Impact of Synchronism of Movement and Similarity of Appearance on In-Group Cooperative Actions”.June, 2011. Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab and the Experiment Lab for Perception/Sensation Systems. Test participants: 48.
Mifune, Nobuhiro (Faculty of Letters, Kobe University, and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science). “International Comparison Experiment on the Evaluation of Co-Workers”.May, 2011. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 204.
2010
Chimno, Aldo (University of California, Santa Barbara, Department of Anthropology). “Comparative Cultural Study on Hazing Behavior and the Nature of Populations”.February – March, 2011. Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab. Test participants: 274.
Kyushu University, Leave a Nest Co., Ltd, and Hokkaido University. “Brain Imaging Analysis of Social Decision Making”.September – November, 2010. Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab. Test participants: 38.
Xue, Ming (University of California Los Angeles, Department of Anthropology). “Comparative Cultural Study on Friendship and Retaliation of Japan, China, and the United States”.August, 2010. Facilities used: The Experiment Lab for Perception / Sensation Systems. Test participants: 110.
Okui, Ryo (Kyoto University, Kyoto Institute of Economic Research) and Hossain, Tanjim (Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto). “Experimental Study of Scoring Rules as Inducement Mechanism for Subjective Probability”.July, 2010. Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab. Test participants: 153.
Kim, Heejung (University of California, Santa Barbara, Department of Psychology), and Ishii, Keiko (Graduate School of Humanities, Kobe University). “Comparative Cultural Study of Japan and the United States on Perception of Emotion”.June – July, 2010. Facilities used: The Experiment Lab for Perception/Sensation Systems. Test participants: 104.
Socio-Economic Research Center, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry and Center for Experimental Research in Social Sciences. “Study on Environments of Mutual Reinforcement of Expectation and Behavior”.April, 2010 – February, 2011. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: about 150 as of September, 2010.
2009
Murai, Toshiya (Graduate School of Medicine and Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University), and Fukui, Hiroki (National Center for Neurology and Psychiatry). “Study on Economic Decision-Making of Patients with Frontal Lobe Lesions”.February, 2010 – present. Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab. Test participants: 30.
Inoue, Takeshi (Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine). “Study on Economic Decision-Making of Patients with Ademonia”.February, 2010 – present. Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab. Test participants: 30.
Toyomaki, Atsuhito (Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine). “Study on Economic Decision-Making of Patients with Asperger Syndrome”.January, 2010 – present. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab, and the Experiment Lab for Perception/Sensation Systems. Test participants: 10.
Sznycer, Daniel, Tooby, John, and Cosmides, Leda (University of California, Santa Barbara, Center for Evolutionary Psychology). “International Comparative Survey on Differences in ‘Shame Culture’ Among Japan, the United States, and Argentina”.Facilities used: The Group Experiment Lab. Test participants: 144.
Kurtis, Tugch (University of Kansas, Department of Psychology). “International Comparative Study on Tendency of Self-Disclosure and Silence by Priming through Residence Fluidity”.July, 2009. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 123.
Pickett, Kate (University of Kansas, Department of Psychology). “International Comparative Study on Attachment to Place by Priming through Residence Fluidity”.July, 2009. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 131.
Sasaki, Masaru (Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University). “Empirical Examination of Search Models by Economic Experimentation”.July, 2009. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 123.
Masuda, Takahiko (University of Alberta, Department of Psychology), and Schaefer, Lindsay (Queen’s University, Department of Psychology). “Study on Cultural Differences in Perception, Emotion, and Motivation”.May – June, 2009. Facilities used: The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab. Test participants: 112.
The Group Experiment Lab
This large-room lab has fifteen desks furnished with individual computers and adjustable partitions. It is used for group experiments in which participants are asked to make decisions while being aware of the existence of others around them, or when they engage in face-to-face interactions with other participants. By changing the height of the partitions for each desk, researchers can also manipulate the degree of privacy felt by participants.
The Worldwide Network Experiment Lab
This lab has sixteen individual cubicles, with each individual computer connected to a local network making it possible for researchers to conduct research on various interpersonal and group-based interactions, including economic exchange choices in experimental games. Using this setup researchers are able to manipulate a variety of social parameters and examine
how specific social interactions are affected as a result. The network is also connected to the internet, which enables researchers to conduct large scale experiments that involve participants from off-campus sites, including other countries.
The Perception/Sensation Systems Lab
This lab enables researchers to precisely measure perceptual and physiological data in a controlled setting. The lab consists of two completely
soundproof rooms, two simplified soundproof rooms, and a control room. Specialist equipment is available, for example, for eye tracking, heart
rate monitoring, and measuring galvanic skin response during face-to-face interactions.
The fMRI Lab
In 2014, we obtained a new Siemens 3T MRI scanner MAGNETOM Prisma, thanks to the Science Council of Japan project, “Web for the Integrated Studies of the Human Mind.” These new facilities are intended to promote collaborations with researchers across a diverse range of fields, including brain science, cognitive science, and social science, all of whom are seeking to understand the social nature of the human mind.
