There is a common saying that two heads are better than one. As this proverb indicates, the phenomenon where a collection of ordinary individuals can outperform each other, or sometimes even an expert, is called "collective intelligence". The question of how and under what conditions collective intelligence may emerge in human society has long been one of the classic and important themes in social science.

Due to the advancement of information technology in the 21st century, our society is currently at a major turning point. The flow of information among people is undergoing a major transformation. While the development of communication technologies has raised expectations for more sophisticated collective intelligence, we are confronted with unprecedented problems such as instant and harsh backlash/division in social media. Under these circumstances, there is a growing demand for the establishment of a general theory of collective intelligence based on multiple perspectives on humanity, including “humans as members of social order,” “humans as biological organisms,” and “humans as nodes connecting information flow”.

I attempt to conduct experimental and empirical research on the conditions for the emergence of collective intelligence and its cognitive underpinnings in modern human society. My research interests include multifaceted perspectives ranging from traditional social psychology to cognitive science, physiology, and information science (e.g., network science).

Experiments

• In addition to computer-based laboratory experiments, I have recently attempted to conduct online experiments that participants can access from their homes.

Computational modeling

• In order to understand participants' decision-making processes in detail, I usually analyze their behavior with computational models such as reinforcement learning and Bayesian learning.

Agent-based simulation

• Based on the computational models of social decision making, I sometimes simulate virtual societies consisting of artificial agents and explore novel forms of collective intelligence in real societies.