Dr. Tetsuro Matsuzawa
41 Kanrin, Inuyama, Aichi
484-8506, Japan
Em: matsuzaw@pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp
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Dr. Tetsuro Matsuzawa
Professor of Section of Language and Intelligence, Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University, Japan
Matsuzawa has been studying chimpanzee intelligence both in the laboratory and in the wild. The laboratory work, known as "Ai-project", focusing on the language-like skills and the concept of numbers established in a female chimpanzee named Ai. Chimpanzee Ai, 29 year old at present, has a 6year-old boy named "Ayumu". They live in the PRI community of 14 chimpanzees as a group including 3 generations of 5 to 40 year old. Ai project started in 1978, and one of the longest laboratory research on chimpanzee intelligence.
Matsuzawa has also been studying the tool use in the wild chimpanzees at Bossou, Guinea, West Africa, since 1986. There is a community of about 12 individuals that has been studied for 30 years by Japanese researchers. The Bossou chimpanzees are well known to use a pair of stones as hammer and anvil to crack open oil-palm nuts. His long-term research on wild chimpanzee tool use revealed interesting topics like handedness of use of hammer, critical period of learning nut-cracking at around 3 to 5 year old, "education by master-apprenticeship " and observational learning, possession of stones, deception, new tool use like algae-scooping, use of leaves for cushions, cultural variation in adjacent communities, etc.
Matsuzawa tries to synthesize the field work and the laboratory work to understand the nature of chimpanzees, our evolutionary neighbors. He got several prizes including Prince Chichibu Memorial Science Award in 1991, Jane Goodall Award in 2001, and The Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2004. He published many books and articles including the following ones. |
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