Unravelling the functional role and neural basis of educational behaviour

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K14174
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 09030:Childhood and nursery/pre-school education-related
• Research Institution: University of Fukui
• Principal Investigator: Shimada Koji 福井大学, 高エネルギー医学研究センター, 特別研究員 (00711128)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 教育 / 子育て / 保育 / 社会脳 / 文化進化 / 社会神経科学 / 養育

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In Study A of this research project, we aimed to elucidate the neural basis underlying educational behaviour. The involvement of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex was suggested as an important neural substrate for the caregiver’s speech directed toward a child. In Study B, we focused on unravelling the psychological reality (and its neural basis) of the reciprocal effects of educational behaviour on the educators themselves (recurrent reinforcement). Selective reinforcement of memory representations involved in the caregiver’s speech directed toward a child was observed, partially supporting the hypothetical psychological reality. In Study C, we tackled the investigation of the training effects of educational parenting behaviour. The direct effects were observed in terms of reduced parenting stress and changes in parenting styles, while the indirect effects were evident in the behavioural and cognitive domains of the children.

Free Research Field

社会神経科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

教育者の教育行動は、学習者の模倣行動と同等に累積的な文化進化の維持や革新にとって重要な役割を担っている。本研究課題では、大人（教育者側）から子ども（学習者側）への教育行動が、学習者に対する利他的側面を越えて、教育者の大人自身に対しても互恵的側面（再帰的強化）を持っているという仮説を部分的に支持するという結果が見出された。ヒトの教育能力の新たな機能的役割（可能性）の理解を深め、学術的かつ社会的に貢献するものといえる。