Referred journal articles and proceeding papers (written in English)

Relation between language and thought

Imai, M., Akita, K. (2023) The Iconicity Ring Hypothesis Bridges the Gap Between Symbol Grounding and Linguistic Relativity: TopiCS in Cognitive Science >online

Imai, M., Murai, C., Miyazaki, M., Okada, H & Tomonaga, M. (2021). The contingency symmetry bias (affirming the consequent fallacy) as a prerequisite for word learning: A comparative study of pre-linguistic human infants and chimpanzees: Cognition, volume214. >online

Imai, M., Kanero, J., & Masuda, T.(2020). Culture, Language, and Thought, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology. >online

Imai, M., Kanero, J., & Masuda, T.(2016). The Relation between Language, Culture and Thought. Current Opinion in Psychology. 8:70–77. >online

Saji, N., Asano, M., Oishi, M. & Imai, M. (2015).How do children construct the color lexicon?: Restructuring the domain as a connected system. D.V. Noelle,R. Dale, A.S. Warlaumon.,J. Yoshimi, T. Matlock, C. D. Jennings & P.P. Maglio (Eds.) Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society(pp.2080-2085). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society.>online

Imai, M., & Kanero, J. (2015) The nature of the count/mass distinction in Japanese. In. J.J. Nakayama (Ed). Handbook of Japanese Psycholinguistics. (In Handbooks of Japanese Language and Linguistics Series) Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Mouton. Pp.49-80.

Kanero, J., Imai, M., Okada, H. & Hoshino, N. (2015). Do classifiers make the syntactic count/mass distinction? Insights from ERPs in classifier processing in Japanese. Journal of Memory and Language, 83, 20-52. >online

Malt, B., Ameel, E., Imai,M., Gennari,S. , Saji,N., & Majid, A. (2014 ) Human Locomotion in Languages: Constraints on Moving and Meaning. Journal of Memory and Language, 74, 107-123. >online

Imai, M. , Schalk, L., Saalbach, H., & Okada, H. (2014). All giraffes have female-specific properties: Influence of grammatical gender on deductive reasoning about sex-specific properties in German speakers. Cognitive Science, 38(1), 514–536. >online

Saalbach, H., Imai, M. & Shalk, L. (2012). Grammatical gender and inferences about biological properties in German-speaking children. Cognitive Science, 36, 1251–1267. >online

Saalbach, H. & Imai, M. (2012). The Relation between Linguistic Categories and Cognition: The case of numeral classifiers. Language and Cognitive Processes, 27, 381-428. >online

Göksun, T., Hirsh-Pasek, K, Golinkoff, R. M., Imai, M., Konishi, H., & Okada, H. (2011). Who is crossing where?: Infants’ discrimination of figures and grounds in events. Cognition, 121, 176-195. >online

Imai M, Saalbach, H & Stern, E (2010). Are Chinese and German children taxonomic, thematic or shape biased?: Influence of classifiers and cultural contexts. Frontiers in Psychology. 2010;1: 194. >online

Imai, M., Schalk, L., Saalbach, H. & Okada, H. (2010). Influence of grammatical gender on deductive reasoning about sex-specific properties of animals. In the Proceedings of the Proceedings of the 32nd Annual meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. pp. 1160-1165.

Maguire, M. Hirsh-Pasek,K., Golinkoff, R., Imai, M., Haryu, E., Vanegas,S. Okada, H.,Pulverman, R., Sanchez-Davis, B.(2010) A developmental shift from similar to language specific strategies in verb acquisition: A comparison of English, Spanish, and Japanese. Cognition, 114, 299-319. >online

Malt, B., Gennari, S., Imai, M., Ameel, E., Tsuda, N. & Majid, A. (2008). Talking about Walking: Biomechanics and the Language of Locomotion. Psychological Science, 19, 232-240. >online

Saalbach, H. & Imai, M. (2007). The scope of linguistic influence: Does a classifier system alter object concepts? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136, 485-501. >online

Imai, M. & Mazuka, R. (2007). Language‐Relative Construal of Individuation Constrained by Universal Ontology: Revisiting Language Universals and Linguistic Relativity . Cognitive Science, 31,385-413.

Saalbach, H. & Imai, M. (2006). Categorization, Label Extension, and Inductive Reasoning in Chinese and German Preschoolers: Influence of a Classifier System and Universal Cognitive Constraints. Proceedings of the 28th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 703-708). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Saalbach, H., & Imai, M. (2005). Do Classifier Categories Structure our Concepts? In B. G. Bara, L. Barsalou & M. Bucciarelli (Eds.), Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 1901-1906). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Imai, M. & Gentner, D. (1997). A crosslinguistic study on constraints on early word meaning: Linguistic influence vs. universal ontology. Cognition, 62, 169-200.

Imai, M. & Gentner, D. (1994). Linguistic relativity vs. universal ontology: Cross-linguistic studies of the object/substance distinction. The proceedings of the 29th Chicago Linguistic Society. pp.171-186

Language Development, Word meaning acquisition, conceptual development

Scott, E. Molly., Kanero, J., Saji, N., Chen, Y., Imai, M., Golinkoff, M. R., & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2022). From green to turquoise: Exploring age and socioeconomic status in the acquisition of color terms: First Language, doi: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F01427237221112499 >online

Saji, N.,Asano, M., & Imai, M. (2020) Acquisition of the meaning of the word orange requires understanding of the meanings of red, pink and purple: Constructing a lexicon as a connected system. Cognitive Science. >online

Imai, M. (2020). Lexical development is a process of Symbol Grounding and System Construction. In J. Childers, S. Graham, L. Namy (Eds.) Learning Language and Concepts from Multiple Examples in Infancy and Childhood. Springer. >online

Imai, M., Hidaka, S., Saji, N., & Ohba, M. (2018). Symbol grounding and system construction in the color lexicon. In T. T. Rogers, M. Rau, X. Zhu, & C. W. Kalish (Eds.), Proceedings of the 40th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. pp.1853-1858. Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society. >online

Abbot-Smith, K., Imai,M. Durrant,S. & Nurmsoo, E. (2017). The role of timing and prototypical causality on how preschoolers fast-map novel verb meanings. First Language. 37, 186–204. DOI: 10.1177/0142723716679800>online

Saji, N & Imai, M (2013). Evolution of verb meanings in children and L2 adult learners through reorganization of an entire semantic domain: The case of Chinese carry/hold verbs. Scientific Research in Reading, Special issue: Reading in Chinese,17, 71–88. DOI: 10.1080/10888438.2012.689788

Saalbach, H., Imai, M. & Shalk, L. (2012). Grammatical gender and inferences about biological properties in German-speaking children. Cognitive Science, 36, 1251–1267.

Göksun, T., Hirsh-Pasek, K, Golinkoff, R. M., Imai, M., Konishi, H., & Okada, H. (2011). Who is crossing where?: Infants’ discrimination of figures and grounds in events. Cognition, 121, 176-195.

Saji, N., Imai, M., Saalbach, H., Zhang, Y., Shu, H., & Okada, H. (2011). Word learning does not end at fast-mapping: Evolution of verb meanings through reorganization of an entire semantic domain. Cognition,118, 45-61

Haryu, E., Imai, M., & Okada, H. (2011). Object Similarity Bootstraps Young Children to Action-Based Verb Extensions. Child Development, 82, 674-686.

Saji, N., Saalbach, H., Imai, M., Zhang, Y., Shu, H. & Okada, H. (2008). Fast-mapping and reorganization: Development of verb meanings as a system. In the Proceedings of the 30th Anuual Cognitive Science Society Meeting,( pp.35-40). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Imai, M., Li, L., Haryu, E., Okada, H., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R. & Shigematsu, J. (2008). Novel noun and verb learning in Chinese-, English-, and Japanese-speaking children. Child Development. 79, 979-1000 .

Imai, M. (2008). Children’s use of argument structure, meta-knowledge of the lexicon, and extra-linguistic contextual cues in inferring meanings of novel verbs. In S. Müller (Eds.), The Proceedings of HPSG08 conference, pp 417-435. Palo Alto, USA: CSLI publications.

Imai, M., Haryu, E., & Okada, H. (2005). Mapping novel nouns and verbs onto dynamic action events: Are verb meanings easier to learn than noun meanings for Japanese children? Child Development, 76, 340-355.

Haryu, E., Imai, M., Okada, H., Li, L., Meyer, M. Hirsh-Pasek, K., &Golinkoff, R.(2005). Noun bias in Chinese children: novel noun and verb learning in Chinese, Japanese and English preschoolers. In A. Grugos, M. Clark-Cotton, & S. Ha. (Eds.), Proceedings the 29th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development. Sommerville, MA:Cascadilla Press. (pp.272-283)

Haryu, E. & Imai, M. (2002). Reorganizing the lexicon by learning a new word: Japanese children’s interpretation of the meaning of a new word for a familiar artifact. Child Development.
73, 1378-1391.

Imai, M., Haryu, E., & Okada, H. (2002). Is verb learning easier than noun learning for Japanese children? : 3-year-old Japanese children’s knowledge about object names and action name. Proceedings of the 26th Boston University Conference of Language Development. Vol. 1, 324-335.

Imai, M .& Haryu, E. (2001). Learning proper nouns and common nouns without clues from syntax. Child Development, 72(3), 787-803.

Imai, M. & Haryu, E. (1999). Word learning without aid from syntax: How do Japanese children learn proper nouns and common nouns? The Proceedings of the 23rd Boston University Conference on Language Development.pp.277-288. Somerville, Mass: Cascadilla Press.

Imai, M. (1999). Constraint on word learning constraints. Japanese Psychological Research, 41(1) 5-20.

Haryu, E. & Imai, M. (1999). Controling the application of the mutual exclusivity assumption in the acquisition of lexical hierarchies. Japanese Psychological Research, 41(1),21-34 .

Uchida, N. & Imai, M. (1999). Heuristics in learning classifiers: The implications from the acquisition of the classifier system on the nature of lexical acquisition. Japanese Psychological Research, 41(1),50-69.

Imai, M. & Gentner, D. (1997). A crosslinguistic study on constraints on early word meaning: Linguistic influence vs. universal ontology. Cognition, 62, 169-200.

Imai, M. (1996). Asymmetry in the taxonomic assumption: word learning vs. property induction. Child Language Research Forum, 27. pp.157-167.

Gentner, D. & Imai, M. (1995). Further examination of the shape bias in early word learning. Child Language Research Forum, 26. pp.167-176.

Imai, M., Gentner, D. & Uchida, N. (1994). Children’s theories of word meanings: The role of shape similarity in early acquisition. Cognitive Development, 9. pp.45-75.

Sound symbolism and its role in language development

Imai, M., Akita, K. (2023) The Iconicity Ring Hypothesis Bridges the Gap Between Symbol Grounding and Linguistic Relativity: TopiCS in Cognitive Science >> online

Akita, K., and Imai, M. (2022). The iconicity ring model for sound symbolism. In Sara Lenninger, Olga Fischer, Christina Ljungberg, and Elżbieta Tabakowska (eds.), Iconicity in Cognition and across Semiotic Systems, 27-45. (Iconicity in Language and Literature 18.) Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. >PDF >online

Saji, N., Akita, K, Kantartzis, K, Kita, S., and Imai, M. (2019). Cross-linguistically shared and language-specific sound symbolism in novel words elicited by locomotion videos in Japanese and English. PLOS ONE, 14(7): e0218707. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0218707

Yang, J., Asano, M., Kanazawa, S., Yamaguchi, M. K., & Imai, M. (2019). Sound symbolism processing is lateralized to the right temporal region in the prelinguistic infant brain. Scientific Reports, 9, 13435. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-49917 >online

Kantartzis, K., Imai, M., Evans, D. & Kita, S. (2019) Sound symbolism facilitates long-term retention of the semantic representation of novel verbs in three-year-olds. Languages, Special Issue: Embodied Cognition and Language: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. doi: 10.3390/languages4020021

Imai, M. (2017). The “Symbol Grounding Problem” reinterpreted from the perspective of language acquisition. In J.Zlatev, Sonesson, G., P. Konderak (Eds.). Meaning, Mind and Communication; Explorations in Cognitive Semiotics.　pp145-160. Frunkfurt am Mein: Peterlang >online

Imai, M., Miyazaki, M., Yeung, Henny, Hidaka, S, Kantartzis, K, Okada, H., and Kita, S. (2015) Sound symbolism facilitates word learning in 14-month-olds. PLOS ONE, 10(2): e0116494. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0116494

Asano, M., Imai, M., Kita, S., Kitajo, K., Okada, H. & Thierry, G. (2015). Sound Symbolism Scaffolds Language Development in Preverbal Infants. Cortex, 63, 196-205. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2014.08.025

Imai, M. & Kita, S. (2014). The sound symbolism bootstrapping hypothesis for language acquisition and language evolution. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Soceity B. Phil., vol.,369: no. 1651, pii: 20130298, doi:10.1098/rstb.2013.0298

Kanero J, Imai M, Okuda J,Okada H,Matsuda T(2014). How sound symbolism is processed in the brain: A study on Japanese mimetic words. PLoS ONE 9(5):e97905.doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097905

Kantartzis, K., Imai, M. & Kita, S. (2011). Japanese sound symbolism facilitates word learning in English speaking children. Cognitive Science, 35, 575-586.

Akita, K., Imai, M., Saji, N., Kantartzis, K., & Kita, S. (2011). Mimetic Vowel Harmony in Japanese. B. Frellesvig & P. Sells (Eds.), Japan/Korean Linguistics, 20, CSLI Publications.

Imai, M. Kita, S., Nagumo, M. & Okada, H. (2008) Sound symbolism facilitates early verb learning. Cognition, 109, 54-65.

Kita, S., Kantartzis, K., & Imai, M. (2010). Children learn sound symbolic words better: Evolutionary vestige of sound symbolic protolanguage. In A. D. M. Smith, M. Schouwstra, B. de Boer & K. Smith (Eds.), The evolution of language: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference (EVOLANG8) (pp. 206-213). Singapore: World Scientific.

Word meaning representation and other topics

Imai, M. & Kanero, J. (2020). How classifiers affect mental representation of entities. In Chungmin Lee, Young-Wha Kim, & Byeong-Uk Yi (Eds). Numeral Classifiers and Classifier Languages: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. (pp.197-230). Roudledge.

Hashida, K., Sotaro, S. & Imai, M. (2017). The process of hypothesis formulation and symbol grounding. Cognitive Studies (認知科学)　23, 65-73.

Malt, B., Ameel, E., Imai,M., Gennari,S. , Saji,N., & Majid, A. (2014 ) Human Locomotion in Languages: Constraints on Moving and Meaning. Journal of Memory and Language, 74, 107-123.

Malt, B., Gennari, S., Imai, M., Ameel, E., Tsuda, N. & Majid, A. (2008). Talking about Walking: Biomechanics and the Language of Locomotion. Psychological Science, 19, 232-240.

Middleton, E. Wisniewski, E., Trindel, K., & Imai, M. (2004) Separating the chaff from the oats: Evidence for a conceptual distinction between count noun and mass noun aggregates. Journal of Memory and Language, 50, 371-394.

Gentner, D., Imai, M., & Boroditsky, L. (2002). As time goes by: Evidence for two systems in processing space-time metaphors. Language and Cognitive Processes, 17(5), 537-565.

Imai, M., Nakanishi, T., Miyashita, H., Kidachi, Y. & Ishizaki, S. (1999).
The meanings of FRONT /BACK /LEFT /RIGHT. Cognitive Studies, 6(2), 207-225.

Wisneiwski,E. , Imai, M & Casey, L. (1996). On the equivalence of superoridinate concepts. Cognition, 60, 269-298.

Imai, M., Anderson, R., Willkinson, I. & Yi, H. (1992). Properties of attention during reading lessons. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, pp.160-173.

Gentner, D. & Imai, M. (1992). ‘Is the future always ahead? Evidence for system-mappings in understanding space-time metaphors’. The Proceedings of the Forteenth Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, pp.510-515. Lawrence Erlbaum.

Mason, J. M., Anderson, R. C., Omura, A., Uchida, N. and Imai, M. (1989).
Learning to read in Japan. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 21, pp.389-407.

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