Terrorism—A Cultural Phenomenon?

Teen Pregnancy: A Cross-Cultural Phenomenon but a Western Problem?

Language in Nature: on the Evolutionary Roots of a Cultural Phenomenon (draft Chapter for the Language Phenomenon)

What distinguishes Man from beast? For all of human history we have been wondering about that question, and over the centuries we have learned to dismiss some of the popular answers. Humans might walk upright more than any other ape, have less hair, be better at long distance running, use tools more readily, have more advanced reasoning skills, be more aware of the thoughts of others or behave ...

Language in Nature: on the Evolutionary Roots of a Cultural Phenomenon

What could an evolutionary explanation for language look like? Here I review relevant evidence from linguistics, comparative biology, evolutionary theory and the fossil record, which suggest vocal imitation and hierarchical compositionality as the essential and uniquely human biological foundations of language. I also outline a plausible scenario for how human language evolved, and propose that...

Engaging with plastination and the Body Worlds phenomenon: a cultural and intellectual challenge for anatomists.

Body Worlds, the international plastination phenomenon, has proved immensely popular with audiences worldwide. Never before has the human body been exposed to public gaze in such an accessible and intriguing manner. Dissected body parts feature alongside whole-body plastinates with their life-like poses ranging from those with Renaissance motifs to others with highly contemporary themes. Howeve...

Do collectivists know themselves better than individualists? Cross-cultural studies of the holier than thou phenomenon.

Collectivists know themselves better than individualists do, in that collectivists provide more accurate self-predictions of future behavior in situations with moral or altruistic overtones. In 3 studies, respondents from individualist cultures overestimated the likelihood that they would act generously in situations involving redistributing a reward (Study 1), donating money (Study 2), or avoi...