In order to investigate cross-cultural variation in systems of conversational turn-taking (who speaks and when), the researchers analyze the association of various contextual, verbal, and non-verbal factors with mean response time. Despite some variation in response time between languages, each of the explanatory variables is found to have significant impact on response time independent of language. A further test on subjective perception of ideal response time suggests that although similar factors act on response patterns cross-culturally (in support of a 'universal systems' theory), speakers are hypersensitive to even minor cultural variations in response time.

In order to investigate cross-cultural variation in systems of conversational turn-taking (who speaks and when), the researchers analyze the association of various contextual, verbal, and non-verbal factors with mean response time. Despite some variation in response time between languages, each of the explanatory variables is found to have significant impact on response time independent of language. A further test on subjective perception of ideal response time suggests that although similar factors act on response patterns cross-culturally (in support of a 'universal systems' theory), speakers are hypersensitive to even minor cultural variations in response time.

The researchers utilize a GIS approach in order to examine the relationship between global linguistic distribution and various cultural and environmental factors. The resulting positive association between political complexity and both latitude and language range leads the researchers to propose that large, politically complex entities exert a homogenizing pressure on language. However, the causal link may also be in the other direction, with possession of common language facilitating the creation of more complex political institutions.

How do subsystems of language evolve over time? It is commonly assumed that grammatical changes of language are slower than vocabulary changes. Using a Dirichlet process mixture model to analyze rates of language evolution in 81 Austronesian languages, the authors find that to the contrary, the grammatical features of language tend to change at a faster rate than basic vocabulary. Furthermore, their results show that grammatical features have higher rates of homoplasy, more frequent contact-induced change, and less deliberate differentiation than basic vocabulary.

Using experimental methods, these researchers evaluated the function of pride in ten small-scale societies by testing personal pride’s association with valuation by the surrounding community. Their aim was to see if findings from western(-ized), educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) societies replicate in non-WEIRD societies. Simple linear regression in each society indicates that the amount of pride one feels for a given action closely matches how highly others in the same community value the action. Authors conclude support for the universality of the pride system.

Using a representative sample of 339 hunter-gatherer societies, researchers examine the relationship between hunter-gatherer use of space, size of population and supply of resources to see if they are similar to other organisms. By combining all factors into a single model, the authors claim to explain 86% of the variation in home range. Hunters have greater resource distribution than gatherers but both more so than aquatic foragers. Lastly, terrestrial foragers have more extensive home ranges than aquatic foragers.

Using a representative sample of 339 hunter-gatherer societies, researchers examine the relationship between hunter-gatherer use of space, size of population and supply of resources to see if they are similar to other organisms. By combining all factors into a single model, the authors claim to explain 86% of the variation in home range. Hunters have greater resource distribution than gatherers but both more so than aquatic foragers. Lastly, terrestrial foragers have more extensive home ranges than aquatic foragers.

The authors develop CantoCore, an expansion of Lomax's Cantometrics scheme, in order to code for additional candidate musical universals. No musical feature occurs with absolute universality, but several features occur with statistically significant frequency after controlling for historical relatedness, and an additional set of features were found to be universally related to each other. The authors highlight the role of these features in human coordination and cohesion, as well as their their utility to the fields of musical cognition and evolution.

The authors develop CantoCore, an expansion of Lomax's Cantometrics scheme, in order to code for additional candidate musical universals. No musical feature occurs with absolute universality, but several features occur with statistically significant frequency after controlling for historical relatedness, and an additional set of features were found to be universally related to each other. The authors highlight the role of these features in human coordination and cohesion, as well as their their utility to the fields of musical cognition and evolution.

Using the compiled database "Seshat: Global History Databank," researchers sampled 30 societies from 10 distinct regions of the world, testing 51 variables that were condensed into 9 "complex characteristic" variables. Researchers tested for correlates in how societies evolve structurally. Utilizing principal component analysis it was demonstrated that the complex characteristic variables were strongly associated, leading to theorization of structural and social evolution predictability.