Researchers investigated language change by studying Slovotvir, a Ukrainian website where users propose and rank alternatives for foreign-origin words. The site shows that people prefer shorter words, but not necessarily more common words. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/KWGE50ZNzaj

Are you interested in lexical competition, agent-based modelling, strong inference and Ukrainian? Then this paper, just published in @pnasnexus.org, is for you. With @oliviermorin.bsky.social and @sobchuk.bsky.social, we asked a simple question: why do some words become more common than others?

A Theory of Cuteness as Developmental Investment www.cambridge.org/core/journal... Garsmeur & Baumard (2026) BBS.

Thousands of languages have disappeared throughout human history. New research is shedding light on why. A study coauthored by Yale linguist Claire Bowern finds that widespread language loss began not with European colonialism, but roughly a thousand years earlier.

Study uncovers lost ‘golden age' of languages

A new study coauthored by Yale linguist Claire Bowern suggests that tens of thousands of languages were spoken between 1,000 and 3,000 years ago.

bit.ly

New preprint! We investigate the role of language in the transmission of mental models in cultural evolution. Using a transmission chain design with over 2000 participants, we show that only language allows for the transmission and refinement of mental models. osf.io/preprints/ps...

Job posting: Associate Professor in behavioral ecology and cultural evolution within the Department of Ecology and Evolution (DEE) at the University of Lausanne. Deadline for applications is 30.09.2026: wwwfbm.unil.ch/releve/appli... (there is a button to switch to English at the top right)

📣 I'm hiring! Two positions (PhD student & Postdoc) in my ERC project Macroevolution of European Literature. Let's study the cultural evolution of literature using massive data 📚📈 📍Frankfurt | Apply by August 15 Details: www.aesthetics.mpg.de/en/career/jo... Please repost to help spread the word!

I’m delighted to share my new IR position on the ANR project Unpredictable after my PhD journey @laboratoireddl.bsky.social Excited to collaborate with @oliviermorin.bsky.social & Marc Tang on this new chapter. Thank all the supports from DDL 💐 & the warm welcome at Laboratoire Éco-anthropologie.

In episode 1207, I talk with Dr. Alberto Acerbi (@acerbialberto.com) about his fascinating new book, Technopanic: How Justified Are Our Fears About Digital Media? #Psychology #Sociology #Science youtu.be/D6NLQjxIjps

#1207 Alberto Acerbi: Digital Media, Between Reasonable Caution and Unjustified Fears

YouTube video by The Dissenter

youtu.be

How precise are numbers? Our new article in Language and Cognition (with @bodowinter.bsky.social and @lordlorson.bsky.social) finds that round numbers are used more approximately at higher magnitudes. (1/5) 👇 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Huge thanks to my co-authors Ruby de Lanerolle (co-first author), @oliviermorin.bsky.social, @tadegquillien.bsky.social and to my supervisor @hugoreasoning.bsky.social I will be presenting the paper in Rio for CogSci2026, happy to chat :) doi.org/10.31234/osf...

With big thanks to Alexey Koshevoy, @alexeykoshevoy.bsky.social Marie Hallo @marie-hl.bsky.social and Rowan Hall Maudslay!

Alexey Koshevoy@alexeykoshevoy.bsky.social · 4mo ago

🚨New paper alert!🚨 In our new paper with @oliviermorin.bsky.social, Rowan Hall, and Marie Halo published in the Journal of Language Evolution, we explored the relationship between word length and ambiguity on a large-cross linguistic dataset. 1/6

🚨New paper alert!🚨 In our new paper with @oliviermorin.bsky.social, Rowan Hall, and Marie Halo published in the Journal of Language Evolution, we explored the relationship between word length and ambiguity on a large-cross linguistic dataset. 1/6

CALL: a PhD grant (3 years) to do a PhD with me at @cognitionens.bsky.social on the evolution of graphic codes. euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/410213

PhD student grant (3 years) on the evolution of written communication

My team recruits a PhD student to work under the supervision of Olivier Morin on the evolution of written communication, within a project jointly led by Olivier Morin, Hugo Mercier, and Marc Allassonn...

euraxess.ec.europa.eu

Thrilled to share that our new paper is now out in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social: "Who knows what? Bayesian Competence Inference guides Knowledge Attribution and Information Search," with @oliviermorin.bsky.social , @hugoreasoning.bsky.social & @tadegquillien.bsky.social! Link: tinyurl.com/ykyhxcc6

#jobklaxon PhD Fellowships available at @psl-univ.bsky.social! Come & work w/us in CultureLab (w/ @jbcamps.bsky.social @oliviermorin.bsky.social et al not bsky). Deadline 31/05 Starting 01/10 Duration 3 yrs (fixed-term employment with benefits) Salary: sad. www.culturelab.psl.eu/en/news-cult...

PhD fellowship with Diana Mazzarella, Université de Neuchâtel, on communication & cognition. Topics: misinformation, epistemic vigilance, implicit communication, deception, figurative language. Up to 4 years. Deadline: April 13, 2026. Apply: diana.mazzarella@unine.ch

A new Department of Cognitive Science is being created at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. Here is the call for a cluster hire (for around 10 faculty) in all areas of cognitive science, at both junior and senior levels: www.unibocconi.it/en/faculty-a... Deadline: May 4th, 2026

Here is a PhD fellowship in one of the best places in the world to study cognition and culture. 1. Cultural phenomenon: writing 2. Cognitive capacity: to detect what is unpredictable 3. Mission: Show how (2) drives the evolution of (1) 😲 4. Methods: you’ll eventually master some powerful ones

Olivier Morin@oliviermorin.bsky.social · 7mo ago

CALL: a PhD grant (3 years) to do a PhD with me at @cognitionens.bsky.social on the evolution of graphic codes. euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/410213

Join us today @cudanlab.bsky.social for a lecture & discussion with @oliviermorin.bsky.social on "The evolution of writing & well-designed languages" 16:00-18:00 Tallinn time UTC+2 🇪🇪🇪🇺🌍 (5 hours from this post). Details & zoom: cudan.tlu.ee/events/2026-...

CALL: a PhD grant (3 years) to do a PhD with me at @cognitionens.bsky.social on the evolution of graphic codes. euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/410213

PhD student grant (3 years) on the evolution of written communication

My team recruits a PhD student to work under the supervision of Olivier Morin on the evolution of written communication, within a project jointly led by Olivier Morin, Hugo Mercier, and Marc Allassonn...

euraxess.ec.europa.eu

Come work with us! Tallinn Uni is hiring a second lecturer in DH&AI. Estonian proficiency not required, foreign applicants welcome, required phd can be in progress (expected to be completed), competitive salary+benefits, nice working environment close to the sea candidate.recrur.com/public/jobad...

'Why monsters are dangerous', by @oliviermorin.bsky.social and @sobchuk.bsky.social

koenfucius@koenfucius.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Monsters are ubiquitous imaginary creatures. Neither of both main competing anthropological accounts—monsters as anomalies or predators—fully explain the phenomenon. Morin and Sobchuk synthesize the two to explain why anomalous animals are dangerous: buff.ly/i22x0k9

📢 CfP now open for the Computational Cultural Science Workshop (Paris, 18-19 May 2026) until 16 February. Topics of interest: *️⃣AI and cultural datasets *️⃣Theory-driven humanities research *️⃣Document-based modelling of historical and social processes *️⃣Cultural analytics 👉 c2s.sciencesconf.org

New paper with @inbalarnon.bsky.social and @simonkirby.bsky.social! Learnability pressures drive the emergence of core statistical properties of language–e.g. Zipf's laws–in an iterated sequence learning experiment, with learners’ RTs indicating sensitivity to the emerging sequence information.

Cultural Transmission Promotes the Emergence of Statistical Properties That Support Language Learning

Language is passed across generations through cultural transmission. Prior experimental work, where participants reproduced sets of non-linguistic sequences in transmission chains, shows that this pr...

doi.org

Looking for a funded Ph.D. in #CogSci in an interdisciplinary, research-first program? Apply to CEU! cognitivescience.ceu.edu/admission Deadline February 4, 2026. Please share with any interested students! #PsychSciSky #DevPsych #CogPsych

One research direction of my group will be the evolution of European literature, relying on my ERC starting grant. Another direction will be the cultural evolution of films, music & other diverse artforms. I'll be hiring postdocs & PhD students starting in March 2026, so there will be job posts! 3/3

I got wonderful news: I was granted a position of Max Planck independent group leader at the MPI for Empirical Aesthetics ⬇️ (@ae.mpg.de) in Frankfurt, which I'll join in early 2026. It's a huge honor: being trusted with academic freedom offered by MPG. My group will study the evolution of arts. 1/3

US song lyrics have become more negative in the last 50 years, but societal shocks (like 9/11 and COVID) corresponds to *attenuation* of this trend. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Societal crises disrupt long-term increases in stress, negativity, and simplicity in US Billboard song lyrics from 1973 to 2023 - Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports - Societal crises disrupt long-term increases in stress, negativity, and simplicity in US Billboard song lyrics from 1973 to 2023

nature.com