Bill D Thompson

Biographic Data

ID	1935664
NAME	Bill D Thompson
GIVEN NAMES	Bill D
FAMILY NAME	Thompson
SIGNATURE	THOMPSON B D
AFFILIATIONS	University of California, Berkeley
ORCID	0000-0001-7348-3531
VERIFIED	Yes
TOTAL WORKS	12
TOTAL CITATIONS	27
AUTHOR COUNT	12
EDITOR COUNT	0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR	2012
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR	2025
H-INDEX	2

Children spontaneously discover efficient solutions to a difficult sorting task
Open AccessHuiwen Alex Yang, Hui‐Wen Yang et al.ARTICLENature Human Behaviour2025References: 31
Norm reinforcement, not conformity or environmental factors, is predicted to sustain cultural variation
Open AccessM Lee Manning, Bill D Thompson et al.ARTICLEEvolutionary Human Sciences2024References: 6
The maintenance of cross-cultural variation and arbitrary traditions in human populations is a key question in cultural evolution. Conformist transmission, the tendency to follow the majority, was previously considered central to this phenomenon. However, recent theory indicates that cognitive biases can greatly reduce its ability to maintain traditions. Therefore, we expanded prior models to investigate two other ways that cultural variation can…
Iterated learning reveals stereotypes of facial trustworthiness that propagate in the absence of evidence
Open AccessStefan Uddenberg, Bill D Thompson et al.ARTICLECognition2023
Resampling reduces bias amplification in experimental social networks
Open AccessMathew D Hardy, Bill D Thompson et al.ARTICLENature Human Behaviour2023Cited by: 2References: 68
Playful iconicity: Structural markedness underlies the relation between funniness and iconicity
Open AccessMark Dingemanse, Bill D ThompsonARTICLELanguage and Cognition2020
Words like ‘waddle’, ‘flop’, and ‘zigzag’ combine playful connotations with iconic form–meaning resemblances. Here we propose that structural markedness may be a common factor underlying perceptions of playfulness and iconicity. Using collected and estimated lexical ratings covering a total of over 70,000 English words, we assess the robustness of this association. We identify cues of phonotactic complexity that covary with funniness and iconicit…
A data-driven approach to the semantics of iconicity in American Sign Language and English
Open AccessBill D Thompson, Marc Perlman et al.ARTICLELanguage and Cognition2020
A growing body of research shows that both signed and spoken languages display regular patterns of iconicity in their vocabularies. We compared iconicity in the lexicons of American Sign Language (ASL) and English by combining previously collected ratings of ASL signs (Caselli, Sevcikova Sehyr, Cohen-Goldberg, & Emmorey, 2017) and English words (Winter, Perlman, Perry, & Lupyan, 2017) with the use of data-driven semantic vectors derived from Engl…
Cultural influences on word meanings revealed through large-scale semantic alignment
Open AccessBill D Thompson, Seán G Robert et al.ARTICLENature Human Behaviour2020Cited by: 6References: 73
Introducing Parselmouth: A Python interface to Praat
Open AccessYannick Jadoul, Bill D Thompson et al.ARTICLEJournal of Phonetics2018Cited by: 19References: 11
Evolution and Language: Cultural Transmission
Open AccessBill D Thompson, Bill Thompson et al.CHAPTERInternational Encyclopedia of the…2015
The Myth of Moral Panics: Sex, Snuff, and Satan
Bill D Thompson, Andy Williams et al.BOOKMyth of Moral Panics2013
This study provides a comprehensive critique - forensic, historical, and theoretical - of the moral panic paradigm, using empirically grounded ethnographic research to argue that the panic paradigm suffers from fundamental flaws that make it a myth rather than a viable academic perspective
Prelims
Open AccessRdacteur-En-Chef Danesi, Paul Perron et al.ARTICLESemiotica2012
Mods and Rockers, Drunken Debutants, and Sozzled Students: Moral Panic or the British Silly Season
Open AccessBill D Thompson, Bill Thompson et al.ARTICLESAGE Open2012
Over the last decade, moral panic theory has affected a paradigm shift in the social construction of deviance and social problems in the United States, without any real debate about its viability. This article raises key questions about this perspective by offering the first ever critique of the seminal case study of British youth subcultures on which the paradigm is based. It argues that when analyzed in the context of contemporary criticism of …

Prelims
Open AccessRdacteur-En-Chef Danesi, Paul Perron et al.ARTICLESemiotica2012
Mods and Rockers, Drunken Debutants, and Sozzled Students: Moral Panic or the British Silly Season
Open AccessBill D Thompson, Bill Thompson et al.ARTICLESAGE Open2012
Over the last decade, moral panic theory has affected a paradigm shift in the social construction of deviance and social problems in the United States, without any real debate about its viability. This article raises key questions about this perspective by offering the first ever critique of the seminal case study of British youth subcultures on which the paradigm is based. It argues that when analyzed in the context of contemporary criticism of …
The Myth of Moral Panics: Sex, Snuff, and Satan
Bill D Thompson, Andy Williams et al.BOOKMyth of Moral Panics2013
This study provides a comprehensive critique - forensic, historical, and theoretical - of the moral panic paradigm, using empirically grounded ethnographic research to argue that the panic paradigm suffers from fundamental flaws that make it a myth rather than a viable academic perspective
Evolution and Language: Cultural Transmission
Open AccessBill D Thompson, Bill Thompson et al.CHAPTERInternational Encyclopedia of the…2015
Introducing Parselmouth: A Python interface to Praat
Open AccessYannick Jadoul, Bill D Thompson et al.ARTICLEJournal of Phonetics2018Cited by: 19References: 11
Playful iconicity: Structural markedness underlies the relation between funniness and iconicity
Open AccessMark Dingemanse, Bill D ThompsonARTICLELanguage and Cognition2020
Words like ‘waddle’, ‘flop’, and ‘zigzag’ combine playful connotations with iconic form–meaning resemblances. Here we propose that structural markedness may be a common factor underlying perceptions of playfulness and iconicity. Using collected and estimated lexical ratings covering a total of over 70,000 English words, we assess the robustness of this association. We identify cues of phonotactic complexity that covary with funniness and iconicit…
A data-driven approach to the semantics of iconicity in American Sign Language and English
Open AccessBill D Thompson, Marc Perlman et al.ARTICLELanguage and Cognition2020
A growing body of research shows that both signed and spoken languages display regular patterns of iconicity in their vocabularies. We compared iconicity in the lexicons of American Sign Language (ASL) and English by combining previously collected ratings of ASL signs (Caselli, Sevcikova Sehyr, Cohen-Goldberg, & Emmorey, 2017) and English words (Winter, Perlman, Perry, & Lupyan, 2017) with the use of data-driven semantic vectors derived from Engl…
Cultural influences on word meanings revealed through large-scale semantic alignment
Open AccessBill D Thompson, Seán G Robert et al.ARTICLENature Human Behaviour2020Cited by: 6References: 73
Iterated learning reveals stereotypes of facial trustworthiness that propagate in the absence of evidence
Open AccessStefan Uddenberg, Bill D Thompson et al.ARTICLECognition2023
Resampling reduces bias amplification in experimental social networks
Open AccessMathew D Hardy, Bill D Thompson et al.ARTICLENature Human Behaviour2023Cited by: 2References: 68
Norm reinforcement, not conformity or environmental factors, is predicted to sustain cultural variation
Open AccessM Lee Manning, Bill D Thompson et al.ARTICLEEvolutionary Human Sciences2024References: 6
The maintenance of cross-cultural variation and arbitrary traditions in human populations is a key question in cultural evolution. Conformist transmission, the tendency to follow the majority, was previously considered central to this phenomenon. However, recent theory indicates that cognitive biases can greatly reduce its ability to maintain traditions. Therefore, we expanded prior models to investigate two other ways that cultural variation can…
Children spontaneously discover efficient solutions to a difficult sorting task
Open AccessHuiwen Alex Yang, Hui‐Wen Yang et al.ARTICLENature Human Behaviour2025References: 31