Spatial cognition is fundamental to our species. One might therefore expect that spatial communication systems would have evolved to make common distinctions. However, many have argued that spatial communication systems exhibit considerable cross-linguistic diversity, challenging the view that space structures language. We review recent work on spatial communication that merits revisiting the relationship between language […]

Pain, an indicator of potential tissue damage, ideally falls under individual control. Although previous work shows a trend towards reduced pain in contexts where pain is controllable, there is a large variability across studies that is probably related to different aspects of control. We therefore outline a taxonomy of different aspects of control relevant to […]

In their recent Letter in TiCS [1], Vaish and Grossmann offer some thoughtful comments on our recent article, ‘A pattern theory of compassion’ [2]. They argue that the distinction we draw between compassion and sympathy is not as sharp as the distinction between compassion and empathy, and neither is it supported by empirical evidence. They […]