![Sean Roberts](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/1822?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr Sean Roberts
(he/him)
Senior Lecturer
- Welsh speaking
Overview
I am an evolutionary psycholinguist with a multidisciplinary background in linguistics, artificial intelligence, evolution and cognition, and with expertise in both quantitative and qualitative methods. I research the origins and continuing evolution of languages, and how they adapt to individual cognition, interaction and their wider ecology.
Publication
2025
- Krykoniuk, K., Aldridge-Waddon, M., Fontaine, L. and Roberts, S. 2025. Reference to patients in nurse shift handover meetings: Exploring the dynamics of referring expressions. Journal of Quantitative Linguistics 32(1), pp. 54-81. (10.1080/09296174.2024.2416641)
- Robertson, C., Roberts, S., Majid, A. and Dunbar, R. I. M. 2025. Language and economic behaviour: Future tense use causes less not more temporal discounting. PLoS ONE
2024
- Dhakal, D. N., List, J. and Roberts, S. G. 2024. A phylogenetic study of South-Western Tibetic. Journal of Language Evolution 9(1-2), pp. 14-28., article number: lzae008. (10.1093/jole/lzae008)
- Rennick, S. and Roberts, S. 2024. The video game dialogue corpus. Corpora 19(1), pp. 93-106. (10.3366/cor.2024.0299)
- Hartmann, F., Roberts, S., Valdes, P. and Grollemund, R. 2024. Investigating environmental effects on phonology using diachronic models. Evolutionary Human Sciences 6, article number: e8. (10.1017/ehs.2023.33)
- Krykoniuk, K. and Roberts, S. 2024. Causal graphs as a tool for investigating language evolution. In: Raviv, L. and Cedric, B. eds. The Oxford Handbook of Approaches to Language Evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press
2023
- Knowlton, T. and Roberts, S. G. 2023. Explaining mythical composite monsters in a global cross-cultural sample. Journal of Cognition and Culture 24(1-2), pp. 51-74. (10.1163/15685373-12340176)
- Stainton, A., Roberts, S. G. and Rennick, S. 2023. Hey, You! The importance of pragmatics in localizations of 'Mass Effect' in French and Spanish. Games and Culture (10.1177/15554120231218046)
- Medupe, D., Roberts, S. G., Shenk, M. K. and Glowacki, L. 2023. Why did foraging, horticulture and pastoralism persist after the Neolithic transition? The oasis theory of agricultural intensification. Royal Society Open Science 378(1883) (10.1098/rstb.2022.0300)
- Rennick, S. et al. 2023. Gender bias in video game dialogue. Royal Society Open Science 10, article number: 221095. (10.1098/rsos.221095)
- Passmore, S. et al. 2023. Kinbank: A global database of kinship terminology. PLoS ONE 18(5), article number: e0283218. (10.1371/journal.pone.0283218)
- Robertson, C. and Roberts, S. G. 2023. Not when but whether: Modality and future time reference in English and Dutch. Cognitive Science: A Multidisciplinary Journal 47(1), article number: e13224. (10.1111/cogs.13224)
2022
- Byun, K., Roberts, S. G., de Vos, C., Zeshan, U. and Levinson, S. C. 2022. Distinguishing selection pressures in an evolving communication system: evidence from colour-naming in ‘cross signing’. Frontiers in Communication 7, article number: 1024340. (10.3389/fcomm.2022.1024340)
2021
- Rennick, S. and Roberts, S. 2021. Improving video game conversations with trope-informed design. Game Studies 21(3)
- Gotti, G., Roberts, S. G., Fasan, M. and Robertson, C. 2021. Language in economics and accounting research: the role of linguistic history. The International Journal of Accounting 56(3), article number: 2150015. (10.1142/S1094406021500153)
- Berl, R., Samarasinghe, A., Roberts, S., Jordan, F. and Gavin, M. 2021. Prestige and content biases together shape the cultural transmission of narratives. Evolutionary Human Sciences 3, article number: e42. (10.1017/ehs.2021.37)
- Monaghan, P. and Roberts, S. G. 2021. Iconicity and diachronic language change. Cognitive Science 45(4), article number: e12968. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12968)
2020
- Thomson, B., Roberts, S. G. and Lupyan, G. 2020. Cultural influences on word meanings revealed through large-scale semantic alignment. Nature Human Behaviour 4, pp. 1029-1038. (10.1038/s41562-020-0924-8)
- Roberts, S. G. et al. 2020. CHIELD: The causal hypotheses in evolutionary linguistics database. Journal of Language Evolution 5(2), pp. 101-120. (10.1093/jole/lzaa001)
- Cuskley, C., Roberts, S. G., Politzer-Ahles, S. and Verhoef, T. 2020. Double-blind reviewing and gender biases at EvoLang conferences. Journal of Language Evolution 5(1), pp. 92-99. (10.1093/jole/lzz007)
- Macuch Silva, V., Holler, J., Ozyurek, A. and Roberts, S. G. 2020. Multimodality and the origin of a novel communication system in face-to-face interaction. Royal Society Open Science 7(1), article number: 182056. (10.1098/rsos.182056)
2018
- Majid, A. et al. 2018. Differential coding of perception in the world’s languages. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115(45), pp. 11369-11376. (10.1073/pnas.1720419115)
- Roberts, S. G. 2018. Robust, causal, and incremental approaches to investigating linguistic adaptation. Frontiers in Psychology 9, article number: 166. (10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00166)
2017
- Roberts, S. G. and Levinson, S. C. 2017. Conversation, cognition and cultural evolution: a model of the cultural evolution of word order through pressures imposed from turn taking in conversation. Interaction Studies 18(3), pp. 402-442. (10.1075/is.18.3.06rob)
2015
- Dingemanse, M. et al. 2015. Universal principles in the repair of communication problems.. PLoS ONE 10(9), article number: e0136100. (10.1371/journal.pone.0136100)
- Roberts, S. G., Winters, J. and Chen, K. 2015. Future tense and economic decisions: Controlling for cultural evolution.. PLoS ONE 10(7), article number: e0132145. (10.1371/journal.pone.0132145)
Adrannau llyfrau
- Krykoniuk, K. and Roberts, S. 2024. Causal graphs as a tool for investigating language evolution. In: Raviv, L. and Cedric, B. eds. The Oxford Handbook of Approaches to Language Evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Erthyglau
- Krykoniuk, K., Aldridge-Waddon, M., Fontaine, L. and Roberts, S. 2025. Reference to patients in nurse shift handover meetings: Exploring the dynamics of referring expressions. Journal of Quantitative Linguistics 32(1), pp. 54-81. (10.1080/09296174.2024.2416641)
- Robertson, C., Roberts, S., Majid, A. and Dunbar, R. I. M. 2025. Language and economic behaviour: Future tense use causes less not more temporal discounting. PLoS ONE
- Dhakal, D. N., List, J. and Roberts, S. G. 2024. A phylogenetic study of South-Western Tibetic. Journal of Language Evolution 9(1-2), pp. 14-28., article number: lzae008. (10.1093/jole/lzae008)
- Rennick, S. and Roberts, S. 2024. The video game dialogue corpus. Corpora 19(1), pp. 93-106. (10.3366/cor.2024.0299)
- Hartmann, F., Roberts, S., Valdes, P. and Grollemund, R. 2024. Investigating environmental effects on phonology using diachronic models. Evolutionary Human Sciences 6, article number: e8. (10.1017/ehs.2023.33)
- Knowlton, T. and Roberts, S. G. 2023. Explaining mythical composite monsters in a global cross-cultural sample. Journal of Cognition and Culture 24(1-2), pp. 51-74. (10.1163/15685373-12340176)
- Stainton, A., Roberts, S. G. and Rennick, S. 2023. Hey, You! The importance of pragmatics in localizations of 'Mass Effect' in French and Spanish. Games and Culture (10.1177/15554120231218046)
- Medupe, D., Roberts, S. G., Shenk, M. K. and Glowacki, L. 2023. Why did foraging, horticulture and pastoralism persist after the Neolithic transition? The oasis theory of agricultural intensification. Royal Society Open Science 378(1883) (10.1098/rstb.2022.0300)
- Rennick, S. et al. 2023. Gender bias in video game dialogue. Royal Society Open Science 10, article number: 221095. (10.1098/rsos.221095)
- Passmore, S. et al. 2023. Kinbank: A global database of kinship terminology. PLoS ONE 18(5), article number: e0283218. (10.1371/journal.pone.0283218)
- Robertson, C. and Roberts, S. G. 2023. Not when but whether: Modality and future time reference in English and Dutch. Cognitive Science: A Multidisciplinary Journal 47(1), article number: e13224. (10.1111/cogs.13224)
- Byun, K., Roberts, S. G., de Vos, C., Zeshan, U. and Levinson, S. C. 2022. Distinguishing selection pressures in an evolving communication system: evidence from colour-naming in ‘cross signing’. Frontiers in Communication 7, article number: 1024340. (10.3389/fcomm.2022.1024340)
- Rennick, S. and Roberts, S. 2021. Improving video game conversations with trope-informed design. Game Studies 21(3)
- Gotti, G., Roberts, S. G., Fasan, M. and Robertson, C. 2021. Language in economics and accounting research: the role of linguistic history. The International Journal of Accounting 56(3), article number: 2150015. (10.1142/S1094406021500153)
- Berl, R., Samarasinghe, A., Roberts, S., Jordan, F. and Gavin, M. 2021. Prestige and content biases together shape the cultural transmission of narratives. Evolutionary Human Sciences 3, article number: e42. (10.1017/ehs.2021.37)
- Monaghan, P. and Roberts, S. G. 2021. Iconicity and diachronic language change. Cognitive Science 45(4), article number: e12968. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12968)
- Thomson, B., Roberts, S. G. and Lupyan, G. 2020. Cultural influences on word meanings revealed through large-scale semantic alignment. Nature Human Behaviour 4, pp. 1029-1038. (10.1038/s41562-020-0924-8)
- Roberts, S. G. et al. 2020. CHIELD: The causal hypotheses in evolutionary linguistics database. Journal of Language Evolution 5(2), pp. 101-120. (10.1093/jole/lzaa001)
- Cuskley, C., Roberts, S. G., Politzer-Ahles, S. and Verhoef, T. 2020. Double-blind reviewing and gender biases at EvoLang conferences. Journal of Language Evolution 5(1), pp. 92-99. (10.1093/jole/lzz007)
- Macuch Silva, V., Holler, J., Ozyurek, A. and Roberts, S. G. 2020. Multimodality and the origin of a novel communication system in face-to-face interaction. Royal Society Open Science 7(1), article number: 182056. (10.1098/rsos.182056)
- Majid, A. et al. 2018. Differential coding of perception in the world’s languages. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115(45), pp. 11369-11376. (10.1073/pnas.1720419115)
- Roberts, S. G. 2018. Robust, causal, and incremental approaches to investigating linguistic adaptation. Frontiers in Psychology 9, article number: 166. (10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00166)
- Roberts, S. G. and Levinson, S. C. 2017. Conversation, cognition and cultural evolution: a model of the cultural evolution of word order through pressures imposed from turn taking in conversation. Interaction Studies 18(3), pp. 402-442. (10.1075/is.18.3.06rob)
- Dingemanse, M. et al. 2015. Universal principles in the repair of communication problems.. PLoS ONE 10(9), article number: e0136100. (10.1371/journal.pone.0136100)
- Roberts, S. G., Winters, J. and Chen, K. 2015. Future tense and economic decisions: Controlling for cultural evolution.. PLoS ONE 10(7), article number: e0132145. (10.1371/journal.pone.0132145)
Research
Causal inference. I'm working on new statistical techniques to discover causal links in cross-cultural observational databases. This includes building the Causal Hypotheses in Evolutionary Linguistics. Visit CHIELD.
Future Time Reference (with Dermot Lynott, Lancaster University and Texture AI). We are developing a service that recognises real-time changes in risk taking from public social media, based on my research on how grammatical choices can reveal psychological attitudes to risk-taking.
Language Evolves (with Hannah Little, Catriona Silvey, Kateryna Krykoniuk, and Fiona Jordan). We created a service that helps authors in the science fiction industry research and develop stories based on language evolution research. This includes an online course, an interactive workshop, and one-to-one sessions. An associated short story competition attracted 70 submissions and is being judged by Mary Doria Russell (winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award) and Gwyneth Lewis (former national poet of Wales). Our 2023 competition is now open. Visit our website.
Conversations in Video Games, with Stephanie Rennick (University of Glasgow) uses my research on the structure of interactive conversation to improve video game dialogue systems. We created the largest corpus of video game dialogue and have run various workshops and events with video game developers. Visit our website.
Teaching
I have taught on a range of courses covering topics such as psycholinguistics, corpus lingusitics and semantics.
Biography
I did a PhD in linguistics at the University of Edinburgh, then held post-doc research positions at the Max-Plank Institute for Psycholinguistics and the University of Bristol (Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship).
Contact Details
RobertsS55@cardiff.ac.uk
+44 29208 74826
John Percival Building, Room 3.65(a), Colum Drive, Cardiff, CF10 3EU
+44 29208 74826
John Percival Building, Room 3.65(a), Colum Drive, Cardiff, CF10 3EU
