This paper tests theory suggesting that art is a form of expressive cultures which ultimately is shaped by the social conditions under which people in a society live. Focuses on social hierarchy and its relationship to art styles.

This study tests for a correlation between severity of socialization and style of art among a sample of nonliterate societies. Typical personality is thought to provide an explanation for these linkages.

This paper suggests that Fischer's (1961) "male security" variable is not adequate. Cross-cultural analyses suggest that male security in the realm of father-son interaction may be more important than male security in the realm of heterosexual interaction in explaining the line shape preference of a society.

This paper tests for a correlation between primary house shapes and preferences for curved or straight lines in art.

This study tests Fischer's (1961) cross-cultural hypotheses about the association between social structure and styles of art using formal design elements on painted vases in ancient Greece. Results show support for all of Fischer's hypotheses.

What is the relationship between childhood experiences and adult skills? The authors of this article hypothesize that early learning situations can result in psychological effects which can later be reflected in adult skills. To test this hypothesis, they investigate how specific childhood activities which stimulate gestalt brain development, such as creative games and holistic learning experiences, translate into adult gestalt skills, such as complex representations of their environments and originality of art. Through a systems approach which employs three levels of analysis- neurophysiology, psychology, and anthropology- the authors find that children's games and learning techniques are correlated with adult environmental representation and artistic originality, ultimately supporting their hypothesis.

This study examines several correlates of the shape of floor plans of dwellings. Authors find that "whether a culture is settled or nomadic, the form of its family and the presence or absence of status distinctions are related to its house type, and the house types can in turn be inferred from the floor plan." Curvilinear houses are associated with polygyny and nomadism and rectilinear houses are associated with sedentarism, extended families, and status distinctions.

This study replicates John L. Fischer's (1961) cross-cultural analysis to demonstrate the correlation between art styles and social hierarchy and postmarital residence. The author suggests that archaeological ceramics might be used to predict social characteristics of prehistoric societies.

This article presents a series of tests done to determine which geometric patterns in the features of masks, classical ballet, and 17th-century Dutch art evoke emotions of threat. Results suggest that diagonal and angular forms evoke emotions of threat.

This article examines the artistic encouragement of collective action during premodern regime building. No cross-cultural empirical hypotheses are tested, but the author identifies artistic processes that promoted the moral capacity for political commitment in a collective (rather than autocratic) polity.