KRONENFELD, David B.
THE FUNCTIONS OF DIFFERENT COGNITIVE STRUCTURES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON STRUCTURE.

Differences between Cultural Models and Systems of Classification have been noted, but there has been no systematic comparison of them as alternative cognitive structures, and no comparison that takes account of recent formal advances in the analysis of cultural classification systems or of recent work aimed at clarifying the formal nature of Cultural Models. I consider the functions served by the two kinds of cognitive structure in relation to systematic differences in their data, system boundaries, and structural form. The organizing of rich and extensive knowledge areas in a productive manner that allows people to communicate easily, effectively, and creatively about important parts of their lives represents one of the purposes served by kinship and ethnobiological systems. Cultural Models, on the other hand, while still having important social and communicative functions, are first of all plans for action that have to take account of the variety of individual motives, goals, knowledge, skills, and so forth. Their functions can include serving as guidelines for action, but also include providing meaningful interpretations of the behavior of. Traditionally, anthropologists have had little trouble recognizing either data or system boundaries for Classifications, and little trouble with individual variation, while precisely these problems have regularly arisen in work on Cultural Models. I see these descriptive differences as important concomitants of their different functions. A goal of this comparison is to use this functional approach to help develop better ways of describing and analyzing Cultural Models.