Some Methods for Studying Cultural Cognitive Structures

Abstract

Human cognition appears to involve two different kinds of cognitive structures. One kind of structure consists of the organization of a small number of elements into a gestalt that functions as a “chunk” in short term or working memory. Examples are objects like the human face, events like something falling down, relations like X happening before Y, and so on. Typically these cognitive chunks are symbolized in language by single words or short phrases and can be unpacked into the kinds of simple universal concepts or “primes” outlined by Wierzbicka (1996).