A Cognitive Theory of Cultural Meaning [Paperback]

Reviews a range of current psychological theories of cultural meaning.Anthropologists must draw on modern psychological theories of cognition in order to understand how the shared schemas of a culture are learnt, and come to shape everyday actions and decisions. Claudia Strauss and Naomi Quinn review a range of current psychologic al theories of cultural meaning, many unfamiliar to anthropologists, and formulate a new approach which draws particularly on 'connectionist', or 'neural network', modelling This is illustrated by original research on understandings of marriage, and ideas of success, in the United States.Anthropologists must draw on modern psychological theories of cognition in order to understand how the shared schemas of a culture are learnt, and come to shape everyday actions and decisions. Claudia Strauss and Naomi Quinn review a range of current psychologic al theories of cultural meaning, many unfamiliar to anthropologists, and formulate a new approach which draws particularly on 'connectionist', or 'neural network', modelling This is illustrated by original research on understandings of marriage, and ideas of success, in the United States. Culture and meaning are central to anthropology, but anthropologists do not agree on what they are. Claudia Strauss and Naomi Quinn propose a new theory of cultural meaning, one that gives priority to the way people's experiences are internalized. Drawing on connectionist or neural network models as well as other psychological theories, they argue that cultural meanings are not fixed or limited to static groups, but neither are they constantly revised or contested. Their approach is illustrated by original research on understandings of marriage and ideas of success in the United States.Part I. Background: 1 Introduction; 2. Anthropological resistance; 3. Schema theory and connectionism; 4. Two properties of cultures; 5. Three further properties of culture; Part II. Practice and Possibilities: 6. Researcl�