A Companion to Cognitive Anthropology: 16 (Wiley Blackwell Companions to Anthropology) - Hardcover

In elucidating tensions between individual and collective, between idiosyncratic and commonplace, between the social, cultural, and environmental, and between the evolutionary and situational, cognitive anthropology emerges as a significant component of studying human being, and this volume provides a useful anthology and snapshot. (Journal of the Royal Astronomical Institute, 1 May 2013) The fact that reading through these essays got me thinking about the amazing range of research areas that could now be considered part of "cognitive anthropology" is a testament both to the provocative value of this volume and the vitality of the sub-discipline of cognitive anthropology it is helping to re-imagine. (Ethos, 1 February 2013)

A Companion to Cognitive Anthropology offers a comprehensive overview of the development of cognitive anthropology from its inception to the present day and presents recent findings in the areas of theory, methodology, and field research in twenty-nine key essays by leading scholars. * Demonstrates the importance of cognitive anthropology as an early constituent of the cognitive sciences * Examines how culturally shared and complex cognitive systems work, how they are structured, how they differ from one culture to another, how they are learned and passed on * Explains how cultural (or collective) vs. individual knowledge distinguishes cognitive anthropology from cognitive psychology * Examines recent theories and methods for studying cognition in real-world scenarios * Contains twenty-nine key essays by leading names in the field