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Context‐Specific Variation in Humoral Classification
Author(s) -
Mathews Holly F.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1983.85.4.02a00050
Subject(s) - variety (cybernetics) , variation (astronomy) , context (archaeology) , process (computing) , task (project management) , classification scheme , cognition , computer science , cognitive psychology , artificial intelligence , psychology , data science , geography , archaeology , engineering , physics , systems engineering , neuroscience , astrophysics , operating system
Anthropological studies of classification have focused attention on descriptions of the shared content of cultural categories rather than on the classification process itself. In this paper, data collected in Oaxaca, Mexico, are presented that demonstrate that humoral classification is organized by context such that the values assigned to items vary in accordance with the task to be performed. A variety of cognitive structures govern this process by providing individuals with different defining attributes for use in making classifications in specific contexts.