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Salience and relativity in classification
Author(s) -
DOUGHERTY J. W. D.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1978.5.1.02a00060
Subject(s) - salience (neuroscience) , salient , domain (mathematical analysis) , psychology , epistemology , cognitive psychology , social psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence , mathematics , philosophy , mathematical analysis
In response to arguments that the most basic or salient level of classification for any given domain is largely a reflection of objective reality and, therefore, consistent across human populations, this paper argues that the salience of categories within a given semantic domain is primarily a function of man's attention to or indifference toward the membership of the domain concerned. As the salience of a domain decreases, the most salient category distinctions become increasingly more inclusive.