Open AccessCognitive Models and Health Decision Making
Author(s) -
Debacker Donald E.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
medical anthropology newsletter
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1937-6219
pISSN - 0543-2499
DOI - 10.1525/maq.1979.10.2.02a00120
Subject(s) - conceptualization , cognition , variance (accounting) , disease , variation (astronomy) , psychology , class (philosophy) , cognitive psychology , social psychology , medicine , computer science , psychiatry , artificial intelligence , business , pathology , physics , accounting , astrophysics
Four hypotheses are proposed concerning intracultural variation in the conceptualization of disease and the reported use of professional health services. It is concluded that educational level explains more of the variance than any other factor tested. Analysis of the structure of cognitive models of disease indicates that physicians and nonpractitioners tend to view each disease as a unique entity rather than as one of a class of diseases.