Culture beneath discourse: a conceptual model for analyzing nondeclarative cultural knowledge

Sociology has increasingly drawn on concepts from the cognitive sciences to better theorize and measure culture, particularly nondeclarative personal culture beneath level of conscious awareness. Despite several advances, these “cognitive cultural” are selectively, limited work attempted assemble them into a coherent framework, leading conceptual murkiness ambiguous use terms like “schema.” This article synthesizes literature cognition develop model four interrelated but distinct types cultural knowledge explicit discourse. Drawing emergence theories, author theorizes how relate each other, as well discourse public culture. The utility is then illustrated using empirical case American religious understandings. These have qualities and, consequently, roles in influencing thought, speech, action. Assembling framework can improve scholarly accounts influences important substantive outcomes, interact, methods for studying knowledge.