作者主張：在強調被研究者觀點、重視歷史面向在人類學研究中的重要 性、以整體論解讀社會現象、不排斥使用文化概念等前提下，接納認知科學 的理論與概念，可以豐富人類學的內涵。族群方面的研究便是如此。
本文以五位學者的相關研究為例，呈現上述的看法。這五位學者分別 是：John Comaroff、Fredrik Barth、Rogers Brubaker、Francisco Gil-White 與Lawrence Hirschfeld。雖然他們對於「認知」的看法不盡相同，但都有運 用認知科學的一些概念或理論進行族群研究，因此值得評介。
全文分成三個部分。首先交代作者對人類學的看法，其次介紹五位學者 的相關論點，最後從研究架構與方法等不同層面，來討論從認知角度切入進 行族群研究的可能貢獻與限制。

Under the premise of emphasizing emic viewpoints, placing importance on historical contexts in anthropological research, interpreting social phenomenon holistically, and not rejecting the incorporation cultural concepts, this article argues the deployment of theories and concepts from cognitive science can enrich the study of anthropology. I believe this is also the case for studies on ethnic groups.
This paper presents the above viewpoint through related research by five scholars: John Comaroff, Fredrik Barth, Rogers Brubaker, Francisco Gil-White, and Lawrence Hirschfeld. Although they hold different opinions on “cognition” all have applied some concepts or theory from cognitive science when undertaking research on ethnic groups, which deserves attention and review.
This paper is divided into three parts. The first part explains my perceptions on anthropology. Then, I introduce related issues raised by the above-mentioned five scholars. Lastly, through an analyses of these author’s differences in research framework and methodology, I discuss the possible contributions and limits of cognitive perspectives in ethnic group studies.