Cognitive Scaffold

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MENTAL MODEL · M9315

Ethnomethodology

Ethnomethodology
CultureHigh supportSociology
Included
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

The study of the "methods" ordinary people use in everyday life to create and maintain social order—those unwritten rules and tacit knowledge.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Discovering the rules in what is taken for granted. Our taken-for-granted social life actually relies on a large number of implicit rules; this perspective helps us see them.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

The "normal" of social order does not exist naturally, but is "done" in real time by actors in each specific situation through tacit methods (indexicality, accountability, reflexive monitoring). Once these everyday methods are suspended (e.g., by deliberately breaking conventions), order reveals its fragility and its dependence on implicit rules.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

  • link
    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EthnomethodologyZH · Explicit
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