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references: 1324 total: 14212 100 word abstract. The ‘Cognitive Parsing Model ’ (CPM) is a new method of describing and explaining culture in terms of the changing configurations of psychological mechanisms that underpin behaviour. Our larger aim to to explain various particularities of the cultural repertoire within specified populations and historical periods, thereby extending existing research in the cognitive science of culture that has focused primarily on patterns of cross-cultural recurrence. Further, the CPM holds out the promise of being able to predict cultural trends, given sufficient information on prior distributed behaviour patterns. 250 word abstract. A major focus in the cognitive science of culture has been the shaping and constraining effects of intuitive cognitive mechanisms, resulting in cross-culturally recurrent traits. These types of mechanisms (referred to here as ‘nuclear systems’) evolved to deal with somewhat specialized inputs (their ‘proper domains ’ of application) and the types of stimuli capable of meeting their input conditions (thei