The major difference between the feature comparison model and the hierarchical network model is that

in the feature comparison model, the category information is stored directly in memory by means of associations.

in the hierarchical network model, the category information is stored directly in memory by means of associations.

in the feature comparison model, features are compared serially, but in the hierarchical network model, they are compared in parallel.

the feature comparison model is inherently multimodal, but the hierarchical model must rely on abstract symbolic representations.