Shoshoni Conceptualizations of Plant Relationships

Interviews were conducted with 10 Shoshoni-speaking people to investigate conceptualizations of plant relationships. A card-sort technique and informal questioning were employed in an attempt to elicit plant classifications and taxonomic relationships. Results indicate classifications are based on multiple criteria including morphology, cultural utilization, geographic setting and growth habit. A paradigm which postulates conceptualizations based on prototypic images fits the data better than the supposition that memory is composed of extensive taxonomic structures