title: "Feature Detection" vs. "Predictive Coding" Models of Plant Behavior.
abstract: In this article we consider the possibility that plants exhibit anticipatory behavior, a mark of intelligence. If plants are able to anticipate and respond accordingly to varying states of their surroundings, as opposed to merely responding online to environmental contingencies, then such capacity may be in principle testable, and subject to empirical scrutiny. Our main thesis is that adaptive behavior can only take place by way of a mechanism that predicts the environmental sources of sensory stimulation. We propose to test for anticipation in plants experimentally by contrasting two empirical hypotheses: "feature detection" and "predictive coding." We spell out what these contrasting hypotheses consist of by way of illustration from the animal literature, and consider how to transfer the rationale involved to the plant literature.
authors.affiliation: Minimal Intelligence Lab (MINT Lab), Department of Philosophy, University of MurciaMurcia, Spain; School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of EdinburghEdinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Paco
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Calvo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: František
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Baluška
authors.affiliation: Institut Supérieur de Philosophie, Université Catholique de Louvain Louvain, Belgium.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sims
keywords: feature detection; plant behavior; plant perception; predictive coding; root transition zone