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Speed-accuracy trade-off in plants.
Francesco Ceccarini1, Silvia Guerra2, Alessandro Peressotti3
1Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. francesco.ceccarini@studenti.unipd.it.
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|June 17, 2020
Summary
Climbing plants exhibit a speed-accuracy trade-off (SAT) in their movements, similar to animals. They adjust their movement speed based on the support
Area of Science:
- Plant behavior and movement
- Comparative biomechanics
- Decision-making in biological systems
Background:
- The speed-accuracy trade-off (SAT) is a fundamental principle governing aimed movements in animals, influencing decision speed and accuracy.
- While SAT is well-documented across diverse animal species, its presence in plant movement, particularly in climbing plants, remains largely unexplored.
- Understanding plant movement strategies can provide insights into the evolution of decision-making processes in biological systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether climbing plants (Pisum sativum L.) exhibit a speed-accuracy trade-off (SAT) in their shoot tip movements during support interaction.
- To determine if plants can process support properties prior to contact and modulate movement velocity accordingly.
- To compare plant movement strategies with those observed in animal species.
Main Methods:
- Utilized three-dimensional kinematical analysis to meticulously track and quantify the circular swaying movements of climbing plant shoot tips.
- Examined the relationship between movement velocity and the perceived difficulty of coiling around a support.
- Analyzed plant behavior in response to varying support characteristics to infer information processing capabilities.
Main Results:
- Climbing plants demonstrated a significant speed-accuracy trade-off, adjusting movement velocity in response to the task difficulty of grasping a support.
- Evidence suggests that plants can assess support properties before physical contact, indicating a form of pre-contact sensory processing.
- The observed modulation of movement velocity aligns with strategies seen in animal movement, highlighting convergent evolution of behavioral control.
Conclusions:
- The study provides the first evidence of a speed-accuracy trade-off in plant movement, extending this principle beyond the animal kingdom.
- Climbing plants exhibit sophisticated pre-contact processing and strategic modulation of movement, challenging traditional views of plant behavior.
- These findings suggest that fundamental principles of movement control and decision-making may be conserved across vastly different biological domains.