The word cognition is derived from the Latin verb ācognoscereā meaning āto know.ā Cognition mostly refers to gaining and understanding knowledge through learning or experiences. It is defined as the ability to process information acquired through perception from different senses and experiences, integrate this information to understand and assess surroundings. The idea is to convert all the information gained from all the different sources to knowledge.
Cognitive processes are mental processes used to integrate new knowledge gained and use this knowledge for decision-making. Different processes are considered cognitive in nature like learning, memory, language, perception, and intelligence. Halfway through the 19th century, interest in cognition and cognitive processes increased, and a lot of research work was undertaken to especially find out how these processes are involved in acquiring information and how does all the processed information influence the behavior of an organism. Plants also use cognitive processes to respond to external stimuli and learn from these responses for making important decisions for survival. Charles Darwin was the first person to acknowledge plants as having a cognitive ability in the 1800s in his book titled āThe Power of Movement in Plants.ā He said that plant roots acts like the brain of an animal, as it is sensitive to different stimuli in the ground like water, gravity, and light, and responds to these stimuli in a way which is beneficial for the plant (Darwin 1880).
