Plants and microbes are considered to have some ability to use memory. I am curious if this ability to retain and recollect information should be considered instinctual, and to what degree as they have no brain or nervous system.

http://phys.org/news/2014-04-bacterial-immune-memory.html

http://www.sci-news.com/biology/science-mimosa-plants-memory-01695.html

Edited May 18, 201510 yr by Pozessed

How are we defining instinct in this discussion?

Isn't instinctual behavior used to contrast with a learned (or conditioned) behavior? I'm not certain how useful it would be to differentiate a behavior that there is nothing else to differentiate it from.

Edited May 18, 201510 yr by kisai