Plant blindness

[6][9] A 2014 study in the United States looked at how plants and animals are perceived using "attentional blink" (the ability to notice one of two rapidly presented images).

[4] According to the BBC journalist Christine Ro, plant blindness is potentially linked to nature deficit disorder, which she construes is causing what she claims is reduced funding and fewer classes for botany.

[2] Thus, research suggests that priority is given to variable colors, movement, and familiar objects in order to most effectively detect threats and potential food sources.

[9][2] As plants do not often fit this criterion, many scientists think the human brain tends not to fully process their visual presence.

[8][9] For example, in certain Indian and indigenous communities, plants are highly valued for their role in religion, medicine, and mythology.

The most prominent campaign addressing this issue is called Prevent Plant Blindness and was created by Wandersee and Schussler, the researchers who coined this term.

[2] This campaign uses three main types of advocacy: a classroom poster which has been distributed to 20,000 teachers and endorsed by the Botanical Society of America, a children's mystery picture book about a plant, entitled Lost Plant!, and promotion of plant-growing education, including school-gardens.

[9] Increasing the representation of plants in science education textbooks, specifically those for high school biology has also been encouraged.

[10] Some disagree with the use of this term, asserting that human bias against groups of species extends to all organisms without backbones and human-like eyes.

[10] Others take issue with the name of the phenomenon, as they consider the use of a disability, blindness, inappropriate as a descriptor of a negative trait and have suggested the name Plant Awareness Disparity (PAD).