Attention in evolutionary perspective.

Why have some organisms evolved processes of attention as distinct from perception in general? Investigation of freely behaving organisms (not in laboratory tasks) suggests that attention as distinct from perception is critical for goal-directed organisms' value-based decision making. As such, the target of attention is not punctate stimuli, but whole situations (scenes) that are relevant to that decision.

Duke Scholars

Author Michael Tomasello Psychology & Neuroscience