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Attention in evolutionary perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 November 2025

Michael Tomasello Open the ORCID record for Michael Tomasello [Opens in a new window]
Michael Tomasello*
Affiliation:
Duke University , Durham, NC, USA Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany michael.tomasello@duke.edu
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

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.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 48 , 2025 , e157
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

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