# A Brief History of Attention, Perception, and Action SEE ALSO: [[attention-perception-action]] How did we humans come to the attention, perception, and action systems that now shape our entire lived experience? Princeton psychology and neuroscience professor Michael Graziano offers a short tour of that evolution in this [2016 article in *The Atlantic*](https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/06/how-consciousness-evolved/485558/). Other scholars have filled in additional blanks. ## 600 to 700 Million Years Ago The earliest organisms on earth processed and reacted to all stimuli equally – any poke in any place would lead to a general and context-independent response. But around 600 to 700 million years ago, new organisms evolved to be more selective about sensory signals – amplifying some, ignoring others, holding a repertory of reflex reactions. This ==sensory signal enhancement== gave them a significant advantage in dynamic environments, and therefore a higher probility to reproduce. ## Around 520 Million Years Ago The next stop on the tour is the evolution of ==centralized control across multiple senses – called a *tectum* in many animals==. The tectum “coordinates something called overt attention – aiming the satellite dishes of the eyes, ears, and nose toward anything important.” All vertebrates have some version of this capacity, which dates its evolution to the [Cambrian Explosion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambrian_explosion) of around 520 million years ago. Evolution of the tectum also included the first instances of predictive processing, since control across multiple senses and connection to action required an internal "model" of the body and the world. Writes Graziano: > The tectum is a beautiful piece of engineering. To control the head and the eyes efficiently, it constructs something called an internal model, a feature well known to engineers. An internal model is a simulation that keeps track of whatever is being controlled and allows for predictions and planning. The tectum’s internal model is a set of information encoded in the complex pattern of activity of the neurons. That information simulates the current state of the eyes, head, and other major body parts, making predictions about how these body parts will move next and about the consequences of their movement. (Graziano 2016) Once again, organisms that could control and direct their sensory attention had an advantage in many environments, and they were more likely to live to reproduce. ## 300 to 350 Million Years Ago The next game changer arrived around 300 to 350 million years ago, when reptiles evolved an "upgrade" to overt attention control. In addition to directing their overt attention to stimuli around them, they also became capable of ==directing "covert" attention== – noticing, focusing on, and processing stimuli *without* turning their physical attention. ## About 70,000 Years Ago Comparatively not that long ago, human ancestors developed the ability to communicate through ==spoken language== – suggesting a wide array of additional evolutionary changes had already happened to make language possible. The exchange of symbolic meaning allowed our attention to focus not only on our own immediate lived experience, but also the lived experience of those around us, and those who came before us. ## About 40,000 Years Ago By this time, according to Simon Baron-Cohen and others, human ancestors had established the capacity for "==theory of mind==," the ability to attribute, make sense of, and predict the mental states of others (Baron-Cohen 1999). Theory of mind is a core requirement for many or even most of the social, cultural, and coordination advantages we attribute to human beings. Baron-Cohen suggests, for example, that theory of mind is required for intenational communication, repairing failed communication, teaching others, intentionally persuading others, intentionally deceiving others, building shared plans and goals, intentionally sharing a focus or topic of attention, and even pretending. Other scholars suggest that about this same time (35,000 to 100,000 years ago), human brains settled into the size and shape that we still have today (Neubauer et al 2018). ## About 6,000 Years Ago The first complex civilizations appeared, built on the foundation of individual and collective attention, perception, and action. ## About 240 Years Ago The first nonprofit arts organization was established in the United States, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1780), which sought “to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people.” Of course, *most* nonprofit arts organizations were founded much later, beginning about 75 years ago. --- ## Source - Baron-Cohen, Simon. “Evolution of a Theory of Mind?” In *The Descent of Mind: Psychological Perspectives on Hominid Evolution / Edited by Michael C. Corballis and Stephen E.G. Lea.*, edited by Michael C. Corballis and S. E. G. Lea. Oxford ; Oxford University Press, 1999. - Graziano, Michael. “A New Theory Explains How Consciousness Evolved.” The Atlantic, June 6, 2016. [https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/06/how-consciousness-evolved/485558/](https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/06/how-consciousness-evolved/485558/). - Neubauer, Simon, Jean-Jacques Hublin, and Philipp Gunz. “The Evolution of Modern Human Brain Shape.” *Science Advances* 4, no. 1 (January 24, 2018): eaao5961. [https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aao5961](https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aao5961). ## Tags (click to view related pages) #substrate #sapling