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Abstract

In this article I explore the evolution of human attention, focusing particularly on the phylogenetic and ontogenetic implications of the work of the American psychoanalyst Trigant Burrow. Attentional development is linked to the emergence of visual perspective, and this, in turn, is related to Burrow's notion of `ditention' (divided or partitive attention). Burrow's distinction between `ditention' and `cotention' (total organismic awareness) is examined, and, expanding on this, I identify a threefold pattern of perceptual change: prototention->ditention--->cotention. Next, I relate ditentive visual perspective to binocular convergence, and make use of the `perspectivally ambiguous', `non-convergent' Gestalt figure known as the Necker Cube to illustrate cotention. In conclusion, I propose, with Burrow, that the shift from the currently pervasive ditentive pattern of awareness to a cotentive mode could have a salutary effect on human society.

Keywords

attentional processes cotention differentiation ditention human attention

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Evolution of Attentional Processes in the Human Organism

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