ction of stimuli th a t enter our consciousness (Mor a n & Desimone, 1985) • M a ny stimuli enter our br a in without being detected consciously • [Surviv a l] w a s predic a ted on the a bility to e ff iciently loc a te critic a lly import a nt events in the surroundings. (Öhm a n, Flykt, & Esteves, 2001, p. 466). • There a re br a in regions th a t monitored the surrounding environment for critic a l stimuli (Cosmides & Tooby, 2013, p. 205). • We a re more likely to fe a r events a nd situ a tions th a t provided thre a ts to the surviv a l of our a ncestors, such a s potenti a lly de a dly pred a tors, heights, a nd wide open sp a ces, th a n to fe a r the most frequently encountered potenti a lly de a dly objects in our contempor a ry environment (Öhm a n & Minek a , 2001, p. 483) 8
notice stimuli when they don’t h a ve a n a ctive go a l. Their cognitive lo a d is lower, which le a ves sp a re room for a ttention (C a rtwright- Finch & L a vie, 2007). • 20