Selective attention enables action selection: evidence from evolutionary robotics experiments

In this paper we investigate whether selective attention enables the development of action selection (i.e. the ability to select among conflicting actions afforded by the current agent/environmental context). By carrying out a series of experiments in which neuro-robots have been evolved for the ability to forage so to maximize the energy that can be extracted from ingested substances we observed that effective action and action selection capacities can be developed even in the absence of internal mechanisms specialized for action selection. However, the comparison of the results obtained in different experimental conditions in which the robots were or were not provided with internal modulatory connections demonstrate how selective attention enables the development of a more effective action selection capacity and of more effective and integrated action capacities.