Abstract
One puzzling result in training-test paradigms is that effects of reward-associated stimuli on attention are often seen in test but not in training. We focus on one study, where reward-related performance benefits occur in the training and which was discussed contentiously. By using a similar design, we conceptually replicated the results. Moreover, we investigated the underlying mechanisms and processes resulting in these reward-related performance benefits. In two experiments, using search tasks and having participants perform the tasks either with or without individually adjusted time pressure, we disentangled the mechanisms and processes contributing to the reward-related benefits. We found evidence that not only search efficiency is increased with increasing reward, but also that non-search factors contribute to the results. By also investigating response time distributions, we were able to show that reward-related performance effects increased as search time increased in demanding tasks but not in less demanding tasks. Theoretical implications of the results regarding how reward influences attentional processing are discussed.
Highlights
No matter what we do, be it grocery shopping, writing an exam, or driving a car, we have to focus on the information that is currently important
By using a demanding search task, we found that the reward association of a stimulus influenced its non-search processing speed and the efficiency of the search process
In a pop-out search task, if search efficiency was already optimal, non-search processing speed was still influenced by reward association, only so if time pressure was introduced
Summary
No matter what we do, be it grocery shopping, writing an exam, or driving a car, we have to focus on the information that is currently important. Attention has long been considered as a multi-faceted construct resulting from the interplay of top-down, goal-directed (e.g., Folk et al, 1992; Found and Müller, 1996), and bottom-up, stimulus-driven (e.g., Theeuwes, 1992; Itti and Koch, 2000) information processing and selection. Selection history has been added as an important component (Awh et al, 2012). It comprises attentional biases reflecting past selection experiences, where a subcategory deals with the attention-grabbing effect of stimuli that have been associated with reward (cf Awh et al, 2012; Failing and Theeuwes, 2018)
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