Abstract
Visual attention is captured by physically salient stimuli (termed salience-based attentional capture), and by otherwise task-irrelevant stimuli that contain goal-related features (termed contingent attentional capture). Recently, we reported that physically nonsalient stimuli associated with value through reward learning also capture attention involuntarily (Anderson, Laurent, & Yantis, PNAS, 2011). Although it is known that physical salience and goal-relatedness both influence attentional priority, it is unknown whether or how attentional capture by a salient stimulus is modulated by its associated value. Here we show that a physically salient, task-irrelevant distractor previously associated with a large reward slows visual search more than an equally salient distractor previously associated with a smaller reward. This magnification of salience-based attentional capture by learned value extinguishes over several hundred trials. These findings reveal a broad influence of learned value on involuntary attentional capture.
Highlights
Objects in the visual world compete for perceptual representation in the mind and brain
During training, mean Response time (RT) to high- and low-reward targets did not differ significantly, there was a trend toward faster responses to the target color associated with high reward, suggesting increased attentional priority [mean difference = 3.4 ms, t(17) = 1.57, p = .135]
It is well established that physical salience and ongoing task goals influence attentional priority involuntarily (e.g., [6,13]), and recent research indicates that the learned value of a stimulus plays a direct role in determining its attentional priority [29]
Summary
Objects in the visual world compete for perceptual representation in the mind and brain. Selective attention resolves this competition, biasing perception in favor of behaviorally relevant and salient stimuli [1,2,3,4]. Attentional selection can proceed either voluntarily, according to context-specific goals and priorities, or involuntarily, according to the physical properties of a stimulus within a given task context. When a stimulus is selected via attention involuntarily, that stimulus is said to have captured attention. Attentional capture can be adaptive when a stimulus signals danger or opportunity [5], but comes at a cost in performance when those stimuli distract from ongoing goal-related processes
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