Abstract
Learned stimulus-reward associations influence how attention is allocated, such that stimuli rewarded in the past are favored in situations involving limited resources and competition. At the same time, task-irrelevant, high-arousal negative stimuli capture attention and divert resources away from tasks resulting in poor behavioral performance. Yet, investigations of how reward learning and negative stimuli affect perceptual and attentional processing have been conducted in a largely independent fashion. We have recently reported that performance-based monetary rewards reduce negative stimuli interference during perception. The goal of the present study was to investigate how stimuli associated with past monetary rewards compete with negative stimuli during a subsequent attentional task when, critically, no performance-based rewards were at stake. Across two experiments, we found that target stimuli that were associated with high reward reduced the interference effect of potent, negative distractors. Similar to our recent findings with performance-based rewards, our results demonstrate that reward-associated stimuli reduce the deleterious impact of negative stimuli on behavior.
Highlights
At least two classes of paradigm have been used to investigate the effects of reward on perception and attention (Pessoa, in press; see Della Libera et al, 2011; Camara et al, 2013)
We investigated how visual items that acquired motivational significance during reward learning compete with negative stimuli during a subsequent attentional task
Stimuli associated with past high reward reduced the effect of task-irrelevant negative stimuli
Summary
At least two classes of paradigm have been used to investigate the effects of reward on perception and attention (Pessoa, in press; see Della Libera et al, 2011; Camara et al, 2013). Participants are informed that they will receive a reward during certain trials, while no reward is involved in others. Proactive effects of reward include enhanced attentional filtering (Padmala and Pessoa, 2011), and improved working memory performance (Beck et al, 2010). The possibility of reward is not cued in advance, and instead a specific stimulus feature is linked with reward. This means that participants cannot proactively engage in strategies that might enhance performance; instead, they can only react to stimulus features that are linked (or not) with reward. In many cases, a training phase is used to associate certain items (or features) with reward. The task is often performed under “extinction,” in other words, without any pairing between
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
