Spatial inhibition of return (IOR) being affected by the self-prioritization effect (SPE) in a two-dimensional plane has been well documented. However, it remains unknown how the spatial IOR interacts with the SPE in three-dimensional (3D) space. By constructing a virtual 3D environment, Posner’s classically two-dimensional cue-target paradigm was applied to a 3D space. Participants first associated labels for themselves, their best friends, and strangers with geometric shapes in a shape-label matching task, then performed Experiment 1 (referential information appeared as the cue label) and Experiment 2 (referential information appeared as the target label) to investigate whether the IOR effect could be influenced by the SPE in 3D space. This study showed that when the cue was temporarily established with a self-referential shape and appeared in far space, the IOR effect was the smallest. When the target was temporarily established with a self-referential shape and appeared in near space, the IOR effect disappeared. This study suggests that the IOR effect was affected by the SPE when attention was oriented or reoriented in 3D space and that the IOR effect disappeared or decreased when affected by the SPE in 3D space.

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Previous studies have shown that rewards weaken visual inhibition of return (IOR). However, the specific mechanisms underlying the influence of rewards on cross-modal IOR remain unclear. Based on the Posner exogenous cue-target paradigm, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of rewards on exogenous spatial cross-modal IOR in both visual cue with auditory target (VA) and auditory cue with visual target (AV) conditions. The results showed the following: in the AV condition, the IOR effect size in the high-reward condition was significantly lower than that in the low-reward condition. However, in the VA condition, there was no significant IOR in either the high- or low-reward condition and there was no significant difference between the two conditions. In other words, the use of rewards modulated exogenous spatial cross-modal IOR with visual targets; specifically, high rewards may have weakened IOR in the AV condition. Taken together, our study extended the effect of rewards on IOR to cross-modal attention conditions and demonstrated for the first time that higher motivation among individuals under high-reward conditions weakened the cross-modal IOR with visual targets. Moreover, the present study provided evidence for future research on the relationship between reward and attention.