Previous research has implied that monetary reward to target location (a reward for spatial properties) can affect object‐based attention, but no study has directly investigated the influence of monetary objects (a reward for object properties) on object‐based attention. Thus, it is unclear whether and how monetary objects can affect object‐based attention. To experimentally investigate this problem, this study adapted the well‐established two‐rectangle paradigm. In Experiment 1, either two 100‐yuan notes or two 1‐yuan notes were presented to participants. We found an object‐based effect with faster responses to targets at an uncued position on the cued object compared to those at an equidistant position on the uncued object; the effect was similar in 100‐yuan and 1‐yuan note trials. In Experiment 2, two notes (one 100‐yuan and one 1‐yuan) were simultaneously presented to participants, and cue location (100‐yuan, 1‐yuan) was manipulated. We found a greater object‐based effect when the cue appeared on the 100‐yuan note than on the 1‐yuan note. These results suggest that the rewarding property of objects can affect object‐based attention by means of altering object salience.

Eye contact plays an important role in social interaction and can capture and hold attention. However, it is unclear whether and how objects that can also guide attentional allocation interact with eye contact in guiding attention. Therefore, the current study adapted a well-established two-rectangle paradigm and used faces depicting different gaze directions (direct and averted) or rectangles overlaid with eyes as stimuli. In Experiment 1, we simultaneously presented two faces (one direct gaze, one averted gaze) to participants, manipulating cue location (direct-gaze face, averted-gaze face). The results revealed a larger object-based effect when the cue appeared on the direct-gaze face compared to the averted-gaze face. In Experiment 2, inverted faces were presented, and the results mirrored those of Experiment 1. Interestingly, rectangles overlaid with eyes were presented in Experiment 3, and the results showed that the object-based effect was larger when the cue appeared on the direct-gaze rectangle compared to the averted-gaze rectangle. These findings suggest that eye contact can interact with objects in guiding attention and that this effect is not reliant on the presence of the face. Our results can support attentional prioritization theory and may provide a new approach for diagnosing social-cognitive impairments. Public Significance StatementThe current study explored the effect of eye contact on attentional allocation. The findings show that eye contact can affect object-based attentional allocation, which indicates that eye contact can interact with objects to guide attention. Our findings are of interest and significance to the public at large. First, our research demonstrates how objects with social interaction information are attended in communication, which will help us communicate more efficiently and contribute to the achievement of interaction goals. Second, our findings may provide a new approach for diagnosing socialcognitive impairments such as autism spectrum disorder and social anxiety disorder. Third, our study provides theoretical guidance for ergonomics research (e.g., in advertising design). According to our findings, if the packaging or advertising of a commodity contains social interaction objects (e.g., direct-gaze face), then individuals' attention to the commodity will be improved, which may increase their purchase behavior.

Previous studies have confirmed that both non-reward objects (such as rectangles) and reward objects (such as banknotes) can guide the allocation of our attention; however, it is unclear whether the allocation mode of attention for reward objects is the same as for non-reward objects. This study aims to evaluate different modes of object-based attentional selection elicited by two types of objects: reward objects and non-reward objects. In our analysis, we used a two-rectangle paradigm in which two objects were presented visually. In a series of four experiments, we found a constant object-based effect with non-reward objects, such as rectangles and umbrellas, as stimuli in all of the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) conditions (Experiments 1 and 4), but the object-based effect disappeared only at longer SOA with reward objects such as monetary and food objects as stimuli (Experiments 2 and 3). Moreover, we found that monetary and food objects induced similar object-based effects. These results suggest that the temporal dynamics of object-based attentional allocation are different with respect to reward and non-reward objects, and different types of reward objects can guide attentional allocation in a similar way.