Value associations of irrelevant stimuli modify rapid visual orienting

Rutherford, Helena J. V.; O’Brien, Jennifer L.; Raymond, Jane E.

doi:10.3758/pbr.17.4.536

Cited by 62 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The attentional bias toward CS+ compared with CSÀ was present in the same participants only after-not before-conditioning. Our findings are not consistent with studies showing that neutral stimuli that acquired emotional value through associative learning did not capture attention at early stages of visual processing (Batty, Cave, & Pauli, 2005;Rutherford, O'Brien, & Raymond, 2010). However, these studies used complex stimuli (e.g., abstract stimuli and faces) whereas our experiment used stimuli that were easy to discriminate and that were very different in basic perceptual features: (i.e., each stimulus had a distinct different color: yellow, red and green).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Where is the chocolate? Rapid spatial orienting toward stimuli associated with primary rewards

et al. 2014

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a b s t r a c tSome stimuli can orient attentional resources and access awareness even if they appear outside the focus of voluntary attention. Stimuli with low-level perceptual salience and stimuli with an emotional content can modulate attention independently of voluntary processes. In Experiment 1, we used a spatial cuing task to investigate whether stimuli that are controlled for their perceptual salience can modulate the rapid orienting of attention based exclusively on their affective relevance. Affective relevance was manipulated through a Pavlovian conditioning paradigm in which an arbitrary and affectively neutral perceptual stimulus was associated with a primary reward (i.e., a chocolate odor). Results revealed that, after conditioning, attentional resources were rapidly oriented toward the stimulus that was previously associated with the reward. In Experiment 2, we used the very same conditioning procedure, but we devaluated the reward after conditioning for half of the participants through a sensory-specific satiation procedure. Strikingly, when the reward was devaluated, attention was no longer oriented toward reward-associated stimuli. Our findings therefore suggest that reward associations rapidly modulate visual processing independently of both voluntary processing and the perceptual salience of the stimulus. This supports the notion that stimuli associated with primary rewards modulate rapid attention orienting on the basis of the affective relevance of the stimulus.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Where is the chocolate? Rapid spatial orienting toward stimuli associated with primary rewards

et al. 2014

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“…Critically, we associated value with a basic stimulus feature-color-rather than more complex conjunctions of features that have failed to capture attention during extinction in previous studies (10)(11)(12)26). The results show that reward-related stimuli do cause significant and persistent distraction as a consequence of reward learning, and thereby reveal an involuntary mechanism of attentional selection that is uniquely value-driven, operating at an earlier level of representation than previously documented.…”

mentioning

confidence: 59%

“…Several recent studies have shown that the voluntary deployment of attention is influenced by reward (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19). In contrast to the ample evidence that voluntary deployment of attention to taskrelevant stimuli is affected by reward, the evidence for an influence of the value assigned to stimuli through reward learning on involuntary attentional capture is negative or equivocal (10)(11)(12)26). The experiments reported here provide clear evidence that arbitrary reward-related stimuli capture attention involuntarily and persistently as a result of associations that develop rapidly during learning.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…In previous studies that have investigated whether valuable stimuli capture attention as a consequence of reward learning (10)(11)(12)26), the types of stimuli used were complex (e.g., faces and words). We observed evidence of value-driven attentional capture operating on a basic stimulus feature-color-that can provide a basis for the efficient detection of valuable stimuli.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This raises the possibility that valuable but inconspicuous stimuli capture attention involuntarily as a consequence of reward learning. Several recent studies have investigated this possibility, but in each case, when arbitrary stimuli were associated with reward delivery during a learning procedure and then made entirely task-irrelevant during extinction, they did not cause distraction (10)(11)(12)26). Although it is known that taskirrelevant drug-related stimuli draw attention in addicted populations (27)(28)(29)(30), and that motivationally salient stimuli, such as happy faces and erotic pictures, can capture attention (31,32), it is unclear to what extent this reflects a general-purpose mechanism of attentional capture by stimuli imbued with value through reward learning.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Value-driven attentional capture

Anderson

Laurent

Yantis

2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

995

137

1,350

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Attention selects which aspects of sensory input are brought to awareness. To promote survival and well-being, attention prioritizes stimuli both voluntarily, according to context-specific goals (e.g., searching for car keys), and involuntarily, through attentional capture driven by physical salience (e.g., looking toward a sudden noise). Valuable stimuli strongly modulate voluntary attention allocation, but there is little evidence that high-value but contextually irrelevant stimuli capture attention as a consequence of reward learning. Here we show that visual search for a salient target is slowed by the presence of an inconspicuous, taskirrelevant item that was previously associated with monetary reward during a brief training session. Thus, arbitrary and otherwise neutral stimuli imbued with value via associative learning capture attention powerfully and persistently during extinction, independently of goals and salience. Vulnerability to such valuedriven attentional capture covaries across individuals with working memory capacity and trait impulsivity. This unique form of attentional capture may provide a useful model for investigating failures of cognitive control in clinical syndromes in which value assigned to stimuli conflicts with behavioral goals (e.g., addiction, obesity).E ffective deployment of attention is critical to the successful performance of any cognitive task. Attention determines what aspects of the sensory input are selected for cognitive processing, memory storage, and awareness. Two modes of attentional control are widely believed to determine perceptual priority: a voluntary, goal-directed mode, in which attention is guided by contextually appropriate goals and intentions, and an involuntary, stimulus-driven mode, in which attention is captured by physically salient stimuli (1-4) or by task-irrelevant stimuli that share identifying features with a searched-for target (5, 6). Each of these modes of control present concomitant benefits and costs: voluntary control of attention is goal-specific but potentially slower to implement; involuntary attentional capture can rapidly orient the organism to unexpected changes that could signal danger or opportunity, but has the potential to cause distraction from intended acts of perception.Goal-directed and stimulus-driven modes of attentional control have long been a focus of intense investigation, and much has been learned about the operating principles of each mode of control and their interaction (1, 4). However, there is growing evidence that these are not the only influences on attentional deployment. To promote survival and well-being, the brain is optimized to learn about perceptual stimuli that signal the potential for procuring reward (7,8). Voluntary attention to stimuli that predict reward is an effective mechanism for efficiently selecting valuable stimuli (9). Many studies have shown that reward facilitates voluntary attention to task-relevant stimuli, and that reward-based strategies and priorities strongly influence attentional perf...

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Cognitive Control and Reward

Krebs¹,

Woldorff²

2017

The Wiley Handbook of Cognitive Control

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Value associations of irrelevant stimuli modify rapid visual orienting

Cited by 62 publications

References 21 publications

Where is the chocolate? Rapid spatial orienting toward stimuli associated with primary rewards

Where is the chocolate? Rapid spatial orienting toward stimuli associated with primary rewards

Value-driven attentional capture

Cognitive Control and Reward

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