Capture and Control: Working Memory Modulates Attentional Capture by Reward-Related Stimuli. (August 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Watson, Poppy; Pearson, Daniel; Chow, Michelle; Theeuwes, Jan; Wiers, Reinout W.; Most, Steven B.; Le Pelley, Mike E.
• Is Part Of: Psychological science. Volume 30:Number 8(2019)
• Page Start: 1174
• Page End: 1185
• Publication Date: 2019-08
• Subjects: attention -- cognitive processes -- rewards -- motivation -- open data -- open materials; Psychology -- Periodicals; 150.5
• DOI: 10.1177/0956797619855964
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0956-7976

Abstract

Physically salient but task-irrelevant distractors can capture attention in visual search, but resource-dependent, executive-control processes can help reduce this distraction. However, it is not only physically salient stimuli that grab our attention: Recent research has shown that reward history also influences the likelihood that stimuli will capture attention. Here, we investigated whether resource-dependent control processes modulate the effect of reward on attentional capture, much as for the effect of physical salience. To this end, we used eye tracking with a rewarded visual search task and compared performance under conditions of high and low working memory load. In two experiments, we demonstrated that oculomotor capture by high-reward distractor stimuli is enhanced under high memory load. These results highlight the role of executive-control processes in modulating distraction by reward-related stimuli. Our findings have implications for understanding the neurocognitive processes involved in real-life conditions in which reward-related stimuli may influence behavior, such as addiction.