Contrasting the classic effect of reward on attentional priority maps: behavioral evidence for an attentional gating of spatially-specific reward signals.

Abstract

The control of selective visuo-spatial attention is known to rely on multiple signals, including reward. While most attention control signals are well acknowledged to interact with each other, the case of reward has led to mixed findings supporting either its interaction with, or its independence from other signals. We addressed this issue using a 4-item search task that entailed spatially biased reward contingencies, with one of the four locations associated with high rewards for correct target discriminations. In different conditions, the target, a distractor or neither of them could be physically salient. Targets at the high-reward location did not enhance search performance. In contrast, and contrary to our initial expectations, salient distractors at the high-reward location interfered less with the discrimination of the task-relevant targets, reflecting gating mechanisms at the high-reward location. Exploratory analyses showed that, across participants, the degree of target and salient distractor gating at the high-reward location correlated with each other. In contrast to previous findings supporting attention capture by reward signals, we evidenced gating by reward.