title: Generalization of value-based attentional priority.
abstract: Attention is the mechanism by which important or salient stimuli are selected for perceptual and cognitive processing. Which stimuli are attended has important implications for effective goal-directed behaviour, survival, and well-being. A growing body of evidence suggests that reward-predicting stimuli capture attention involuntarily. In previous studies, value-based attentional priority has been observed only when the formerly reward-related stimuli themselves were presented as targets or distractors. Here we show that stimulus-reward associations learned in one task generalize to different stimuli that share a defining feature (colour) in another task. Our results reveal a broad and flexible role for reward learning in modulating attentional priority.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Brian A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Patryk A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Laurent
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yantis
keywords: Attentional capture; Incentive salience; Novelty; Reward learning; Selective attention