title: Two systems drive attention to rewards.
abstract: How options are framed can dramatically influence choice preference. While salience of information plays a central role in this effect, precisely how it is mediated by attentional processes remains unknown. Current models assume a simple relationship between attention and choice, according to which preference should be uniformly biased towards the attended item over the whole time-course of a decision between similarly valued items. To test this prediction we considered how framing alters the orienting of gaze during a simple choice between two options, using eye movements as a sensitive online measure of attention. In one condition participants selected the less preferred item to discard and in the other, the more preferred item to keep. We found that gaze gravitates towards the item ultimately selected, but did not observe the effect to be uniform over time. Instead, we found evidence for distinct early and late processes that guide attention according to preference in the first case and task demands in the second. We conclude that multiple time-dependent processes govern attention during choice, and that these may contribute to framing effects in different ways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Iowa City, IA, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Kovach
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Iowa City, IA, USA ; Department of Neurology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Iowa City, IA, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sutterer
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Iowa City, IA, USA.
authors.forename: Sara N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Rushia
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Adrianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Teriakidis
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Rick L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Jenison
keywords: approach/avoidance; attention; decision bias; decision making; eye movements; framing effect; reward processing