How Attention Changes in Response to Incentives
Open accessAbstract
Although the performance of simple cognitive tasks can be enhanced if an incentive is provided, the mechanisms enabling such motivational control are not known. This study sought to uncover how mechanisms of attention and readiness are altered by reward-associated incentive stimuli. We measured EEG/ERP activity as human adults viewed a high- or low-incentive cue, experienced a short preparation interval, and then performed a simple visual search task to gain the predicted reward. Search performance was faster with high versus low incentives, and this was accompanied by distinct incentive-related EEG/ERP patterns at each phase of the task (incentive, preparation, and search). First, and most surprisingly, attention to high but not low incentive cues was actively suppressed, as indexed by a PD component in response to the incentive display. During the subsequent preparation interval, neural oscillations in the alpha frequency range were reduced after high-incentive cues, indicating heightened visual readiness. Finally, attentional orienting to the target in the search array was deployed with relatively little effort on high-incentive trials, as indexed by a reduced N2pc component. These results reveal the chain of events by which the brain's executive control mechanisms respond to incentives by altering the operation of multiple processing systems to produce optimal performance.
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Incentives improve performance via motivating strategic processes such as preparation of an appropriate attentional or oculomotor orienting response or facilitating selective attenuation of irrelevant distractors.
“Studies like these suggest that incentives improve performance via motivating strategic processes such as the preparation of an appropriate attentional or oculomotor orienting response (e.g., Bucker & Theeuwes, 2014; Engelmann & Pessoa, 2007; Milstein & Dorris, 2007; Sawaki, Luck, & Raymond, 2015; Small et al., 2005) or facilitating selective attenuation of irrelevant distractors (i.e., attent”
From Selection history: How reward modulates selectivity of visual attention. (2018) · cites this paper as Sawaki et al., 2015
The Results (Preparation Interval TFR) report greater visual readiness after high-incentive cues, and the Abstract reports faster search and more efficient attentional orienting to the target. But the Introduction says the target’s unpredictable location discouraged anticipatory spatial orienting, so the paper does not establish preparation of a specific orienting response; it supports the broader attentional-readiness account. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIncentives ultimately benefit attentional processing and enhance the perceptual representation of reward-associated targets.
“This notion is in line with findings showing that incentives ultimately benefit attentional processing (Kiss et al., 2009; Sawaki et al., 2015) as well as enhance the perceptual representation of reward-associated targets (Seitz, Kim & Watanabe, 2009; Serences, 2008).”
From Selection history: How reward modulates selectivity of visual attention. (2018) · cites this paper as Sawaki et al., 2015
Sawaki et al. (2015) observed reduced alpha power for high-reward relative to low-reward trials during a preparatory interval between reward cue offset and search display onset.
“Corroborating electrophysiological evidence comes from a study by Sawaki and colleagues (Sawaki, Luck, & Raymond, 2015), who observed reduced alpha power for high-reward relative to low-reward trials during a preparatory interval (between reward cue offset and search display onset).”
From Selection history: How reward modulates selectivity of visual attention. (2018) · cites this paper as Sawaki et al., 2015
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Selection history: How reward modulates selectivity of visual attention.
Failing, M., & Theeuwes, J. (2018) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/s13423-017-1380-y · Cited by 345 · see citing works
“…stimulus may have been attended because its physical salience was not carefully controlled (e.g., Öhman, Lundqvist, & Esteves, 2001; Schmidt et al., 2015a) or because it was not associated with any costs for task performance or any influence on the aversive experience (e.g., Schmidt et al., 2015b).”
BackgroundDistractors associated with reward break through the focus of attention
Munneke, J., Belopolsky, A. V., & Theeuwes, J. (2016) · Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics · doi:10.3758/s13414-016-1075-x · Cited by 28 · see citing works
- Authors
- Sawaki, R., Luck, S. J., & Raymond, J. E.
- Affiliations
- University of Birmingham (GB)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
- Publisher
- MIT Press
- Published
- 2015-11-01
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 2229-2239
- ISSN
- 0898-929X (ISSN-L)
- 1530-8898
- PMC
- PMC4589447
- OpenAlex
- W2101784763
- Cited by
- 57
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 3.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/J020206/1)
- Economic and Social Research Council (ES/L000210/1)
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH076226, MH076226, R01MH065034)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Visual Attention and Saliency Detection
- Keywords
- incentive motivation, reward, attentional control, visual search, readiness potential, alpha oscillations, N2pc, attentional orienting, executive function, event-related potentials
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Attention, Brain Mapping, Cues, Electroencephalography, Evoked Potentials, Female, Humans, Male, Motivation, Photic Stimulation, Reaction Time, Young Adult
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