Approach and avoidance movements modulate value-driven attentional capture

Recent studies have shown that visual features that were previously associated with a high monetary reward attract visual attention, a finding referred to as value-driven attentional capture. Given the fact that a reward often follows an action, the present study examined how approach and avoidance movements made to achieve a reward might modulate value-driven attentional capture. Experiment 1 revealed that a color that was previously associated with a high reward was more likely to capture visual attention than a color that was previously associated with a low reward, but only when the reward had been achieved by an approaching movement. In contrast, when the reward had been achieved by an avoiding movement, a color that was associated with a low reward was more likely to capture attention than a color that was associated with a high reward. Experiment 2 replicated the key findings of Experiment 1. Experiment 3 showed that approaching and avoiding movements do not modulate attentional capture on their own, in the absence of any reward. Overall, the present study revealed for the first time that visual features that were previously associated with compatible action and reward pairs prioritize visual selection. These novel findings show how the history of action and reward interactively modulates visual selection.