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The attention habit: how reward learning shapes attentional selection
Author(s) -
Anderson Brian A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/nyas.12957
Subject(s) - attentional control , cognitive psychology , psychology , stimulus (psychology) , perspective (graphical) , control (management) , selection (genetic algorithm) , selective attention , task (project management) , neuroscience , cognition , computer science , artificial intelligence , management , economics
There is growing consensus that reward plays an important role in the control of attention. Until recently, reward was thought to influence attention indirectly by modulating task‐specific motivation and its effects on voluntary control over selection. Such an account was consistent with the goal‐directed (endogenous) versus stimulus‐driven (exogenous) framework that had long dominated the field of attention research. Now, a different perspective is emerging. Demonstrations that previously reward‐associated stimuli can automatically capture attention even when physically inconspicuous and task‐irrelevant challenge previously held assumptions about attentional control. The idea that attentional selection can be value driven, reflecting a distinct and previously unrecognized control mechanism, has gained traction. Since these early demonstrations, the influence of reward learning on attention has rapidly become an area of intense investigation, sparking many new insights. The result is an emerging picture of how the reward system of the brain automatically biases information processing. Here, I review the progress that has been made in this area, synthesizing a wealth of recent evidence to provide an integrated, up‐to‐date account of value‐driven attention and some of its broader implications.