@article{01HXTZ0TWFDZEKRWZF9FZJQ3TQ,
  abstract     = {{Task-irrelevant stimuli often capture our attention despite our best efforts to ignore them. It has been noted that tasks involving perceptually complex displays can lead to reduced interference from distractors. The mechanism behind this effect is debated, with some accounts emphasizing the "perceptual load" of the stimuli themselves and others emphasizing the role of proactive control. Here, in three experiments, we investigated the roles of perceptual load, proactive control, and reward motivation in determining distractor interference. Participants performed a visual search task of high, low, or intermediate load, with flanking task-irrelevant distractors. Each trial was preceded by a cue indicating the level of perceptual load (Experiments 1-3) as well as the potential reward that could be earned (Experiments 2 and 3). In all three experiments, the attentional set induced by the preceding trial and cued proactive expectation of perceptual load interacted to determine flanker interference, which was significant for all trial types except trials cued as high load which were also preceded by high load. These effects were not modulated by reward motivation, although in the final experiment reward did significantly improve performance overall. Thus, successful distractor exclusion does not depend upon motivation or load per se but does require an expectation of high load.}},
  author       = {{Eayrs, Joshua and Kukkonen, Nanne and Prutean, Nicoleta and Steendam, Susanne Tabitha and Böhler, Nico and Wiersema, Roeljan and Krebs, Ruth and Notebaert, Wim}},
  issn         = {{0096-1523}},
  journal      = {{JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY-HUMAN PERCEPTION AND PERFORMANCE}},
  keywords     = {{perceptual load theory,reward,cognitive effort,attention,proactive control,WORKING-MEMORY LOAD,SELECTIVE ATTENTION,REWARD,INTERACTS}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{7}},
  pages        = {{769--784}},
  title        = {{Attentional set and explicit expectations of perceptual load determine flanker interference}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0001217}},
  volume       = {{50}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}

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