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Prediction and Prioritisation: How Reward Learning Shapes Attentional Capture
1School of Psychology, UNSW Sydney, Australia.
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006)
|May 2, 2026
Summary
Prior experience with stimuli, not just goals or salience, rapidly shapes attention. This selection history influences attentional exploitation and exploration, revealing a deep link between learning and attention.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Learning Sciences
Background:
- Selective attention traditionally involves goal-directed and stimulus-driven mechanisms.
- A third control system, selection history, is increasingly recognized, where prior experience shapes attention independently of goals and salience.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review research on selection history in attentional control.
- To propose a framework distinguishing history-driven attentional exploitation and exploration.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on selection history and attentional prioritization.
- Analysis of how reward learning modulates attention automatically and rapidly.
Main Results:
- Prior experience with stimuli, particularly learned rewards, rapidly and automatically modulates attentional prioritization.
- Selection history influences attentional control independently of current goals and stimulus salience.
Conclusions:
- Attention is fundamentally shaped by learning and prior experience.
- A framework differentiating attentional exploitation (leveraging reliable info) and exploration (resolving uncertainty) is proposed.
- Understanding the interaction between learning and attention is crucial for decision-making and behavior.
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