Attentional Set and Explicit Expectations of Perceptual Load Determine Flanker Interference

Eayrs, JO ORCID: 0000-0001-8598-6064, Kukkonen, N, Prutean, N, Steendam, ST, Boehler, CN, Wiersema, JR, Krebs, RM and Notebaert, W (2024) Attentional Set and Explicit Expectations of Perceptual Load Determine Flanker Interference. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 50 (7). pp. 769-784. ISSN 0096-1523

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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.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	©American Psychological Association, 2024. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. The final article is available at: https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0001217
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Humans; Motivation; Cues; Reward; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Visual Perception; Psychomotor Performance; Attention; Adolescent; Adult; Female; Male; Young Adult; Humans; Attention; Young Adult; Adult; Female; Male; Reward; Psychomotor Performance; Motivation; Adolescent; Cues; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Visual Perception; 5202 Biological Psychology; 5204 Cognitive and Computational Psychology; 52 Psychology; 5201 Applied and Developmental Psychology; Neurosciences; Behavioral and Social Science; Clinical Research; 1.2 Psychological and socioeconomic processes; Neurological; Mental health; Humans; Attention; Young Adult; Adult; Female; Male; Reward; Psychomotor Performance; Motivation; Adolescent; Cues; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Visual Perception; 1701 Psychology; 1702 Cognitive Sciences; Experimental Psychology; 5202 Biological psychology; 5204 Cognitive and computational psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions:	Psychology (from Sep 2019)
Publisher:	American Psychological Association (APA)
Date of first compliant Open Access:	10 February 2026
Date Deposited:	10 Feb 2026 09:03
Last Modified:	10 Feb 2026 09:03
DOI or ID number:	10.1037/xhp0001217
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28071

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