SEPC2023

Value-Modulated Attentional Capture (VMAC) is an attentional phenomenon by which a high reward predictive signal is more likely to capture attention than a low reward predictive signal. When an irrelevant feature (color) of a distractor in a visual search task is predictive of high reward, its presence in the visual search display results in a decrease in performance relative to a low-reward distractor (e.g. longer reaction times), even when attending to the high-reward distractor is counterproductive. The high-reward predictive signal acquires incentive salience and biases behavior due to the automatic attentional capture triggered. Thus, the VMAC effect has been proposed as an attentional analogous to sign-tracking in humans, in which there is a tendency to approach a Pavlovian signal of reward rather than the location at which the reward will be delivered. Attentional sign-tracking in humans has been shown as a marker of the risk of addictive-related behaviors. Furthermore, studies on individual differences have revealed that the degree of attentional bias is related to emotional traits, specifically, impulsivity appears to correlate with it. Additionally, impulsivity (negative urgency) has been associated with difficulties in incidental emotional regulation. On the other hand, the tendency to experience craving may predispose individuals to attribute incentive salience to stimuli that relieve the craving sensation. But also, sign-trackers might be more prone to focusing on reward-related cues and experiencing craving. In this face-to-face experiment developed at the Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), we assess self-reported emotional dysregulation traits, specifically impulsivity and craving for food (validated scales: UPPS-P and FCQ-T), in order to examine their relationship with the strength of the VMAC effect as well as its persistence (i.e., failure in updating the incentive value of the cue when introducing a reversal phase in the VMAC task). Besides, we will explore the relation between the VMAC effect as a measure of sign-tracking and the persistence in the reversal phase. We anticipate that people with high self-reported negative urgency and craving for food as a trait will show greater VMAC effect and persistence after reverse reward-stimulus contingencies.