Value-driven interference in visual search: Attention to reward-associated distractors.

We used an implicit learning paradigm to examine the acquisition of color-reward associations when colors were task-irrelevant and attention to color was detrimental to performance. Our task required a manual classification response to a shape target and a correct response was rewarded with either 1 or 10 cent. The amount of reward was contingent on the color of a simultaneous color distractor and different colors were associated with low reward (always 1 Cent), partial reward (randomly either 1 or 10 Cent), and high reward (always 10 Cent). Attention to color was nonstrategic for maximizing reward because it interfered with the response to the target. We examined the potential of reward-associated colors to capture and hold overt attention automatically. Reward expectancy increased with the average amount of associated reward (low < partial < high). Reward uncertainty was highest for the partially reward distractor color (low < partial > high). Results revealed that capture frequency was linked to reward expectancy, while capture duration additionally seemed to be influenced by uncertainty, complementing previous findings of such a dissociation in appetitive and aversive learning (Koenig, Kadel, Uengoer, Schubö, & Lachnit, 2017; Koenig, Uengoer, & Lachnit, 2017).

Uncertain reward cues show increased dominance in early phases of binocular rivalry

Binocular rivalry occurs when the eyes are presented with two dissimilar images and visual awareness fluctuates between them. Previous findings suggest that perceptual dominance of a rewarded stimulus may increase relative to an unrewarded stimulus, implying a direct effect of reward on visual representations. Here, we asked how uncertainty about reward occurrence and average reward expectancy affect dominance in binocular rivalry. In three experiments, participants learnt to associate drifting gratings of distinct colors with different levels of uncertainty and expectancy. Uncertainty was manipulated by rewarding each correct trial either with 100% probability (no uncertainty) or with 50% probability (high uncertainty). The amount of reward was either identical per rewarded trial, yielding a lower expectancy in uncertain trials (Experiments 1 and 2), or reward expectancy was matched across uncertainty levels by doubling the award per rewarded trial for uncertain trials (Experiment 3). In Experiment 2, an additional low-reward condition with no uncertainty was included. Using a no-report paradigm, we measured the perceptual dominance of these gratings relative to a grating that was unassociated with reward, before and after associations had been acquired. When the rewarded stimulus feature (color) was task relevant, dominance durations increased for all rewarded gratings after acquisition. In an early phase after rivalry onset we found increased perceptual dominance for cues associated with uncertain reward compared to cues associated with certain reward. This confirms an effect of reward on perceptual dominance, and suggests that reward uncertainty associated with a stimulus has a direct bearing on its visual representation.

The association of DAT gene methylation with striatal DAT availability in healthy subjects

Background DNA methylation inhibits gene expression by preventing transcription factors from binding to DNA. Functioning of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons is influenced by the expression of the dopamine transporter (DAT), and genetic variations in the gene encoding DAT contribute to differences in reward processing. We aimed to investigate the action of DAT methylation on DAT protein expression measured by positron emission tomography (PET). Methods The emission data were acquired over 90 min with 50 frames after injection of 18F-FP-CIT using PET. Binding potentials (BPNDs) of ventral striatum, caudate nucleus, putamen were measured with the simplified reference tissue method. Genomic DNA was extracted from subjects’ blood sampling. Methylation of 4 regions in SLC6A3 gene was assessed using bisulfite pyrosequencing. The mean percentage of methylation (%) for each cluster was calculated by taking the average of all CpG site methylation levels measured within the cluster. Subjects were assessed with the Generalized Reward and Punishment Expectancy Scales (GRAPES) that consists of 30 items related with the reward and punishment that individuals expect for their behaviors. Results Thirty-five healthy males, with an age range between 20 and 30 years, and a mean age of 24.4 ± 2.7 years, were included in this study. The mean percentage of methylation (%) from cluster C showed a trend of positive correlation with DAT availability of ventral striatum (rho = 0.3712, p = 0.0281), not significant after correction for multiple comparisons, and a significant correlation with GRAPES A: reward expectancy scale (rho = 0.7178, p < 0.0001). Conclusion DAT methylation from peripheral blood showed a trend of positive correlation with DAT availability of ventral striatum in healthy subjects; however, it was not significant after correction for multiple comparison. The degrees of methylation from cluster C of DAT in peripheral blood were significantly correlated with reward scales of GRAPES A: reward expectancy scale. The association between DAT methylation and DAT expression needs to be investigated further.

Beyond Reward Expectancy: How Do Periodic Incentive Payments Influence the Temporal Dynamics of Performance?

Prior theory suggests that incentive plans, such as piece-rate or commission plans, motivate good performance because employees anticipate that current performance will generate matching future incentive payments. In this article, we move beyond reward expectancy to argue that performance can also derive from employees’ reactive responses to received incentive payments. We propose a salience-based theory casting incentive payments as recurring temporal markers that periodically increase the salience of the incentive plan, to which employees respond by temporarily increasing incentivized and unincentivized performance. We introduce multivariate time-series methods to test our hypotheses in longitudinal data spanning 169 weeks (1,183 days), drawn from an online firm using an incentive plan for its customer-support employees. While we find no evidence that incentive payments affect the dynamics of incentivized performance, they do temporarily boost several unincentivized behaviors and outcomes. Combined with fieldwork, these findings support our proposed mechanism of “salience-induced reciprocity”—that is, the temporary reciprocity in response to a periodic increase in the salience of the incentive plan. This article contributes to a more complete understanding of performance and effort dynamics in incentive plans, offers new inroads into studying temporality in the functioning of human resources practices, and provides other future research avenues.

Ensuring employees' information security policy compliance by carrot and stick: the moderating roles of organizational commitment and gender

PurposeEmployees’ information security policy (ISP) compliance exerts a significant strain on information security management. Drawing upon the compliance theory and control theory, this study attempts to examine the moderating roles of organizational commitment and gender in the relationships between reward/punishment expectancy and employees' ISP compliance.Design/methodology/approachUsing survey data collected from 310 employees in Chinese organizations that have formally adopted information security policies, the authors applied the partial least square method to test hypotheses.FindingsPunishment expectancy positively affects ISP compliance, but reward expectancy has no significant impact on ISP compliance. Compared with committed employees, both reward expectancy and punishment expectancy have stronger impacts on low-commitment employees' ISP compliance. As for gender differences, punishment expectancy exerts a stronger effect on females' ISP compliance than it does on males.Originality/valueBy investigating the moderating roles of organizational commitment and gender, this paper offers a deeper understanding of reward and punishment in the context of ISP compliance. The findings reveal that efforts in building organizational commitment will reduce the reliance on reward and punishment, and further controls rather than the carrot and stick should be applied to ensure male employees' ISP compliance.