We investigated whether the temporal dynamics of attention could be used to reconcile exploitative and explorative attentional learning theories. Participants trained on a categorisation task where some stimuli were predictive (P) of the correct response while others were non-predictive (NP). These stimuli were then used in a dot probe task in which we varied the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the cues and the target. Participants responded faster to the target when it appeared over a P cue at each SOA. The reaction time advantage towards the P cues increased proportionally with SOA, suggesting that participants were strategically processing the cues. Target-elicited N2pc amplitudes at short SOAs suggested that P cues were preferentially processed, consistent with exploitation. However, the amplitudes at a longer SOA suggested that after the P cues were processed, they were inhibited. This inhibition could bias attention towards other currently ambiguous stimuli, consistent with exploration.
Keywords: Associative learning; Attention; Event-Related potentials (ERPs); Facilitation; Inhibition of return (IOR).
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