The effect of high approach-motivated positive affect on selective attention under high perceptual load

Introduction: Selective attention can be shaped by emotion, but prior work emphasized valence and arousal more than motivational intensity and has not clarified whether motivation’s influence varies with perceptual load. Methods: Using a modified perceptual-load Flanker task with behavioral measures and ERPs, participants viewed pictures (food or scenes) to induce high or low approach-motivated positive affect, then identified a target letter within arrays imposing low (homogeneous distractors) or high (heterogeneous distractors) perceptual load while ignoring a peripheral interference letter. Results: Under high perceptual load, low approach-motivated positive affect produced slower reaction times than high approach-motivated positive affect. ERP results under high load showed larger parieto-occipital N1 for low versus high approach-motivated positive affect, greater frontal N2 for high versus low approach-motivated positive affect, and smaller parietal P3 for high versus low approach-motivated and neutral affect. Discussion: Low approach-motivated positive affect inhibits and high approach-motivated positive affect enhances performance on high-load Flanker tasks, with effects evident at early (N1) and later (N2, P3) stages of attentional processing.

Fang Liu, Qin Zhang