What does this research mean for the field?

Motivated attentional bias primarily manifests as prolonged attentional dwelling on goal-relevant stimuli rather than enhanced initial attentional capture. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To determine whether motivated attentional bias reflects rapid initial attentional capture or sustained attentional dwelling by manipulating cue-target onset asynchrony.

September 8, 2026Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

EXPRESS: Revisiting Motivated Attentional Bias: Capture or Dwelling?

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Authors

DWDirk WenturaSaarland University MBMerve BoğaBursa Uludağ Üni̇versi̇tesi̇

Discussion

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Implication

Behavioral experiment reveals early attentional bias for cleanliness cues under neutral mood, suggesting motivation drives prolonged dwelling rather than initial capture.

Key Points

To determine whether motivated attentional bias reflects rapid initial attentional capture or sustained attentional dwelling by manipulating cue-target onset asynchrony.
Tested attentional bias in a neutral mood context using a dot-probe task displaying cleanliness-related versus neutral stimuli.
Manipulated cue-target onset asynchrony (CTOA) at intervals of 100 ms and 350 ms.
Cleanliness-related stimuli elicited a significant positive attentional bias at the 100 ms CTOA despite the absence of disgust or hygiene motivation.
Replicated a null attentional bias effect at the 350 ms CTOA in the neutral mood condition, indicating that motivation affects attentional dwelling rather than initial capture.

Cite This Study

Wentura et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9fd81358e84d0ff5b47332 https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218261489170

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September 8, 2026Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

EXPRESS: Revisiting Motivated Attentional Bias: Capture or Dwelling?

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

DWDirk WenturaSaarland University MBMerve BoğaBursa Uludağ Üni̇versi̇tesi̇

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Behavioral experiment reveals early attentional bias for cleanliness cues under neutral mood, suggesting motivation drives prolonged dwelling rather than initial capture.

Key Points

To determine whether motivated attentional bias reflects rapid initial attentional capture or sustained attentional dwelling by manipulating cue-target onset asynchrony.
Tested attentional bias in a neutral mood context using a dot-probe task displaying cleanliness-related versus neutral stimuli.
Manipulated cue-target onset asynchrony (CTOA) at intervals of 100 ms and 350 ms.
Cleanliness-related stimuli elicited a significant positive attentional bias at the 100 ms CTOA despite the absence of disgust or hygiene motivation.
Replicated a null attentional bias effect at the 350 ms CTOA in the neutral mood condition, indicating that motivation affects attentional dwelling rather than initial capture.

Cite This Study

Wentura et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9fd81358e84d0ff5b47332 https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218261489170

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