Distinct roles of reward in target detection and search termination: evidence from static and dynamic visual search

Reward has been shown to facilitate visual search, yet it remains unclear whether this benefit reflects enhanced search efficiency or changes in the decisional processes underlying target detection and search termination. The present study examined how reward affects visual search termination in both static (Experiment 1) and dynamic (Experiment 2) contexts. In both experiments, reward availability, target presence, and set size were manipulated. The color of the search array signaled reward availability for a given trial. Participants were rewarded for correct responses faster than their baseline performance in the reward condition, while no reward was provided in the no-reward condition. Across both experiments, reward facilitated target-present responses but did not improve target-absent performance. In static search, reward influenced both search efficiency and decisional processes, whereas in dynamic search its effects were primarily confined to decisional processes. Specifically, reward altered search efficiency only in the static search, while computational modeling consistently indicated reduced decision caution for target-present responses across both search contexts. In contrast, the influence of reward on target-absent decisions was weaker and depended on the search context. Together, these findings suggest that reward effects on decisional processes were more consistent across the two visual search contexts examined in the present study, whereas reward effects on search efficiency appeared to depend more strongly on search context, and that target detection and search termination are differentially influenced by motivational incentives.