Dataset for "Performance‐dependent reward hurts performance: The non‐monotonic attentional load modulation on task‐irrelevant distractor processing"

This dataset comprises of the data presented in the publication "Performance‐dependent reward hurts performance: The non‐monotonic attentional load modulation on task‐irrelevant distractor processing" (He et al., 2021) and the codes for data analyses.Participants were required to perform an attentive multiple object tracking (MOT) task that lasted for 15 s in each trial. We manipulated the levels of attentional load by changing the number of target(s) to track, i.e. 1, 3, or 5 target balls out of 10 balls in total. At the beginning of each trial, target balls among all the balls turned red for 2 s to manifest themselves. After tracking finished, the same amount as the target balls turned red as probes. Either they were exactly the target balls, or one of them was not among the targets. Participants had to determine whether the probes were identical to the target balls or not (2AFC). During tracking, task-irrelevant auditory Oddball distractors (50-ms pure tones played every 600 ms) were presented, with 1000-Hz tones as the standard (80% probability) and 1500-Hz tones as the deviant (20% probability) stimuli.The whole experiment consisted of 8 blocks × 12 trials. Participants performed the task under 2 levels (low/high) of monetary reward which was given for right choices. Reward levels were counterbalanced across blocks while attentional load levels were randomized across trials in each block but with equal numbers of trials for each level. Participants were shown the reward level (low or high) at the beginning of each block, and there was feedback after choice made in each trial, including right or wrong (for a right choice its reward would be shown) and the aggregate reward gained in the current block so far. At both reward levels the amount increased as the attentional load, but the amount at the higher level was always larger than at the lower level regardless of the attentional load.Throughout the tracking period, participants' EEG signals and pupil dilation data were recorded. EEG signals were then segmented into 600-ms ERP epochs relative to the onset of each tone (-100 ms to +500 ms). We analyzed the MMN and P3a components of the difference wave elicited between standard and deviant tones to investigate the role of reward in the effect of attentional load on task-irrelevant auditory distractor processing.For details of the dataset, please see readme.txt in the root directory after unzipping. For details of the study, please refer to:He, X., Liu, W., Qin, N., Lyu, L., Dong, X., & Bao, M. (2021). Performance‐dependent reward hurts performance: The non‐monotonic attentional load modulation on task‐irrelevant distractor processing. Psychophysiology, 58(12), e13920. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13920.