Niyatee Narkar¹ (), Cassidy D. Darechuk², Mark J. Fenske³; ¹University of Guelph, ²University of Guelph, ³University of Guelph

Cognitive-control mechanisms that determine which information becomes the focus of our attention and actions have affective consequences for associated visual stimuli. Ignoring or withholding a response from a stimulus, for example, can negatively impact its perceived value. Such stimulus devaluation is thought to be due to negative affect elicited by attention- and response-related inhibition. Using head-stabilized screen-based eye-tracking, we searched for similar effects in the oculomotor domain by combining tasks involving inhibitory control over eye-movements with affective evaluations of stimuli. Art-like patterns were first centrally presented in an oculomotor Go/No-go task. A central cue then prompted participants to either Go (look at an abrupt-onset stimulus appearing to the left or right of the pattern) or No-go (avoid making any eye-movements and instead maintain fixation on the pattern). Liking ratings obtained after each Go/No-go trial revealed that No-go-trial patterns were evaluated more negatively than Go-trial patterns, despite any fluency-related enhancement from longer foveal processing. Previously-unseen novel patterns were also disliked if rated shortly after a No-go trial than after a Go trial, suggesting lingering impacts of oculomotor inhibition on the coding of stimulus value. Similar results from experiments that interspersed anti-saccade or selective-looking trials with affective-evaluation trials suggest the mechanisms underlying ‘distractor devaluation’ and ‘No-go devaluation’ effects in other selective-attention and motor-response control domains may be similar to those influencing stimulus value in the oculomotor domain. Ongoing analysis of eye-movement data from selective-looking tasks will further reveal whether the trial-by-trial fluctuations in distractor suppression reflected in deviations in saccade trajectory can predict the magnitude of oculomotor distractor devaluation. This research underscores the potential significance of the link between inhibition and aversive response as a manifestation of the interaction between emotion and oculomotor-control systems as they work together to ensure that distracting or otherwise-problematic stimuli can be effectively avoided in the future.