In the final analyses we also take into account the effect of avoiding (or missing) a (no-)goal area as a result of controlling the permeability of the central wall. That is, we performed an additional analysis in which we considered not only the properties of the quadrant of the box which the target was heading toward (green goal, red goal, or no goal) but also the properties of the quadrant at the same side (top or bottom) which the target then was not heading toward as a result of the decision and the corresponding action of the participant to make the wall permeable or not. As an example, a participant might choose to let a target bounce off the wall to make it head toward a no-goal area to avoid it hitting the red goal. Another possible situation was that a target was accidentally allowed through the wall toward the red goal, but it would have otherwise reached the green goal if it had bounced (although this situation occurred far less than the first example).
Table 4 shows how the combinations of reached and avoided goal (or no-goal) area could be classified in terms of reward and punishment. The various combinations suggest various strengths regarding approaching or avoiding a specific direction and the attentional resources ahead of the target in that direction (as reflected by the probe detection rate). We labeled each combination with a specific valence value. So, if a target (as a result of the permeability response of the participant) headed toward a green goal to avoid a no-goal (as in
Figure 6, bottom left), the probe detection in that direction was labeled with a single plus (+), and similarly so when the target headed toward a no-goal area to avoid a red goal (as in
Figure 6, third row right). When a target headed toward a green goal to avoid a red goal (as in
Figure 6, top left) a double plus (++) was assigned to that cell. The cells with a negative valence were defined in a similar way. In the situation where a target headed toward a red goal to “avoid” a no-goal area (by a wrong permeability response as in
Figure 6, bottom center) a single minus (–) label was assigned, and similarly so when the target headed toward a no-goal area to “avoid” a green goal (as in
Figure 6, bottom right). When a target headed toward a red goal to “avoid” a green goal (as in
Figure 6, top center), the corresponding cell received a double minus (– –). Finally, when a target was heading toward a no-goal area to “avoid” another no-goal area (as in
Figure 6, top right), this was assigned a zero (0). Note that the green/green and red/red combinations are not possible with this paradigm, because there is always only one green goal and one red goal. Using this classification, we could determine whether there was an effect of valence of the combined situation (area reached plus area avoided). Additionally, by comparing to baseline (0), it can be made clear whether a positive outcome gives enhanced attention or a negative outcome gives suppressed attention.