This thesis investigates how the motivational value of a visual stimulus influences selective attention. In a series of 11 experiments, I first imbued neutral faces with value by presenting them in a conventional value learning task involving monetary gains and losses. I then employed several temporal and spatial attention paradigms: attentional blink, backward masking, and visual search. I measured recognition and categorization decisions with and without constraints on attention for value-laden and neutral stimuli. I also measured recognition of value-laden and neutral stimuli while simultaneously recording electroencephalography. Evidence obtained across these experiments supported the hypothesis that visual stimuli are
processed in a value-specific manner, where value is determined by both valence and motivational salience. Regardless of available attention, recognition was substantially enhanced for motivationally salient stimuli (highly predictive of outcomes) regardless of valence (gain or loss) compared to equally familiar stimuli with weak or no motivational salience. However, when attention was constrained, valence determined recognition; only information about stimuli associated with gains was accessible for
high-level processing. Motivational salience acts independently of attention to modulate simple perceptual decisions but when attention is limited, visual processing is biased in favor of reward-associated stimuli.