Influence of flavor information on visual search: Attentional capture by and suppression of flavor-associated colors

Numerous studies have demonstrated the impact of flavor cues on visual search, yet the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. In this experiment, we used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine whether, and if so, how flavor information could lead to attentional capture by, and suppression of, flavor-associated colors. The participants were asked to taste certain flavored beverages and subsequently complete a shape-based visual search task, while their neural activities were simultaneously recorded. The behavioral results revealed that the participants made slower responses when a distractor in the flavor-associated color (DFAC) was present, suggesting an attentional bias toward the flavor-associated color. The ERP results revealed that the N2pc was detected if the target and the DFAC were shown in the same visual field (e.g. both target and DFCA on the right side of the screen), when the pairings between flavor cues and target colors were incongruent. However, the N2pc was not observed if the target and the DFAC were shown in the opposite visual fields (e.g. target on the right and DFCA on the left side of the screen) for the incongruent color-flavor pairings. Moreover, the distractor positivity (Pd) was observed if the target and the DFAC were shown in the opposite visual field for the congruent color-flavor pairings. These results suggest that both attentional capture and suppression are involved in the influence of flavor information on visual search. Collectively, these findings provide initial electrophysiological evidence on the mechanisms of the crossmodal influence of flavor cues on visual search.