Bidirectional links between covert attention and value-guided choice

Decision-making depends on where attention is allocated and what information is sampled. Although attention plays a critical role in choice, its investigation has largely been limited to overt eye movements, leaving the contribution of covert attention unclear. Here, we combine an attentional probe with value-based choice to directly measure how covert attention is allocated to peripheral options during decision-making. We identify two fundamental features of the attention-choice relationship. First, attention and value interact bidirectionally: option value biases the allocation of covert attention, while covert attention in turn alters value representations and choice. Second, covert and overt attention exert dissociable – and competing – influences on choice behaviour. By demonstrating that attentional influences on decision-making extend beyond eye gaze, our findings challenge current gaze-based accounts of choice, and motivate decision-making models that incorporate covert attentional mechanisms alongside overt attentional dynamics.