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Recent studies have shown that reward contingencies affect attentional selection. Stimuli that were selected and previously rewarded continue to capture attention even if the reward contingencies are no longer in place. In the current series of experiments, we investigated whether task-irrelevant and non-salient stimuli that merely signal the magnitude of reward available on a particular trial affect attentional selection. Crucially, in these experiments, attentional selection of the reward-signaling stimuli was never necessary but instead detrimental for actual payout. Participants searched for a target (in different experiments for either a specific color or shape) presented among five distractors. The color of one of the distractors signaled the reward available for that trial (eg a red distractor would indicate a high reward, a green distractor a low reward). Even though this colored distractor signaling reward availability was …