Reward-associated cues are thought to contribute to the development and maintenance of addictive behaviors by influencing attention and action selection. These effects are typically attributed to Pavlovian learning processes, in which stimuli become associated with motivational outcomes. However, it remains unclear whether such conditioned effects depend on explicit awareness of stimulus-outcome contingencies or can occur implicitly.

      Eighty students completed a Pavlovian-Instrumental Transfer (PIT) task combined with an Emotional Attentional Blink (EAB) paradigm to examine whether reward-related biases depend on contingency awareness and relate to risky alcohol use. In an initial Pavlovian phase, two stimuli were paired with monetary rewards (CS10, CS50). These associations were subtle and not explicitly instructed, so awareness of the stimulus-outcome contingencies was assessed during this phase and during data analysis classified using the Bayesian Awareness Categorization Technique.  This was followed by an Instrumental phase, where two responses were paired with monetary rewards (R10, R50). In the final Transfer phase, PIT and EAB tasks assessed response bias and attentional effects. 

      Analyses revealed no significant PIT effects in either aware or unaware participants. In the EAB task, no evidence of reward learning was found, as neither a main effect of reward nor a reward × distractor interaction reached significance. Nonetheless, a main effect of distractor type was observed in the unaware group, with reduced accuracy following aversive images. Exploratory analyses revealed a significant interaction between response preference and alcohol risk status: high-risk drinkers showed greater selection of high-probability, low-value responses (R10).

      These findings provide no support for implicit learning. However, the absence of effects in both aware and unaware participants makes it difficult to determine whether Pavlovian influences on attention and behavior are truly absent or simply not detectable under the current task conditions. The observed preference for high-probability rewards in high-risk drinkers may reflect altered reward sensitivity but does not serve as a clear cognitive marker for risky alcohol use.