Associatively-mediated stopping: training stimulus-specific inhibitory control

Abstract

Response inhibition is often considered to be a deliberate act of cognitive control. However, our and other research suggests that by repeatedly pairing stimuli with an inhibitory response, inhibition can become automatized. Currently, relatively little research has focused on the nature of the associative structure that underpins stimulus-specific inhibitory training. This paper investigated what associations can be learnt in stop-signal training tasks, distinguishing between indirect priming of the stop signal and direct activation of a stop response. We employed a novel paradigm, where colored cues are stochastically paired with a number of stop-signals, and demonstrated that cues consistently paired with stopping reduced commission errors and slowed reaction times. Furthermore, we showed that manipulating the pairings between stimuli and stop signals, in a manner that favored the formation of stimulus-stop associations, produced enhanced stop learning effects on reaction time, but not probability of responding. Our results suggest that perceptual processes supporting signal detection (priming) as well as inhibitory processes are involved in inhibitory control training, and that inhibition training may benefit from reducing the contingency between stimuli and stop-signals.