Associatively mediated stopping: Training stimulus-specific inhibitory control

William A. Bowditch, Frederick Verbruggen, Ian P. L. McLaren

Response inhibition is often considered to be a deliberate act of cognitive control. However, our and other research suggests that when stimuli are repeatedly paired 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. In this study, we investigated what associations can be learned 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, in which colored cues were 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 times, but not on probabilities of responding. Our results suggest that the 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.