On the relationship between response selection and response inhibition: An individual differences approach

Angela D. Bender, Hannah L. Filmer, K. G. Garner, Claire K. Naughtin, Paul E. Dux

The abilities to select appropriate responses and suppress unwanted actions are key executive functions that enable flexible and goal-directed behavior. However, to date it has been unclear whether these two cognitive operations tap a common action control resource or reflect two distinct processes. In the present study, we used an individual differences approach to examine the underlying relationships across seven paradigms that varied in their response selection and response inhibition requirements: stop-signal, go-no-go, Stroop, flanker, single-response selection, psychological refractory period, and attentional blink tasks. A confirmatory factor analysis suggested that response inhibition and response selection are separable, with stop-signal and go-no-go task performance being related to response inhibition, and performance in the psychological refractory period, Stroop, single-response selection, and attentional blink tasks being related to response selection. These findings provide evidence in support of the hypothesis that response selection and response inhibition reflect two distinct cognitive operations.