Dissociating consciousness from inhibitory control: evidence for unconsciously triggered response inhibition in the stop-signal task.

Full Abstract

Theories about the functional relevance of consciousness commonly posit that higher order cognitive control functions, such as response inhibition, require consciousness. To test this assertion, the authors designed a masked stop-signal paradigm to examine whether response inhibition could be triggered and initiated by masked stop signals, which inform participants to stop an action they have begun. In 2 experiments, masked stop signals were observed to occasionally result in full response inhibition as well as to yield a slow down in the speed of responses that were not inhibited. The magnitude of this subliminally triggered response time slowing effect correlated with the efficiency measure (stop signal reaction time) of response inhibition across participants. Thus, response inhibition can be triggered unconsciously-more so in individuals who are good inhibitors and under conditions that are associated with efficient response inhibition. These results indicate that in contradiction to common theorizing, inhibitory control processes can operate outside awareness.

Author information

Author/s: van Gaal, Simon (S); Ridderinkhof, K Richard (KR); van den Wildenberg, Wery P M (WP); Lamme, Victor A F (VA);

Affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience Group, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Roetersstraat 15, Amsterdam 1018 WB, The Netherlands. s.vangaal(-atsign-)uva.nl

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial

Journal: Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance (J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Aug; vol 35 (issue 4) : pp 1129-39

Dates: Created 2009/08/05; Completed 2009/10/06;

PMID: 19653754, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/6/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.