Associatively mediated stopping: Training stimulus-specific inhibitory control.

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.

The inhibitory control reflex.

Response inhibition is typically considered a hallmark of deliberate executive control. In this article, we review work showing that response inhibition can also become a 'prepared reflex', readily triggered by information in the environment, or after sufficient training, or a 'learned reflex' triggered by the retrieval of previously acquired associations between stimuli and stopping. We present new results indicating that people can learn various associations, which influence performance in different ways.