Inhibition: Mental Control Process or Mental Resource?

The current study tested 2 models of inhibition in 45 children with language impairment and 45 children with normally developing language; children were aged 7 to 12 years. Of interest was whether a model of inhibition as a mental-control process (i.e., executive function) or as a mental resource would more accurately reflect the relations among mental-attentional (M) capacity, inhibition, updating, shifting, and language competence. Children completed measures of M-capacity (in the verbal and nonverbal domains), inhibition, updating, shifting, and language. Path analyses showed the data provided a poor fit to the model of inhibition as a mental-control process but a good fit to the model of inhibition as a mental resource. Results are consistent with the theory of constructive operators and suggest inhibition is a mental resource rather than a mental-control process.     

Task inhibition,conflict, and the n-2 repetition cost: A combined computational and empirical approach

Task inhibition (also known as backward inhibition) is an hypothesised form of cognitive inhibition evident in multi-task situations, with the role of facilitating switching between multiple, competing tasks. This article presents a novel cognitive computational model of a backward inhibition mechanism. By combining aspects of previous cognitive models in task switching and conflict monitoring, the model instantiates the theoretical proposal that backward inhibition is the direct result of conflict between multiple task representations. In a first simulation, we demonstrate that the model produces two effects widely observed in the empirical literature, specifically, reaction time costs for both (n-1) task switches and n-2 task repeats. Through a systematic search of parameter space, we demonstrate that these effects are a general property of the model’s theoretical content, and not specific parameter settings. We further demonstrate that the model captures previously reported empirical effects of inter-trial interval on n-2 switch costs. A final simulation extends the paradigm of switching between tasks of asymmetric difficulty to three tasks, and generates novel predictions for n-2 repetition costs. Specifically, the model predicts that n-2 repetition costs associated with hard-easy-hard alternations are greater than for easy-hard-easy alternations. Finally, we report two behavioural experiments testing this hypothesis, with results consistent with the model predictions.     

分心抑制的年龄差异

通过对负启动范式的说明,从年龄发展的角度对分心抑制作了理论上的探讨,介绍了几个有代表性的理论与假说,包括抑制衰退理论、多样化抑制系统模型和最佳测试时间假说;并从工作记忆能量与分心抑制的关系上探讨了基于年龄发展的资源依赖抑制模型和抑制控制假说。     

Time courses in visual-information processing: Some empirical evidence for inhibition

Summary In the literature two different views on the time course of activation of recognition units — hypothetical units that represent identity information — are proposed. The first view assumes that the recognition units accumulate activation gradually over time. The second assumes that the activation levels increase fast initially and then start to decrease. Hagenzieker and Van der Heijden (1990) have proposed a more general information-processing model, which is compatible with both views. In this model a treshold determines what type of time course will be obtained. For below-threshold-activation values a gradual accumulation of activation will be found; for above-threshold values activation levels will first increase and then, because of inhibition, decrease. This model served as a starting-point for the present paper. Elaboration of this model led to two testable hypotheses with regard to identification performance. The first prediction is that evidence for inhibition should be observed only under relatively bright luminance conditions. The second is that, given inhibition, the amount of the effect of this inhibition should increase over time. A partial-report bar-probe task was used to test the predictions. The experiment involved two luminance conditions and the information was sampled at two different moments in time. To control for possible localization artefacts a digit-naming task was also used. Evidence for inhibition was found in both luminance conditions. In accordance with the model the amount of the effect of inhibition increased over time.     

An astable multivibrator model of binocular rivalry

The behavior of a neural network model for binocular rivalry is explored through the development of an analogy between it and an electronic astable multivibrator circuit. The model incorporates reciprocal feedback inhibition between signals from the left and the right eyes prior to binocular convergence. The strength of inhibitory coupling determines whether the system undergoes rivalrous oscillations or remains in stable fusion: strong coupling leads to oscillations, weak coupling to fusion. This implies that correlation between spatial patterns presented to the two eyes can affect the strength of binocular inhibition. Finally, computer simulations are presented which show that a reciprocal inhibition model can reproduce the stochastic behavior of rivalry. The model described is a counterexample to claims that reciprocal inhibition models as a class cannot exhibit many of the experimentally observed properties of rivalry.     

In search of the point of no return: the control of response processes

Control processes underlying response inhibition were examined. Six Ss performed a visual choice reaction task and were occasionally presented with a tone that told them to withhold the response. Reaction time results were in agreement with a model that assumes a race between response activation and response inhibition processes. Event-related brain potentials, electromyogram, and continuous response measures showed that responses could be interrupted at any time. Evidence was obtained for two inhibitory mechanisms: inhibition of central activation processes and inhibition of transmission of motor commands from central to peripheral structures. Results have implications for the distinction between controlled and ballistic processes.     

The role of inhibition in a spreading-activation model of language production. II. The simulational perspective

This is the second part of a project aimed at establishing the role of lateral inhibition in spreading-activation models of language production. While the first part (Berg &; Schade, 1992) reviewed the psycholinguistic evidence for inhibition and established that indeed inhibition takes place, this paper addresses the issue from the implementational perspective. A series of computer simulations are reported in which spreading-activation models with or without inhibition are directly contrasted. The performance of the competing models is evaluated against two sets of criteria. On the more technical side, the “heat death” and the selection problems have to be solved. That is, the target must have a high and the nontarget units a low level of activation. Additionally, there are certain empirical effects from the production literature which may serve as test cases for deciding between the rival models. The results of the simulations indicate that only the inhibition-based model proves capable of meeting all challenges. All inhibitionless variants fail in one or more respects. It is further shown that the need for the inhibitory component increases with the size of the processing network and that one well-known production model can do without lateral inhibition only at the expense of introducing a concept which resembles inhibition in its effect but cannot replace it.     

Automatic aftereffects in two-choice reaction time: a mathematical representation of some concepts

A mathematical model is developed to describe sequential effects in two-choice reaction time experiments with a short response-stimulus interval. Evidence is briefly discussed that in conditions with short response-stimulus intervals, automatic aftereffects dominate sequential effects, and the influence of subjective expectancy can be neglected. In these conditions the model premises three components of automatic aftereffects--facilitation, inhibition, and noise, with a common decay factor. Influence of response-stimulus interval and practice on sequential effects are examined and related to parameter changes in the proposed single-decay model. The decrease of automatic aftereffects with increasing response-stimulus interval is primarily ascribed to an increasing decay factor. The parameter representation of the model also clarifies the issue of the disappearance of automatic aftereffects with practice. It shows a gradual fading of inhibition in the initial stages of practice, together with a slower decrease of the facilitation effect. The single-decay model provides a satisfactory explanation for the processes involved in compatible two-choice reaction time with short response-stimulus interval.     

Executive Functions and Mental Attentional Capacity in Preschoolers

ABSTRACT

The structure of executive functions in preschoolers is controversial. Miyake and colleagues found that, in adults, inhibition, shifting, and updating are correlated but distinguishable processes; this finding was sometimes replicated with schoolchildren. Based on schoolchildren data, Im-Bolter, Johnson, and Pascual-Leone proposed a four-component model, with mental attentional capacity and inhibition as basic resources, and shifting and updating as executive processes that partly rely on those resources. Studies on preschoolers propose either a single factor or two factors. We tested 118 children (36 to 73 months old) using measures of mental attentional capacity (Mr. Cucumber, Direction Following Task, and Backward Word Span), inhibition (Bear/Dragon and Day-Night Stroop), shifting (Dimensional Change Card Sort) and updating (Magic House). Confirmatory factor analyzes showed that the best-fitting model comprises two highly correlated factors – one loading the mental attentional capacity measures, the other loading inhibition, shifting, and updating measures. Performance in inhibition, shifting, and updating tasks showed qualitative changes with increasing attentional capacity. In preschoolers, shifting and updating seem to emerge tied to inhibition – but only when sufficient capacity enables children to perform executive control tasks. This seems consistent with Im-Bolter’s et al.’s proposal of two basic resources.     

Differential Associations Between Psychopathy Dimensions,Types of Aggression,and Response Inhibition

Findings on executive functioning in psychopathy are inconsistent. Different associations between psychopathy dimensions and executive functioning might explain contradicting findings. This study examined the role of psychopathy dimensions and types of aggression in response inhibition among 117 male adolescents (53 antisocial delinquents and 64 controls). Participants completed a self‐report measure of aggression and a GoNoGo task. Psychopathy dimensions were assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version. Although high scores on the antisocial dimension and reactive aggression were associated with poor response inhibition, the affective–interpersonal dimension, proactive aggression, and verbal intelligence (IQ) were related to better response inhibition (two‐factor model). Associations with the affective–interpersonal dimensions did not reach significance. Exploratory analyses showed that affective and antisocial facets accounted for the obtained opposing associations of the affective–interpersonal and antisocial psychopathy dimensions with response inhibition. The interpersonal and lifestyle facets (four‐facet model) were unrelated to response inhibition. Results could not be explained by Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Findings suggest differential associations between the psychopathy dimensions, types of aggression, and response inhibition. Therefore, a dimensional approach to psychopathy and related concepts, such as aggression, might strongly improve diagnostic procedures. Global scores could mask important differential associations. Aggr. Behav. 38:77‐88, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The influence of cue type on backward inhibition

Backward inhibition is proposed as a process of lateral inhibition that operates during response selection in task switching, reducing interference caused by the most recently abandoned task set. The effect has been observed across a wide range of contexts but is eliminated by using spatial location to cue tasks (K. D. Arbuthnott & T. S. Woodward, 2002). The present studies replicated this finding, showing that spatial cues are also associated with greater response congruity than verbal cues, consistent with the lateral inhibition model. Spatial cues may introduce greater discriminability between competing category-response rules, reducing the need for lateral inhibition. However, when participants named the task before target presentation, backward inhibition was observed with spatial cues, suggesting that verbalization increased competition between sets, despite spatial localization.     

A Comparison of Two Lateral Inhibitory Models of Metacontrast

Metacontrast, an apparent reduction in brightness of a target that is followed by a non-overlapping mask, has been modeled with simulated neural nets incorporating either recurrent lateral inhibition or forward and backward inhibition with lateral components. A one-layer lateral inhibitory model (B. Bridgeman, 1971, Psychological Review 78, 528-539) and a six-layer model (G. Francis, 1997, Psychological Review 104, 572-594) both simulate the basic metacontrast effect, showing that stimulus-dependent activity that reverberates for some time in the model after stimulus offset is essential to simulate metacontrast. The six-layer model does not simulate monotonic masking with low response criterion, an essential property of metacontrast; the lateral inhibitory model uses duration of reverberation to simulate the criterion. Each model simulates several variations of masking, such as changing the relative energy of target and mask, but neither can handle effects of practice or attention that apparently engage higher processing levels. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

Theory of mind and its relationship with behavioural inhibition in Chilean preschools / Teoría de la mente y su relación con inhibición conductual en pre-escolares chilenos

Abstract

This study’s main objective was to determine whether the five-step theory of mind scale is associated with responses to behavioural inhibition tasks. The data collected for this were the responses to the scale given by 65 Chilean children aged three to five from medium-low socioeconomic levels, and were derived from the changing locations, happy-sad Stroop, day-night and Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) tasks they carried out. Results showed that there was a significant association between the five-step theory of mind scale and behavioural inhibition (r = .28) and behavioural inhibition with the false belief task (r = .31), controlling for age, sex and language. These data support the emergence model as the best model to describe the relationship between theory of mind and behavioural inhibition. Finally, the results are discussed and future lines of study in this subject are put forward.     

Effects of constraint and validity of sentence contexts on lexical decisions

Recent models of sentence context effects predict that the pattern of facilitation and inhibition of response to sentence completions should be influenced by the experiment-wide contextual “environment.” In the present experiments, this environment was manipulated in several ways, including the degree to which contexts constrained possible completions, the probability of predictable completions’ being presented, and the probability of congruous completions’ being presented. In Experiment 1, decreasing the proportion of congruent test words had no effect on either the facilitation for highly likely words or the inhibition for incongruent words; increasing the proportion of predictable words produced no increase in facilitation for these words, but did increase the inhibition for incongruous words. In Experiment 2, contexts with very high or very low degrees of constraint produced equivalent results when predictability was uniformly low: no facilitation for unlikely but congruent words, and inhibition for incongruent words. In general, the patterns of change in facilitation and inhibition caused by changes in the contextual environment were more consistent with the modified two-process model (Stanovich & West, 1983) than with the verification model (Becker, 1982). But the limited range of influence suggests that, under conditions approximating normal reading, little use is made of such “metacontextual” information.     

Latent inhibition, habituation, and sensory preconditioning: a test of priming in short-term memory

Four experiments tested priming in short-term memory as a model for latent inhibition and habituation. The model postulates that the two phenomena results from reduced processing when a representation of the target stimulus is already active (primed) in short-term memory at the time of its presentation. Priming is assumed to depend on the integrity of an association formed between the contextual stimuli and the conditional stimulus (CS) during exposure. Using a procedure that should have overshadowed the context, Experiment 1 found that latent inhibition and habituation were nevertheless maintained when a second CS of either equal or shorter duration overlapped with the target during exposure. Experiments 2, 3, and 4 showed that sensory preconditioning as well as habituation and latent inhibition were obtained with compound exposure, providing reasonable evidence that the added CS was indeed processed along with the target during exposure. These results are interpreted as being inconsistent with the priming model.     

On the synchrony of stopping motor responses and delaying heartbeats.

Recent evidence suggests that inhibition of a motor response may occur as late as the final stages of response execution. Response production involves central commands for autonomic support as well as motoric action. Autonomically controlled responses were used in conjunction with electromyographic and performance indices to examine the timing and flexibility of inhibition. Twenty young male Ss performed a choice reaction time task with stimuli timed according to when they occurred in relation to the R wave of the electrocardiogram. Stop signals, presented on 30% of the trials, induced inhibition. The performance and physiological results generally supported the horse-race model of inhibition. Inhibition was observed as late as during response execution. A short-latency, phasic lengthening of interbeat interval was suggested to reflect the midbrain coordination of the countermanding of response execution.     

A Local Connectionist Account of Consonant Harmony in Child Language

This study represents an attempt to sketch a processing model of phonological development in children acquiring their first language. The investigation is framed within a local connectionist network in which activation spreads between levels and inhibition within levels. Three ways are focused on in which an emergent processing system may diverge from a fully developed one—hypoactivation (too little activation due to underdeveloped links), hyperactivation (too much activation due to overloaded links) and impaired self‐inhibition. With a view to determining how children's productions relate to these three “error mechanisms,” one widespread phonological process, consonant harmony, is subjected to examination. Hypoactivation is found to capture the great majority of harmonic patterns. Hyperactivation and impaired self‐inhibition play a more marginal role and are only needed to account for exceptional cases of harmony. The feasibility of the psycholinguistic model is demonstrated with the help of computer simulations that were run with noise on both fully developed and developing networks. The model makes a number of predictions including the claim that difficult sounds are acquired in coda positions first.     

Animal model of posterior cingulate cortex hypometabolism implicated in amnestic MCI and AD

The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) is the brain region displaying the earliest sign of energy hypometabolism in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who develop Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In particular, the activity of the mitochondrial respiratory enzyme cytochrome oxidase (C.O.) is selectively inhibited within the PCC in AD. The present study is the first experimental analysis designed to model in animals the localized cortical C.O. inhibition found as the earliest metabolic sign of early-stage AD in human neuroimaging studies. Rats were used to model local inhibition of C.O. by direct injection of the C.O. inhibitor sodium azide into the PCC. Learning and memory were examined in a spatial holeboard task and brains were analyzed using quantitative histochemical, morphological and biochemical techniques. Behavioral results showed that sodium azide-treated rats were impaired in their memory of the baited pattern in probe trials as compared to their training scores before treatment, without non-specific behavioral differences. Brain analyses showed that C.O. inhibition was specific to the PCC, and sodium azide increased lipid peroxidation, gliosis and neuron loss, and lead to a network functional disconnection between the PCC and interconnected hippocampal regions. It was concluded that impaired memory by local C.O. inhibition in the PCC may serve to model in animals a metabolic lesion similar to that found in patients with amnestic MCI and early-stage AD. This model may be useful as an in vivo testing platform to investigate neuroprotective strategies to prevent or reduce the amnestic effects produced by posterior cingulate energy hypometabolism.     

反应抑制的心理加工模型与神经机制

反应抑制是指抑制不符合当前需要的或不恰当行为反应的能力, 也是执行控制加工的重要成分。解释反应抑制的心理加工模型有两种: 反应与抑制相互独立的赛马模型和交互作用的赛马模型。近年来对反应抑制神经机制的研究表明: 额叶－基底神经节系统内的超直接通路和间接通路可能共同负责对优势反应的抑制, 而额下回、辅助运动区/辅助运动前区和前部扣带回皮层等脑区可能是抑制控制的关键脑区; 反应抑制与反应选择、工作记忆和注意的神经加工之间存在密切联系, 它们的激活脑区既相互重叠, 又相互区别; 右背外侧前额皮层的激活可能反映与抑制任务相关的注意和工作记忆的加工。未来的研究需要将脑损伤、神经功能成像和经颅磁刺激等多种技术结合起来, 进一步阐明上述脑区在反应抑制中的相互作用机制。     

Retention of conditioned inhibition in a bar-press suppression paradigm

In three experiments, the retention of conditioned inhibition in rats was examined over long intervals. Retention deficits of conditioned inhibition were found at 21 days, although conditioned excitation was relatively stable over time. This loss of conditioned inhibition was demonstrated using both the summation and the retardation of learning techniques in a bar-press suppression paradigm. Furthermore, retention differences were found between within-groups and between-groups generalization tests of conditioned inhibition, using the summation procedure. These differences were interpreted within a retrieval-oriented model of memory.