Inhibitory Control

Inhibitory control is the ability to restrain a strong or automatic response, or resist distracting information, when it conflicts with a current goal. It is one of the core executive functions, the mental processes that help guide behavior deliberately. It allows a person to pause or redirect a response instead of simply following the most immediate impulse .¹

This control can operate on actions and attention. Response inhibition involves holding back an action, such as resisting an impulsive reply. Interference control helps keep attention on relevant information while competing distractions are present. These related abilities show that inhibitory control concerns both actions and the information that guides behavior .¹

Inhibitory control works closely with working memory, which keeps goals and rules available while a task is being performed. Their contributions can be difficult to separate in experiments because remembering what to do and resisting a competing response often occur together. Researchers therefore compare tasks or conditions with similar memory demands but different demands on inhibition .¹