Strength in cognitive self-regulation

Abstract

Failures in self-regulation are predictive of adverse cognitive, academic and vocational outcomes, yet the interplay between cognition and self-regulation failure remains elusive. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that lapses in self-regulation, as predicted by the strength model, can be induced in individuals using cognitive paradigms and whether such failures are related to cognitive performance. In Experiments 1, the stop-signal task (SST) was used to show reduced behavioral inhibition after performance of a cognitively demanding arithmetic task, but only in people with low arithmetic accuracy, when compared with SST performance following a simple discrimination task. Surprisingly, and inconsistently with existing models, subjects rapidly recovered without rest or glucose. In Experiment 2, depletions of both go-signal reaction times and response inhibition were observed when a simple detection task was used as a control. These experiments provide new evidence that cognitive self-regulation processes are influenced by cognitive performance, and subject to improvement and recovery without rest.

Keywords: arithmetic task; depletion; response inhibition; self-control; self-regulation; task switching.

Figure 1

(A) A single trial of the arithmetic and simple sign discrimination task. (B) A go-trial and a strop-trial of the stop-signal task. (C) Experimental protocol timeline.

Figure 2

Mean (±SEM) depletion measures for SSRT (A), go-RT (B), and SSD for the low accuracy (black line) and high accuracy (gray line) (C) groups across the three blocks of the stop-signal task: Block 1 (0–5 min), Block 2 (5–10 min), and Block 3 (10–15 min). Depletion measures were calculated by subtracting SST task measures following the arithmetic task from those that followed the sign task (e.g., SSRT depletion = SSRT sign – SSRT arithmetic), therefore, negative values are representative of a depletion effect for SSRT and go-RT measures following the arithmetic task (note that for SSD a negative value is representative of an improvement in performance). Dashed gray line at zero depicts no depletion or gain in performance.

Figure 3

Mean (±SEM) depletion measures for SSRT (A), go-RT (B) and SSD (C), for the low accuracy (black line) and high accuracy (gray line) groups across the three blocks of the stop-signal task: Block 1 (0–5 min), Block 2 (5–10 min), and Block 3 (10–15 min). Depletion measures were calculated by subtracting SST task measures following the arithmetic task from those that followed the sign task (e.g., SSRT depletion = SSRT sign – SSRT arithmetic), therefore, negative values are representative of a depletion effect for SSRT and go-RT measures following the arithmetic task (note that for SSD a negative value is representative of an improvement in performance). Dashed gray line at zero depicts no depletion or gain in performance.