Abstract
It is well documented that stimuli associated with the self are easier to process than identical material paired with other people (i.e., self-prioritization effect). Surprisingly, however, relatively little is known about how self-relevance impacts core aspects of executive functioning, notably response inhibition. Accordingly, here we used a stop-signal task to establish how effectively responses toward self-relevant (vs. other-relevant) stimuli can intentionally be inhibited. In the context of personal possession, participants were required to classify stimuli (i.e., pens and pencils) based on ownership (i.e., owned-by-self vs. owned-by-friend/stranger), unless an occasional auditory tone indicated that the response should be withheld. The results revealed the benefits of self-relevance on response inhibition. Compared with items owned by a friend or stranger, responses to self-owned objects were inhibited more efficiently. These findings confirm that self-relevance facilitates executive control.
DOI
10.3758/s13414-021-02248-7
Publication Date
2021-05-01
Publication Title
Attention, Perception and Psychophysics
Volume
83
Issue
4
Publisher
Springer
ISSN
1943-393X
Embargo Period
2024-11-22
First Page
1416
Last Page
1423
Recommended Citation
Golubickis, M., Persson, L., Falbén, J., & Macrae, C. (2021) 'On stopping yourself: Self-relevance facilitates response inhibition', Attention, Perception and Psychophysics, 83(4), pp. 1416-1423. Springer: Available at: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-021-02248-7
