Modeling the temporal dynamics of cognitive control

Cognitive control is the process that enables goal-directed behavior when it conflicts with habitual and automatic actions triggered by the environment. Resolving this conflict requires sufficient time to allow goal-directed processing to override habitual responses. We explore a recent computational account of this process that proposes that the latency of habitual and goal-directed response preparation shapes the temporal dynamics of performance in conflict resolution tasks. Across multiple experiments, we show that: (1) The response preparation model (RPM) can accurately account for behavior in conflict resolution tasks; (2) Parameters estimated from forced-response data generalize to predict performance in free response time (RT) tasks; (3) This model can uncover and dissociate distinct forms of cognitive control adjustment; (4) The RPM demonstrates strong parameter recovery; and (5) The RPM leads to qualitatively different inferences than an evidence accumulation model for conflict resolution tasks extended for use with forced-response data. Together, these findings highlight that modeling the temporal dynamics of conflict resolution can offer a powerful approach for understanding mechanisms of cognitive control.