Horváth, K. 1, 2, 3 , Gergely, &. 2 , Guttengéber, A. 2 , Mikó, K. 2 , Solymosi, P. 2 , Nemeth, D. 3, 2, 4 & Janacsek, K. 2, 3
1 Doctoral School of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
2 Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
3 Brain, Memory and Language Research Group, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
4 Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Université de Lyon, France
Picking up statistical regularities is a fundamental ability that underlies the formation of automatic behaviors. Behavior change (rewiring) requires unlearning of old associations and learning of new ones. However, it is still unclear whether old associations can be completely erased or suppressed only. Here we aimed to directly test the role of inhibitory control in rewiring. Thirty-two healthy young adults completed a statistical learning task containing an alternating regularity in three sessions. In the Learning Phase, regularity A was acquired. In the Rewiring Phase, a partly overlapping regularity B was acquired: the probability of some associations changed, while others? remained the same. This rewiring task was combined with the Go/No-go paradigm: participants were asked to suppress some of their automatic responses to test the effect of inhibitory control on rewiring. In the Testing Phase, knowledge on both regularity A and B was tested. Results showed that acquiring new associations is more effective than unlearning old ones. Inhibitory control had a detrimental effect on both processes. Overall, knowledge on both regularities coexisted, highlighting the persistence of old associations. Knowledge moreover was flexibly expressed based on the context. Our study provides insight into the neurocognitive underpinnings of the rewiring of automatic behaviors.