Surprise: A More Realistic Framework for Studying Action Stopping?

Abstract

Motor inhibition enables rapid action stopping, even post initiation. When action stopping is anticipated (such as in laboratory stopping tasks), inhibition is engaged proactively. Such proactive inhibition changes the physiological implementation of action stopping. However, many real-world action-stopping scenarios involve little proactive inhibition. To investigate purely reactive inhibition, researchers need a different paradigm: studying surprise.