Inhibitory control test

An inhibitory control test measures an individual's ability to override their natural, habitual, or dominant behavioral response (sometimes called a "prepotent response") to a stimulus in order to implement more adaptive goal-oriented behaviors. In simple terms, inhibitory control (also known as response inhibition) is the process of altering one's learned behavioral responses in a way that makes it easier to complete a particular goal.Self-control is an important aspect of inhibitory control.

Inhibitory control is a key component of cognitive control; inhibitory control is impaired in both addiction and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In healthy adults and ADHD individuals, inhibitory control improves over the short term with low (therapeutic) doses of methylphenidate or amphetamine. Inhibitory control may also be improved over the long-term via consistent aerobic exercise.

The prefrontal cortex, caudate nucleus, and subthalamic nucleus mediate aspects of inhibitory control.

Females tend to have a greater basal capacity to exert inhibitory control over undesired or habitual behaviors than males and respond differently to modulatory environmental contextual factors. For example, listening to music tends to significantly improve the rate of response inhibition in females, but reduce the rate of response inhibition in males.

Psychological tests which measure inhibitory control include the Stroop task, go/no-go task, Simon task, Flanker task, antisaccade tasks, delay of gratification tasks, and stop-signal tasks.

...
Wikipedia