Abstract:

Cognitive control is essential in conflict processing. Most related theories elucidated the mechanism via integrating both the enhancement of task-relevant stimuli and inhibition of task-irrelevant stimuli, which has been challenged by recent studies. We reviewed the major debates on whether enhancement or inhibition might be the mechanism and their empirical evidences, and then argued that conflict resolution mechanisms might not be constant, but depend on conflict situation and individual state. Future studies could pay more attention to reveal the influence factors of cognitive control, exploring cognitive processing strategies and doing cognitive training, which may benefit the intervention treatment of the cognitive function disorders.

Key words: cognitive control, conflict resolution, attention, enhancement, inhibition