Non-decision time: the elephant in the executive control room

Statham, Heather, Schmid, Phil, Sumner, Petroc ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0536-0510 and Bompas, Aline ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6957-2694 2026. Non-decision time: the elephant in the executive control room. eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd. 10.7554/eLife.111819.1

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Abstract

Response inhibition is seen as a key facet of executive control, investigated in thousands of studies across psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience. It is most frequently studied using the stop-task, and its main outcome measure, the stop-signal reaction time (SSRT), is overwhelmingly interpreted as indicating top-down inhibitory ability or speed. Here we provide converging evidence that undermines this central assumption, from reanalyses of archival datasets and a novel preregistered study. We find that low-level visuo-motor delays account for 2/3rds of manual SSRT duration and 40% of its individual differences, and predictably affect SSRT when manipulated. Sensory and motor contributions must be ruled out before linking SSRT results to inhibition or cognition. We evaluate a method for doing so, then introduce and evaluate a new measure, the selective stopping delay, that factors out visuomotor delays and captures the original aim of the SSRT to measure how fast response inhibition can be deployed.

Item Type:	Working paper
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Psychology
Publisher:	eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Last Modified:	25 Sep 2026 11:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/189801

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