Although externalizing psychopathology has been linked to deficits in cognitive control, the cognitive processes underlying this association are unclear. Here, we provide a theoretical account of how research on cognitive processes can help to integrate and distinguish personality and psychopathology. We then apply this account to connect the two major subcomponents of externalizing, Antagonism and Disinhibition, with specific control processes using a battery of inhibitory control tasks and corresponding computational modeling. Participants (final N = 104) completed the flanker, go/no-go, and recent probes tasks, as well as normal and maladaptive personality inventories and measures of psychological distress. We fit participants' task behavior using a hierarchical drift diffusion model (DDM) to decompose their responses into specific cognitive processes. Using multilevel structural equation models, we found that Antagonism was associated with faster RTs on the flanker task and lower accuracy on flanker and go/no-go tasks. These results were complemented by DDM parameter associations: Antagonism was linked to decreased threshold and drift rate parameter estimates in the flanker task and a decreased drift rate on no-go trials. Altogether, our findings indicate that Antagonism is associated with specific impairments in fast (sub-second) inhibitory control processes involved in withholding prepared/prepotent responses and filtering distracting information. Disinhibition and momentary distress, however, were not associated with task performance.

中文翻译：

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使用漂移扩散模型在外化精神病理学中解开认知过程：对抗，但不是去抑制，与认知控制不佳有关

尽管外化精神病理学与认知控制缺陷有关，但这种关联背后的认知过程尚不清楚。在这里，我们提供了关于认知过程研究如何帮助整合和区分人格和精神病理学的理论解释。然后，我们应用此帐户将外部化、拮抗和去抑制的两个主要子组件与使用一组抑制控制任务和相应计算建模的特定控制过程联系起来。参与者（最后N = 104) 完成了侧卫、走/不走和最近的探测任务，以及正常和适应不良的人格清单和心理困扰的测量。我们使用分层漂移扩散模型 (DDM) 拟合参与者的任务行为，将他们的反应分解为特定的认知过程。使用多级结构方程模型，我们发现对抗与侧卫任务中更快的 RT 以及侧卫和通过/不通过任务的较低准确度相关。这些结果得到了 DDM 参数关联的补充：拮抗与侧卫任务中阈值和漂移率参数估计的降低以及禁止试验中漂移率的降低有关。共，我们的研究结果表明，拮抗与快速（亚秒级）抑制控制过程中的特定损伤有关，这些过程涉及抑制准备好的/强效反应和过滤分散注意力的信息。然而，去抑制和短暂的痛苦与任务表现无关。