Intoxicated or sober, cognitive control is imperfect in most people. Thus, the ability to monitor ongoing performance and make adjustments when necessary is a critical, adaptive function of the information processing system (see Holroyd & Coles, 2002). Recent theoretical models have emphasized the importance of conflict monitoring and performance adjustment to ensure adequate goal-directed performance (e.g., Botvinick et al., 2001; Braver, 2012; Jacoby, Jennings, & Hay, 1996; Meyer & Kieras, 1997). In situations involving the presence of conflicting response possibilities (i.e., where some stimulus features elicit a response that conflicts with the goal-directed response), control is needed to maintain attention on task goals, to focus attention on task-relevant stimulus features and ignore task-irrelevant features, and to bias motor responding in favor of the correct response.
