Mapping self-reported to behavioral impulsiveness: the role of task parameters.

Abstract

Despite being regarded as indicators of a common psychological capacity, behavioral and self-reported measures of impulsiveness have been found to barely correlate with each other. Acknowledging the construct's multidimensional nature, the present study set out to map dissociable components of behavioral self-control (delay discounting, response inhibition) onto lower-order facets of self-reported impulsiveness. In addition, we examined whether the relationship between response inhibition and self-reported impulsiveness depends on the balance between facilitative and interfering priming processes involved in a laboratory task. In two consecutive studies, 185 participants completed laboratory self-control tasks as well as self-report questionnaires designed to measure facets of impulsiveness. Correlational analyses revealed an association between subscales of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) and response inhibition in a go/no-go paradigm involving simultaneously presented task-irrelevant distractors. This association vanished when an onset asynchrony between distractor and target stimuli was introduced. Previous findings regarding correlations between BIS subscales and delay discounting or intra-individual response variability could not be replicated. Results indicate that the relationship between response inhibition and self-reported impulsiveness critically varies as a function of subtle task parameters. Focusing on these procedural details and the multidimensionality of self-reported impulsiveness might allow for a more differentiated analysis of the convergent validity of self-control measures.