Self-reported impulsivity does not predict response caution

Hedge, Craig ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6145-3319, Powell, Georgina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6793-0446, Bompas, Aline ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6957-2694 and Sumner, Petroc ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0536-0510 2020. Self-reported impulsivity does not predict response caution. Personality and Individual Differences 167 , 110257. 10.1016/j.paid.2020.110257

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Abstract

The broad construct of impulsivity is one that spans both personality and cognitive ability. Despite a common overarching construct, previous research has found no relationship between self-report measures of impulsivity and people's ability to inhibit pre-potent responses. Here, we use evidence accumulation models of choice reaction time tasks to extract a measure of “response caution” (boundary separation) and examine whether this correlates with self-reported impulsivity as measured by the UPPS-P questionnaire. Response caution reflects whether an individual makes decisions based on more (favouring accuracy) or less (favouring speed) evidence. We reasoned that this strategic dimension of behaviour is conceptually closer to the tendencies that self-report impulsivity measures probe than what is traditional measured by inhibition tasks. In a meta-analysis of five datasets (total N = 296), encompassing 19 correlations per subscale, we observe no evidence that response caution correlates with self-reported impulsivity. Average correlations between response caution and UPPS-P subscales ranged from rho = −0.02 to −0.04. While the construct of response caution has demonstrated value in understanding individual differences in cognition, brain functioning and aging; the factors underlying what has been called “impulsive information processing” appear to be distinct from the concept of impulsivity derived from self-report.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC)
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0191-8869
Funders:	Wellcome Trust, ESRC
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	3 August 2020
Date of Acceptance:	11 July 2020
Last Modified:	10 May 2023 20:35
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/133934

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