“Now you see me, now you don’t”: The assessment of impulsivity

In the neuropsychological literature, there is a debate concerning whether neuropsychological tests necessarily are better means for assessing impulsivity than are trait measures. Yet, there is an inherent problem in looking at these test results: Cognitive impulsivity (i.e. impulsive performance on a standard task, assessed looking at the speed-accuracy trade-off in the data) might only sometimes be indicative of trait impulsivity, and trait impulsivity might also only sometimes be indicative of cognitive impulsivity. There is, however, no complete overlap. This is the conclusion drawn from two studies reported in this paper. One option is to first look at those participants scoring high on trait impulsivity, and then to interpret their performance on neuropsychological tests in terms of this. Poor performance for them is most likely indicative of impulsive performance. There is, however, another option: That individuals scoring high on trait impulsivity implement this impulsivity in their performance, sometimes performing impulsively, and sometimes not. A plausible solution is to incorporate both self-report and analysis of performance in both neuropsychological assessment and personality research.