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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 21, 2026

Three Laboratory Procedures for Assessing Different Manifestations of Impulsivity in Rats

Three Laboratory Procedures for Assessing Different Manifestations of Impulsivity in Rats

Published on: March 17, 2019

Impulsivity and rapid decision-making for reward.

Stephanie Burnett Heyes¹, Robert J Adam, Maren Urner

¹Institute of Neurology and Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London London, UK.

Frontiers in Psychology

|June 5, 2012

Summary

Impulsivity, or acting without deliberation, was measured using a novel task. Higher "lack of premeditation" scores correlated with better performance on this task, suggesting a link between rapid decision-making and impulsivity.

Keywords:

age decision-making impulsivity reaction time reward risk

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Behavioral Science

Background:

Impulsivity is a complex trait associated with various brain disorders.
Measuring impulsivity is challenging due to its multifaceted nature and potential functional benefits.
Existing tasks often fail to capture rapid decision-making under time pressure for rewards.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate rapid decision-making in pursuit of time-sensitive rewards.
To examine the relationship between self-reported impulsivity and performance on a novel task.
To explore age-related changes in rapid, risk-taking behavior.

Main Methods:

59 adults (aged 18-79) completed a manual "Traffic Light" task.
Behavioral variables indexing rapid anticipatory responding were analyzed.
Correlation with the "lack of premeditation" subscale of the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale was assessed.
Age-related effects were analyzed, controlling for timing judgment abilities.

Main Results:

Rapid anticipatory responding on the task correlated with higher "lack of premeditation" scores.
Participants with higher scores on this impulsivity measure performed better on the task.
Anticipatory behavior significantly decreased with age, even after controlling for timing perception.

Conclusions:

The "Traffic Light" task offers a parametric method to assess rapid decision-making under risk and time pressure.
This task may provide insights into a specific facet of impulsivity relevant to health and disease.
Age-related declines in rapid, reward-seeking behavior were observed.