SELF-REPORTED IMPULSIVITY IS CORRELATED WITH LABORATORY-MEASURED ESCAPE BEHAVIOR

Aggression has been previously correlated with impulsive personality. In the present study, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) scores of 40 m ale controls aged 15-40 years were related to the frequency of free-op erant aggressive and escape responses toward a fictitious antagonist. Participants earned ''points'' worth money with repeated button presse s on a fixed-ratio schedule and were provoked by the periodic subtract ion of a point. These subtractions were blamed on the behavior of a (f ictitious) other participant, and aggressive responses (presses of a s eparate button) were defined as those emitted by the participant with an intent to subtract earnings from the other (fictitious) participant . BIS scores were not correlated with frequency of point-subtracting ( aggressive) responses to the point subtractions, but they were correla ted with the frequency of escape responses on a third button, which th e participant was told would protect his points from subtraction for a n unspecified period of time. These results suggest that among normal controls, impulsivity might be characterized by some sensitivity to av ersive stimuli.