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UPPS IMPULSE BEHAVIOR SCALE
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Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Date: 01-28-2013
last updated: 03-02-2022 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Script Copyright © 03-02-2022 Millisecond Software
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BACKGROUND INFO
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This script implements the original UPPS impulsive behavior scale described in:
Whiteside, S. P., & Lynam, D. R. (2001). The Five Factor Model and impulsivity: using a structural
model of personality to understand impulsivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 30(4), 669-689.
and made available by Dr. Lynam on:
* http://www1.psych.purdue.edu/~dlynam/uppspage.htm
German Translations of the items based on:
Keye, D., Wilhelm, O., & Oberauer, K. (2009). Structure and correlates of the German version of the Brief
UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scales. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 25(3), 175-185.
doi: 10.1027/1015-5759.25.3.175.
*Notes:
(1) Keye et al (2009, p.185) mention in a footnote that their translation for the item (q4)
"I generally like to see things through to the end. => Im Allgemeinen durchschaue ich Dinge gerne bis zum Ende."
is not a correct translation of the English item.
Millisecond Software (K. Borchert, German native) offers the following substitute
"4. Im Allgemeinen ziehe ich Dinge gerne bis zum Ende durch." (default) or as an alternative:
"4. Im Allgemeinen bringe ich Dinge gerne zu Ende."
This translation, however, is not tested. It can be easily changed if needed.
See radiobuttons.q4_PERS
(2) Other German translations availabe by:
Schmidt, R.E., Gay, P., d’Acremont, M., & Van der Linden, M. (2008).
A German adaptation of the UPPS impulsive behavior scale: Psychometric properties and factor structure.
Swiss Journal of Psychology, 67(2), 107–112.
Kämpfe, N., & Mitte, K. (2009). A German validation of the UPPS impulsive behavior scale:
Further evidence for a four-dimensional model of impulsivity.
European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 25(4), 252–259.
https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759.25.4.252
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OVERVIEW
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45 4-point Likert Questions regarding impulsive behavior
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DURATION
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the default set-up of the script takes appr. 3 minutes to complete
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DATA FILE INFORMATION
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The default data stored in the data files are:
(1) Raw data file: 'upps_german.iqdat'
date, time: date and time script was run with the current group/subjectnumber
subject, group, session: with the current subject/groupnumber/session id
build: the Inquisit build
q*_response: response given (in assigned values)
Scale: 1 ("Stimme<br>voll und ganz zu") - 4 (disagree strongly)
R = automatically reversed scored questions
q*_latency: how much time (in ms) the participant spent on the surveypage with this particular
question (the last time this particular surveypage was visited)
(2) Summary data file: 'upps_german_summary*.iqdat' (a separate file for each participant)
inquisit.version: Inquisit version run
computer.platform: the platform the script was run on (win/mac/ios/android)
startDate: date script was run
startTime: time script was started
subjectid: assigned subject id number
groupid: assigned group id number
sessionid: assigned session id number
elapsedTime: time it took to run script (in ms); measured from onset to offset of script
completed: 0 = script was not completed (prematurely aborted);
1 = script was completed (all conditions run)
Summarydata for each participant: file saves the scores for the
4 subscales (see section QUESTIONNAIRE SET-UP & SCORING) and totalscore
(responses are reversed scored if appropriate)
Higher Scores are indicative for higher impulsivity
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QUESTIONNAIRE SET-UP & SCORING
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According to Whiteside & Lynam (2001) impulsivity encompasses four personality facets that are
assessed in the UPPS impulse behavior scale:
the 45 questions are assigned to the following facets:
1) Urgency (URG): 2 (R), 6 (R), 10 (R), 14 (R), 18 (R), 24 (R), 28 (R), 32 (R), 36 (R), 41 (R), 43, 45 (R)
"measures an individual’s tendency to act “impulsively” under conditions of negative affect" *
2) (lack of) Premeditation (PREM): 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 23, 27, 31, 35, 39, 40.
"assesses an individual’s tendency to act without consideration of the potential consequences of the behavior" *
3) (lack of) Perseverance (PERS): 4, 8 (R), 12, 16, 20, 22, 26, 30, 34, 38 (R)
"assesses an individual’s tendency to give up in the face of boredom, fatigue, or frustration." *
4) Sensation Seeking (SS): 3 (R), 7 (R), 11 (R), 15 (R), 19 (R), 21 (R), 25 (R), 29 (R), 33 (R), 37 (R), 42 (R), 44 (R)
"refers to an individual’s interest in and tendency to pursue activities that are exciting and novel" *
(R) = reversed scoring
* = see web site above
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EDITABLE CODE
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check below for (relatively) easily editable parameters, stimuli, instructions etc.
Keep in mind that you can use this script as a template and therefore always "mess" with the entire code
to further customize your experiment.
