Reflection–impulsivity, personality and performance: a psychometric and validity study of the Matching Familiar Figures Test in detoxified alcoholics

Impulsiveness is frequently discussed in the context of alcoholism and self-rating questionnaires are widely used to measure it. While probes of behavior are utilized very rarely in alcoholics they may be especially suitable for measuring impulsivity within a clinical context. In this study we used the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT), a behavioral test to investigate the reflection–impulsivity dimension. Examined were 161 detoxified patients who were suffering from alcohol dependence but who otherwise had no other comorbid psychiatric disorders. The patients were assigned numerous performance tests and personality questionnaires to investigate the relationship between the reflection–impulsivity-classification in the MFFT, clinical data as related to alcoholism, and self-rated personality and performance measures. We found no evidence for a relationship between clinical data as related to alcoholism and reflection–impulsivity. MFFT-reflective alcoholics were more intelligent, their concentration ability was higher, and they reacted faster in reaction time tasks than MFFT-impulsives. These results support authors who consider the MFFT to be primarily an ability test. However, the traditional classification depends more strongly on individual variability in performance than the item-based classification proposed here. The most interesting personality difference between MFFT-reflectives and MFFT-impulsives was the difference in Novelty Seeking (NS). NS scores were significantly higher among MFFT-impulsives compared to MFFT-reflectives. Additionally, a logistic regression analysis identified the NS-subscore “Impulsiveness vs. Reflection” as a significant predictor of the MFFT-classification. These results confirm the hypothesis that the MFFT is useful as an objective behavioral measurement tool for a certain cognitive aspect of impulsivity (quick, intuitive decision vs. carefully considered decision). However, our analysis also affirms that this aspect of impulsivity is closely linked to intelligence.