impulsivity

English

Etymology

Etymology tree
English impulsive
Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-ts
Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂tsder.
Latin -itās
Old French -itebor.
Middle English -ite
English -ity
English impulsivity

    From impulsive + -ity.

    Noun

    impulsivity (usually uncountable, plural impulsivities)

    1. The quality of being impulsive, impulsiveness; inclination to act on impulse rather than thought.
      Synonym: impulsiveness
      • 2020, Joseph Cesario, David J. Johnson, Heather L. Eisthen, “Your Brain Is Not an Onion With a Tiny Reptile Inside”, in Current Directions in Psychological Science, volume 29, number 3:
        In reliable environments, waiting to eat a second marshmallow is likely to be beneficial. However, in environments in which rewards are uncertain, such as when experimenters are unreliable, eating the single marshmallow right away may be beneficial. Thus, impulsivity can be understood as an adaptive response to the contingencies present in an unstable environment rather than a moral failure in which animalistic drives overwhelm human rationality.

    Translations

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