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Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11)3

Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) Test

This brief self-report, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) Test, takes about 3 minutes and includes 14 questions. Your result outlines patterns in planning, attention, rapid action, and overall impulse control, helping you reflect on decision-making habits and recognize where greater pause or structure may be useful.

Questions: 143 minutes

Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) Test: agreement scale card

October 2, 2025October 2, 2025Material has been updatedOctober 2, 2025Material has been published

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Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

Non-Planning ImpulsivenessNPI

Measures the tendency to act without planning ahead or considering consequences.

example score6/16

6/16More plannedexample score

4 – 6More planned

7 – 10Mixed planning

11 – 16Less planned

A score of 6 falls in the More planned range, suggesting relatively lower non-planning impulsivity and a greater tendency to think through actions before acting.

Attentional ImpulsivenessAI

Assesses how well a person can sustain attention and resist distraction during tasks.

example score8/16

8/16Moderateexample score

4 – 6Low

7 – 9Moderate

10 – 16High

A score of 8 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting occasional distractibility and some difficulty maintaining sustained focus.

Motor ImpulsivenessMI

Motor impulsivity measures a tendency to act quickly and rashly without pausing to think through actions.

example score20/24

20/24Highexample score

6 – 9Low

10 – 14Moderate

15 – 24High

A score of 20 falls in the High range, suggesting a stronger tendency toward quick, unplanned actions and reduced behavioral restraint.

ImpulsivityI

This scale measures a person’s overall tendency to act quickly and without sufficient self-control or forethought.

example score28/56

28/56Moderate impulsivityexample score

14 – 22Low impulsivity

23 – 30Moderate impulsivity

31 – 56High impulsivity

A score of 28 falls in the Moderate impulsivity range, suggesting occasional unplanned or rapid decisions that may benefit from extra pause and checking consequences in demanding situations.

just completed the test

DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

People struggling with self-control

42%OF USERS

They take it to understand whether impulsive actions, distractibility, or poor planning are driving mistakes and risky choices.

Therapy and coaching clients

34%OF USERS

They use it with a specialist to pinpoint which kind of impulsivity to target and to track changes over time.

Researchers and clinicians

24%OF USERS

They administer it as a quick, standardized measure of impulsivity for assessment, screening, or study protocols.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Shaded area — where most people score

Dot — the average

You — your score lands on each curve after the test— your score, after the test

Impulsiveness of planningIop

You?

Average8.4

Typical rangeTypical6.5 – 10.4

Possible4 – 16

Impulsivity of AttentionIoA

You?

Average8.3

Typical rangeTypical6.7 – 9.9

Possible4 – 16

Motor impulsivityMi

You?

Average11.8

Typical rangeTypical9.3 – 14.4

Possible6 – 24

Impulsivity ScaleIS

You?

Average32.1

Typical rangeTypical24.7 – 39.5

Possible14 – 56

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

- Rarely or never
- Occasionally
- Often
- Always or almost always
- Rarely or never
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always or almost always
- Rarely or never
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always or almost always

These are 3 of the 14 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) Test - Description and methodology of the test

impulsivity

People who want to examine quick decisions, distractibility, restlessness, or limited forethought can use the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) Test as a structured self-reflection exercise. It is intended for people interested in everyday patterns of attention, planning, and action, especially when they want a more differentiated profile than a single overall impression. As an impulsivity test, it supports focused reflection on habits that may benefit from added pause or structure.

What This Assessment Explores

Items cover acting before consequences, distraction, rapid action, planning, speech, spending, restlessness, extraneous or off-task thoughts, and future orientation.

Four dimensions organize the result from this Barratt impulsiveness questionnaire:

Non-Planning Impulsiveness (4–16) measures limited planning and consequence-awareness; higher values may indicate spontaneity and less strategic thinking. More planned 4–6; Mixed planning 7–10; Less planned 11–16.
Attentional Impulsiveness (4–16) measures distractibility and focus difficulty; higher values may indicate concentration problems. Low 4–6; Moderate 7–9; High 10–16.
Motor Impulsiveness (6–24) measures spur-of-the-moment action and reduced behavioral control; higher values may indicate rapid responding. Low 6–9; Moderate 10–14; High 15–24.
Impulsivity (14–56) measures rapid, unconsidered behavior and impulse-control difficulty. Low impulsivity 14–22; Moderate impulsivity 23–30; High impulsivity 31–56.

The profile shows whether tendencies cluster in planning, attention, action, or overall impulse control. Higher scores reflect more of that tendency, not a fixed identity.

Methodology and Scientific Basis

Each statement uses four ordered options from Rarely or never to Always or almost always, with intermediate choices such as Occasionally, Sometimes, and Often. The items ask about typical attention, thought, movement, planning, and decisions.

Methodologically, this BIS-11 assessment is conceptually consistent with the published Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11, an instrument examined through factor analysis. It is not a full reproduction: this online questionnaire has its own items, ranges, and result bands. A 2009 review examined the measure’s development, and a 2013 community-sample reassessment tested its factor pattern.

Responses combine into the displayed results, but no point-by-point meaning is assigned here to an individual answer. The bands are this questionnaire’s reporting framework, not population norms or diagnostic cutoffs, and this online format is not presented as a standardized version of the published measure.

Self-report results can shift with current circumstances, recall, self-awareness, and impression management. They describe reported tendencies at completion and cannot by themselves establish impairment or explain its cause.

Author: Ernest S. Barratt

Literature:

Patton, J. H., Stanford, M. S., & Barratt, E. S. (1995). Factor structure of the Barratt impulsiveness scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51(6), 768–774. 10.1002/1097-4679%28199511%2951%3A6%3C768%3A%3AAID-JCLP2270510607%3E3.0.CO%3B2-1
Stanford, M. S., Mathias, C. W., Dougherty, D. M., Lake, S. L., Anderson, N. E., & Patton, J. H. (2009). Fifty years of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale: An update and review. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(5), 385–395. 10.1016/j.paid.2009.04.008
Reise, S. P., Moore, T. M., Sabb, F. W., Brown, A. K., & London, E. D. (2013). The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale–11: Reassessment of its structure in a community sample. Psychological Assessment, 25(2), 631–642. 10.1037/a0032161

Updated: 2025-10-02