BAS and BIS

DTI-sagittal-fibers by Thomas Schultz – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Annotated Links

BAS, BIS and the Highly Sensitive Person Summarizes theory and research on the BIS and the BAS and how these two systems may account for the experience of people who are particularly sensitive to sensory input.

Chart by William Revelle, Northwestern University, originally given as a talk but later published as Baddeley, A. & Weiskrantz, L. (Eds.) (1993). Attention: selection, awareness and control: A tribute to Donald Broadbent. Oxford. Oxford University Press. pp 346-373 (see the full talk here)

How to Find the Best Workout for Your Personality By taking account of a person’s BAS and BIS or traits like introversion, extroversion, and neuroticism, people can find a workout which best matches their personality leading to long term habits of exercise. Or, in the words of one of the researchers, Physical activity is just another expression of our personal preferences and style.

Overview of BAS from Some People Are the Same: The Study of Individual Differences and Similarities. by William Revelle, Northwestern University, prepared as a chapter for the Annual Review of Psychology, 1995.

Overview of BIS from Some People Are the Same: The Study of Individual Differences and Similarities. by William Revelle, Northwestern University, prepared as a chapter for the Annual Review of Psychology, 1995.

Assignments, Exercises, and Activities

Electronic Texts

Carver & White (1994) Carver, C. S., & White, T. L. (1994). Behavioral inhibition, behavioral activation, and affective responses to impending reward and punishment: The BIS/BAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 319-333.

Examples and Illustrations

Lecture Notes

Slide Presentations

Tests, Measures, and Scales

BIS and BAS Scales from Carver, C. S., & White, T. L. (1994). Behavioral inhibition, behavioral activation, and affective responses to impending reward and punishment: The BIS/BAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 319-333. For the Spanish translation, click here and scroll down. For the French translation click here.

The Highly Sensitive Person: A Self-test Based on the work of Elaine Aron, this self-test helps people to see if they are one of the 15-20% of the population who are particularly sensitive to sensory input related to BAS and BIS functioning.

Multimedia Resources