498 v. AFFECTI vE PROCESSES
ity, Gray and McNaughton (1982) were, in 
effect positing that impulsivity follows pure -
ly from wanting an incentive. However, im -
pulsive action sometimes depends on a lack 
of threat sensitivity. Impulsive action (and its 
absence) also often depends on the system 
that manages self-  control. If that system is 
very responsive, impulsivity (of any sort) is 
less likely.
One important direction for future work 
will be to determine more precisely the 
roles that are played by approach sensitiv -
ity and the function of self-  control in creat -
ing greater versus lesser impulsivity (Carver, 
Johnson, & Joormann, 2008); that is, cog -
nitive control may help override tendencies 
toward either extremely blunted BAS or 
extremely reactive BAS. This would imply 
that a person who tends to have either a pas -
sive disengagement (in the case of low BAS 
sensitivity) or an overly reactive tendency to 
seek rewards (in the case of high BAS sensi -
tivity) is likely to experience less difficulty if 
he or she is able to engage cognitive control 
to regulate affect, cognition, and behavior. 
Relatively few studies to date have consid -
ered how variations in these two dimensions 
may combine to predict outcomes. We see 
this as a particularly promising direction for 
future research.
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