(Individual differences) Hancock et al Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
1
Q

What is psychopathy?

A

-A neuropsychiatric disorder marked by deficient emotional responses, lack of empathy and poor behavioural controls, commonly resulting in persistent antisocial deviance and criminal behaviour

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is the background theory?

A

-There is a relationship between language and thought
-Various views fall into 4 main categories: thought is dependent on and reflects thoughts, thought and language are initially separate activities but become joined, language and thought are one and the same
-Psychopaths have specific combinations of cognitive, social and emotional characteristics, differentiating them from general pop
-underlying cognitive and emotional processes can be revealed through subtle patterns in word choice
-quantitative word counts can be used as a tool in identification and examination of abnormal psychological processes
- psychopathy may reflect in idiosyncratic linguistic styles

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Background to the study?

A

-There has been little examination of speech associated with psychopaths who comprise about 1% of the pop
-Psychopaths have been seen to exhibit a selfish orientation and profound emotional deficit
-Researchers have found that the psychopaths diminished capability for neural sensibility has biological underpinnings
-Psychopaths found to have no intellectual deficit
-Previous studies found psychopaths’ language is less cohesive than non-psychopaths

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Aim(s)?

A

-To examine how features of language are used in crime narratives by psychopaths

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Method?

A

-Self report
-Research analysed transcripts of interviews using statistical text analysis
-

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Sample?

A

-52 male murderers
-Recruited by volunteer sampling, classified as either psychopaths or non-psychopaths (control)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Results?

A

Psychopaths:
-Were more likely to describe cause and effect relationships when describing their crime
-Used twice as much language relating to basic psychological and self preservation needs
-Past tense and psychologically distant language

Control group:
-Used language relating to social needs rather than basic needs

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Conclusion?

A

-Psychopaths use language in fundamentally different ways from non-psychopaths, with less focus on emotion and greater emphasis on meeting basic needs

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly