Abnormal psychology and criminal behaviour Flashcards
Psychopathy:
What are the two types of primary psychopaths?
Criminal psychopath: meets criteria
Subclinical psychopath: (successful) doesn’t engage in criminal activity
Psychopathy:
What are primary psychopaths?
possess: biological, cognitive, and emotional differences from the general criminal population
Not all are criminal: those who are not maybe CEO’s, politicians
Label: individuals who meet the cut-off score on the psychopathy test
Psychopathy:
The testing instrument PCL-R (Not in DSM-5, psychopathy checklist revised), how do they test?
Scoring: 0= absent, 1= inconsistent, 2= consistently present (scores range from 0-40)
Cut off: 30 or above, psychopath 25-33 often used
Below 21: Non- psychopath
In-between: psychopathic traits
Psychopathy:
Who uses the PCL-R and what info do they gather?
Used by trained pros
Info gathered from: self-report (2.5h interview), interviews with relatives, observations (body language), court and arrest records
Hare’s questionnaire(diagnosis), can only be used on individuals 25years +, Factor 1: Personality aggressive narcissism
Factor 1: Lack of remorse: they may pretend they do, they try to justify, Shallow affect: don’t feel a range of emotions, neutral, know how to fake it
Psychopathy:
What are other traits of psychopaths?
They are completely self-involved
They do not experience empathy
Mimic traits and behaviors that they observe to be preferred by their victims
No loyalty to any person, group, organization
Psychopathy:
Why is the testing instrument used?
risk-assessment for offenders: aggravating factor in sentencing, due to high recidivism of psychopaths
Universal measurement promotes research and discourse between mental health professionals
Cross culturally validated
Psychopathy:
Case example: Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr. “the great imposter”
Motive: power
Psych uni prof
becomes lawyer
he reads about dr.cyr who is a surgeon
he gets hired as a surgeon for the military (Navy) Korean war
16 soldiers wounded, he saves them all
then faked his death
Psychopathy:
Differences between a psychopath and a sociopath
Psychopath: must lack remorse, calculated (most of the time), shallow emotions, pleasant exterior (deceptive though), and instrumental aggression, psychopathy focuses on emotional behavior
Sociopath: may lack remorse, impulsive (most of the time), emotional: irritable and angry, constantly in conflict with society, reactive aggression, APD is focused on behavior
Psychopathy:
Are all psychopaths sociopaths?
Yes, goes from narcissism, sociopath to psychopaths
Psychopathy:
Why is Kuklinski, not a psychopath?
Shows remorse/guilt/empathy, regrets some of his crimes, and loyalty: loves his family
Psychopathy:
Female psychopaths, characteristics to diagnose
Deception/manipulation, relational aggression (jealousy, self-harm), use of sexuality to obtain what they want, more likely to have co-morbid disorders, not overly as grandiose as males
Psychopathy:
PCL-R: Arias (6)
GLSPMS
Grandiosity: “I didn’t know you were a hater”
Lack of remorse: Does not apologize for murder
Shallow affect: appears calm, no emotion
Pathological liar: lies about Travis
Manipulation: pretends to care about her family
Superficial charm: small talk w/reporter
Psychopathy:
PCL-R: Dennis Radar (serial killer)
Shallow affect: shows no emotion (smiles)
Lack of empathy: saying that the victim was “a little upset”
Lack of remorse: never apologizes
Superficial charm: polite
Grandiosity: says he’s a serial killer (proud of it)
Psychopathy:
What is the “low fear hypothesis”
The hypothesis states that a psychopath does not experience sufficient fear to promote conditioning or avoidance of learning
Psychopathy:
What is the amygdala responsible for and how does it relate to psychopaths?
Amygdala: fear, anger, disgust, etc.
The psychopath has a smaller amygdala (25% less), they can’t experience fear
Psychopathy:
How is the pre-frontal cortex in psychopaths and sociopaths?
Not fully functional, very impulsive, emotional breaks of the brain, screens messages from the amygdala, impulse control, mood modulating
Sociopath amygdala shuts down due to abuse
Psychopathy:
Emotion processing tasks, picture test and word test, explain
Picture test: 2 neutral pics -> no reaction in the amygdala in either group, 3rd pic –> bloody ankle reaction in non-psych, no reaction in psych
Word test: showing them words and amygdala reacts to emotional words in non-psych
Psychopathy:
What are some other emotion processing tasks?
Startle reflex (lacks): others have it
Yawning: especially contagious with people you share an emotional connection with
Interpreting facial and vocal expressions: cant detect sad, mad, disgust on people’s faces
Mood Disorders II PPD & PPP:
Peripartum mood disorders on a continuum
“Baby-blues then post-partum depression then PPP
Mood Disorders II PPD & PPP:
What are some stigmas associated with motherhood?
work/life balance, “perfect mom” propagated by social media, parenting choices, age: over 35 is considered: advanced maternal age, body image: a lot of pressure on moms to lose belly weight, mental health
Mood Disorders II PPD & PPP:
How common are these disorders?
50% to 80% of women experience “baby blues” within the first two weeks
12% to 15% experience PPD
0.1% to 0.2% experience peripartum psychosis (PPP), first 4 weeks following delivery
Mood Disorders II PPD & PPP:
What are the postpartum blues characteristics?
Mild mood swings: irritability, tearfulness, crying spells, anxiety, decreased concentration, insomnia
Occur within 2-3 days of delivery
Symptoms peak on 4th or 5th postpartum day
Symptoms resolve within 2 weeks
Symptoms do not interfere with caring for the newborn
Mood Disorders II PPD & PPP:
What are the causes of PPD? (4)
Previous MDD episodes, hormonal changes, traumatic delivery, situational stressors (financial problems, marital conflict)
