Hancock's study Flashcards
What was the aim of Hancock’s study?
To investigate whether Psychopaths use language in ways that are different from how non-psychopaths use language (such that it might be possible to detect psychopathy from how a person speaks)
What was the sample of Hancock’s study?
52 males being held in prison in Canada for murder
14 were classed as psychopaths (a score of 25 on the PCL-R )
38 were classed as non-psychopaths
What was the procedure of Hancock’s study?
All participants interviewed individually and asked to describe what happened during the crime - interviews all followed the step wise approach
These interviews were then typed up as transcripts and subjected to two forms of computer based analysis
What were the two forms of computer based analysis used in the procedure of Hancock’s study?
Wmatirx - a program that analysed the whole ‘corpus’ of all 14 psychopath transcripts and compared this against the whole ‘corpus’ of all 38 non-psychopath transcripts - analysed the words used as well as tense
DAL - dictionary of affect in Language - applied to each transcript individually, assessing the pleasantness and intensity of emotional language used
What were the three aims of Hancock’s study?
Psychopaths would use more subordinating conjunctions (e.g. because, since, as, so that)
Would their accounts contain more semantic references to food, drink clothing, sex and resources and fewer reflecting higher level needs such as love, family and resources
Emotional deficit would lead to a higher rate of past tense verbs, more disfluencies and fewer and less intense emotional words
Why did Hancock think psychopaths would use more subordinating conjunctions?
They appear to view the world and others instrumentally (for their own use) - subordinating conjunctions associated with cause and effect statements and would suggest offenders whose crimes are pre-meditated and motivated by achieving an external goal -therefore open to the use of casually framed explanatory language
Why did Hancock think psychopaths would use more semantic references to food, drink, clothing, sex and resources and fewer semantic references reflecting higher level needs?
Satisfying their basic physiological and material needs matters more to psychopaths than satisfying higher level needs for meaningful relationships, spirituality or self esteem
Why did Hancock think psychopaths would use a higher rate of past tense verbs, more disfluencies and fewer and less intense emotional words
The exhibit a generalised deficit in their ability to experience emotions themselves and to recognise the emotions that other people are feeling
More disfluencies - increased cognitive load placed on them by trying to describe what happened in a manner that appears appropriate
Past tense - increased psychological distance from and lack of personal responsibility for the crime
Outline the results of Hancock’s study
No significant difference in words per account
Instrumental language analysis - psychopaths produced significantly more subordinating conjunctions (1.82%) than non-psychopaths (1.54%) - this suggests a more casual view
Hierarchy of needs analysis - psychopaths used more words relating to basic needs than non-psychopaths. Non-psychopaths used significantly more words connected to higher needs
Emotional expression in language - psychopaths used 33% more disfluencies
Significantly higher % of verbs in past tense used by psychopaths
Negative correlation found between factor 1 scores on the DAL and and both the pleasantness and intensity of emotional language used by participants
What were the conclusions of Hancock’s study?
Psychopaths describe powerful emotional events (their crimes) in a rational but more primitive way compared to others. Compared to non-psychopaths, psychopaths:
Tend to view their crimes as the logical outcome of a plan
Are more likely to focus on their own basic physiological needs
Are overall less emotional and less positive in their speech
Are more emotionally detached from their crimes
How did Hancock’s study link to the psychodynamic area?
Unconscious mind - found stylistic differences in how psychopaths use language which he says is out of their conscious control
Psychological distancing from their crime reflected in the fact that psychopaths used higher percentage of past tense verbs
Displacement could also be seen as an ego defence mechanism - as prison restricts their ability to thrill seeking drives, they use less emotionally pleasant language
Id ego and superego - psychopaths focus on basic meds which are linked to the desires of the id - other research is referred to that suggests that psychopaths are seen to be stuck in the lowest stage of ego development
How does Hancock’s study link to the key theme of ‘measuring differences’.
Measuring differences between people by analysing the language of psychopaths vs non-psychopaths, in a quantative way, using the Wmatrix and DAL - suggests psychopaths. Use language in a measurably different way to non-psychopaths
How has Hancock’s study affected our understanding of individual diversity?
Has changed - Hancock looking at differences in psychopathy rather than IQ and how that might be revealed by revealed by language used specifically
Hasn’t - still has issues with self report
How has Hancock’s study affected our understanding of social diversity?
Hasn’t - all still male In both studies
How has Hancock’s study affected our understanding of cultural diversity?
Has changed - does teach us about participants from another country or culture - Canada vs US
Hasn’t - a narrower range of ethnic backgrounds as Gould uses and is just limited to prisons and both focused on western cultures
