Individual differences - Hancock Flashcards
What percentage of the general population are psychopaths?
1%
Describe psychopathy:
people who exhibit a wholly selfish orientation and profound emotional deficit
What is the biological explanation for psychopathy?
Structural and functional abnormalities of the brain, including reduced grey matter in frontal and temporal areas
What was the aim of the study?
to examine the language characteristics of psychopaths
What were the three major characteristics of psychopaths language?
- use of subordinating conjunctions (because, since, as)
- more reference to food, clothing, sex, money and less reference to love, family and spirituality
- a) less emotional words b) more disfluencies c) language reflecting psychological ‘distancing’
Who were the participants of the study?
52 men held in a prison in Canada for murder
All had volunteered to take part and all had admitted their crime
How were psychopathic and non-psychopathic participants distinguished?
Psychopathy Checklist-Revised
What were the two factors of the PCL-R?
Factor 1 - interpersonal and affective traits
Factor 2 - assessment of anti-social lifestyle
Where were the assessments held for 39 of the men?
extensively trained prison psychologists
Where were the assessments held for 13 of the men?
a researcher well trained in coding of the PCL-R
How was inter-rater reliability tested for the PCL-R scores?
a trained graduate student recorded ten case files selected on a random basis
What score must a participant get to be classified as a psychopath?
25 or above
How many of the participants were classed as psychopaths?
14
How many of the participants were classed as non-psychopaths?
38
How was data collected for the language of psychopaths and non-psychopaths?
Each participant took an interview and was asked to describe their homicide in as much detail, from start to finish. Interviews were audio taped and lasted 25 mins. They were then translated into transcripts.
