Psychopathy

Question 1

what is on Cleckley’s criteria for psychopathy

Answer 1

1. superficial charm and good intelligence
   absence of delusions and other signs of irrational thinking
2. absence of nervousness and psychoneurotic manifestations
3. unreliability
4. untruthfulness and insincerity
5. lack of remorse of shame
6. inadequately motivated antisocial behavior
   poor judgement and failure to learn by experience
7. pathological egocentricity and incapacity for love
8. general poverty in major affective reactions
   specific loss of insight
9. unresponsiveness in general interpersonal relations
10. fantastic and uninviting behaviour with drink and sometimes without
11. suicide rarely carried out
12. sex life impersonal, trivial, and poorly integrated
13. failure to follow any life plan

Question 2

What is the prevalence of psychopathy

Answer 2

15% to 49% in north American male offenders

Question 3

psychopathy vs sociopaths

Answer 3

1. sociopaths can develop deep bonds
2. sociopaths have less severe lack of empathy and lack of guilt
3. sociopaths may feel guilt and remorse over hurting someone with whom they share a bond about
4. anti-social behaviour may lessen overtime in sociopaths

Question 4

examples of psychopaths

Answer 4

1. Karla Homolka
2. Joanna Dennehy
3. Aileen Wuomos

Question 5

What is the etiological explanation behind insensitivity to punishment

Answer 5

deficits in the behavioural inhibition system

1. difficulty avoiding responses to previously punished stimuli
2. low electrodermal response in anticipation of an aversive event
3. low eye-blink startle in response to an aversive stimulus
4. impaired aversive conditioning

Question 6

What is the low fear hypothesis

Answer 6

Posits that the psychopathic individual is characterized by fearlessness which impedes their socialization and results in the cluster of symptoms involved with the syndrome