psychopathy Flashcards by Olivia Morgan

What is psychopathy?

A collection of interpersonal, affective, and
behavioral characteristics
◦ Dominance, selfishness, manipulativeness
◦ Lack of remorse or empathy
◦ Impulsiveness
◦ Antisocial acts

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psychopathy as intrapsevies predtaors

prey on the same species

they are charming and manipulative

they can tell who is an easy taget

initimation and violence

few feelimgs for others

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is psychopathy the same as psychopathology

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is psychopathy stable over time

yes prob used to be a callous kid

very high stability

from 13-24 stable

traits can decrease

hv the largest change in teen yrs
BUT
- teens r already impulsive and mean and they can suck

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Descriptions of psychopathy exist in most cultures

Kunlangeta: Alaskan Inuit term for an individual
who lies, cheats, steals, does not contribute to the
group

not joining hunt, not respondong to punsihmment, even the elders hate them

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Antisocial Personality Disorder

: pervasive pattern of disregard for, and
violation of, the rights of others

stable

emerge in teen yrs or childhood

little guilt for actions

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Sociopath

a label used to describe a person who psychopathic traits are
assumed to be due to environmental factors

very rarre

not stuided a lot

similar to psychopathy BUT is not genetic

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psychopathy and apd

psychopathy would meet apd criteria but apd would not meet psychopathy criertia

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reptative crime and violence is higher for ppl with

psychopathy

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psychopathy=preadatory

not acting on emotion at ppl they know

they prey on ppl who they dont even know and are goal oriented not emoionally oriented

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Assessment of Psychopathy

Hare Psychopathy Checklist - Revised (PCL-R)
◦ Semi-structured interview
◦ 20 items on a 3-point scale
◦ 2 = definitely applies, 1 = applies to some extent, 0 = does
not apply
◦ Total score ranges from 0 to 40
◦ Different features
◦ Interpersonal – manipulation, grandiosity
◦ Affective – lack of remorse, shallow emotions
◦ Behavioral – impulsivity, antisocial acts
◦ Factor 1 – interpersonal and affective features
◦ Factor 2 – unstable and socially deviant traits

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Assessment of Psychopathy

Arrogant and
Deceitful
Interpersonal Style

Deficient Affective
Experience

Impulsive and
Irresponsible
Behavioral Style

Antisocial Style

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Assessment of Psychopathy

Self-Report Measures

◦ Psychopathic Personality Inventory –
Revised (PPI-R)
◦ Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (SRP

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Downsides to Self-Report

Psychopaths often lie
◦ Psychopaths may not have sufficient
insight
◦ It may be difficult for psychopaths to
report on specific emotions

they can manipulate

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Validity Scales

can detect faking good and/or bad
◦ Can check for carelessness in
responding
◦ Can check for positive or negative
response styles

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factor analysis

many ppl fill out something ang see how data fall and see what needs to change where traits fall togrthrt

factor 1 in more detail (psychopathy)

genetics

emotional processing

less sensitive ot negtaive faces

factor 2 in more detail (psychopathy)

enrivonment

beyvaioir traits

possible risks

risk of reoffence

family backgrounf

lack of education

problem w the assessment of psycopathy

takes so long and need clinican and need money

how many factprs do we use for psychopathy

why is self report good

fast

inexpensive

private info

learn how they think

What causes
psychopathy?

Twin Studies: 29-69% of variability due
to genetics
Possible Family Factors
◦ Lower levels of parental warmth and
attachment
◦ Mother or father has criminal past
◦ Low family income
◦ Family disruption
◦ Physical neglect and/or abuse
◦ Sons with absent fathers

Psychopaths in the
Community

Within company workplaces
◦ Unwarranted rumors, getting information on
others
◦ Do not tend to pull their weight
◦ Use manipulation and blame others for their
failures
◦ Can cause toxic work environments, bullying
◦ However: creative, strategic, strong
communication skills

Wheeler, Book, &
Costello (2009)

(videotape of person walking )

University students self-
reported on previous
victimization
Second set of male
university students rated
vulnerability
Participants with higher
SRP were more accurate in
detecting victim
vulnerability

Book et al. (2015) (video of person talking)

Male university students with high PPI-R videotaped describing a time when they did something that should have made them remorseful but did not Other students then rate them on how genuine they sounded Higher scores on Factor 1 traits → more genuine ratings

Interrogating Psychopaths problems

Try to outwit interrogator Enjoy being focus of attention Attempt to control the interrogation Not fooled by bluffs Attempt to shock

Interrogating Psychopaths solutions

Ensure case familiarity Convey experience and confidence Show liking or admiration Avoid criticism Avoid conveying emotions

Psychopathy in Youth

Measures have been developed for children and adolescents ◦ Children - Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) ◦ Adolescents – Hare Psychopathy Checklist Youth Version ◦ Callous unemotional, impulsivity, narcissism Those who score high: ◦ More police contacts and conduct problems ◦ Criminal behaviors at younger age ◦ Engage in more violence and are at higher risk for reoffending Potential for significant stigma in labelling at this age

What comes to mind when people think of the term ‘psychopath’?

serial killers/mass murders fictional serial killers ppl in their lives politicians and celebtrities they also said stuff like delucions and psyhosis and hallucinations they said they were getting their facts from the media like tv nad movies

Edens et al. (2005)

University students presented with written descriptions of a mock defendant in a murder case Described as either: ◦ Psychopath ◦ Psychotic ◦ No mental disorder

Interventions for Youth

Adolescents and children more responsive to treatment than adults Children with callous-unemotional traits ◦ More likely to reject affection from mothers ◦ More likely to avoid eye contact Parent-Child Interaction Therapy ◦ Positive parenting strategies and positive reinforcements ◦ Appears to increase empathy and decrease conduct problems

Cognitive Model of Psychopathy

Response Modulation Deficit Theory: psychopaths fail to use contextual cues that are peripheral to a dominant response Explains why psychopaths fail to learn to avoid punishment

Affective Model of Psychopathy (lexical)

Perhaps psychopathy can be explained by a deficit in the experience ofcertain critical emotions Lexical-decision task: measures how fast people classify stimuli as words or nonwords Words: Emotional: cancer Neutral: tree Nonwords: Emotional: cercan Neutral: eter results: non-psychopath=faster rxn time to words cancer and eter and would be able to determine cancer faster than tree bc the emotion part reaches us faster bc it is salient to a normal perosn

why would psychopaths have positive traits

bc they have to be passed on through evolution some how

is psychopathy personality a scale

yes

in a mock jury if someone is lablled as a psychoptah then....

they are less creible and high risk

intervention for yourh best age

best as young as possible like 5,6,7,8

dominant response

like the reward trophy maybe pysical aggression