psychopathy Flashcards
What is psychopathy?
A collection of interpersonal, affective, and
behavioral characteristics
◦ Dominance, selfishness, manipulativeness
◦ Lack of remorse or empathy
◦ Impulsiveness
◦ Antisocial acts
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
is psychopathy the same as psychopathology
no
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
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
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
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
psychopathy and apd
psychopathy would meet apd criteria but apd would not meet psychopathy criertia
reptative crime and violence is higher for ppl with
psychopathy
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
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
Assessment of Psychopathy
Arrogant and
Deceitful
Interpersonal Style
Deficient Affective
Experience
Impulsive and
Irresponsible
Behavioral Style
Antisocial Style
Assessment of Psychopathy
Self-Report Measures
◦ Psychopathic Personality Inventory –
Revised (PPI-R)
◦ Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (SRP
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
Validity Scales
can detect faking good and/or bad
◦ Can check for carelessness in
responding
◦ Can check for positive or negative
response styles
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
4
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
