Psychopathy Flashcards
Clinical Manifestation
60-70% of criminals have APD, 20% are psychopaths, there’s a lot of overlap there
sociopathy is basically same as psychopathy but older term
base rate is 1%. 6 males to 1 female.
factors: arrogant/deceitful (conning, manipulative), impulsive (need for stimulation), deficient affect (lacks empath or guilt), antisocial (behavior probs)
20 items on checklist w score of 0-2. 30 = psychopath. interview.
Etiology: Parental bonding
concurrent study: looked at self-report psychopathy scale and parental bonding instrument (retrospective), r = -.38 so high psychopathy score = low bonding
longitudinal study: 6 ppl separated from both parents before age 3, and given same questionnaires. they had much higher psychopathy scores than the rest of the people
Etiology: Mind-body connection
pts w ventromedial lesions have psychopathic behavior and don’t have skin conductance responses to socially disturbing pics
somatic aphasia: mind body disconnect. psychopaths don’t physically show signs of the “distress” they report
Etiology: Temperament
3 yo kids with mom surrounded by toys far away
low stim seekers won’t explore toys
at age 28, those who explored the toys and were stim seeking had higher psychopathy rates
Etiology: Brain Mechanisms
Striatum: more vol in psychopaths, it’s also more highly activated than controls when anticipating rewards
Amygdala: 18% shrinkage in psychopaths (remember also reduction in CE kids and murderers and scz)
CSP: when large, higher psychopathy scores/proactive aggression, disruptive behavior
Hormones: lower cortisol in prison psychopaths, increased testosterone to cortisol ratio
Emotional Intelligence
defn: ability to monitor and label emotions within oneself and others, use emotion to guide behaviors and decision making
psychopaths and controls have no IQ difference, but psychopaths have lower EI (r = -.28)
EI mediates blunted ANS (heart rate and skin conductance) - psychopathy relationship
