Thursday, March 14, 2013
PSYC 2400 - Winter 2013
Lecture 17
Guest Lecture: Julie Blais
Psychopathy
Goals for today’s class
- What is psychopathy? Defining psychopathic traits and behaviours
- How do we assess psychopathy?
- What makes them tick (theories; etiology)?
- What kinds of outcomes are associated with psychopathy?
Resources
- Chapter 11
o For your own personal interest
o Without conscience, Dr. Robert Hare (1993)
o www.hare.org
Activity
- Think of a fictional character that you would characterize as a “psychopath”
- What are some of the traits and behaviours that this character possesses?
What is psychopathy?
- A personality disorder characterized by
o An arrogant, deceitful interpersonal style
o Deficient affective experiences
Flat emotions
o Impulsive and irresponsible experiences
Looking for excitement
o Early onset and diverse antisocial behaviours
Psychopathy: Assessment
- Self-Report Inventories
o Fill in their own report
- Informant Rating
o Scales for children, teacher/parent reports for the child
- Clinical Ratings
o Clinician reports for the person
The “Gold” Standard
- Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 1991, 2003)
o Semi-structured interview + file review
o 20 item questionnaire (3 point scale: 0, 1, 2)
o Total score of 40 (>30 = psychopathy)
o Youth version (PCL:YV; Forth et al., 2003)
o Qualified professional (PhD; appropriate training) Who score the highest on the PCL-R?
- Female offenders
- Sex offenders
- Serial killers
- General population
- Donald Trump
Factor 1: Affective-Interpersonal
- Glib and superficial
o Fake, insincere, surface level connection
o No deep connection with others
- Egocentric and grandiose
o Better than others; makes up stories
o Truly believe that they are the best
- Lack of remorse/guilt/empathy
o Don’t feel bad for others; inflict pain
o No one else matters but themselves
- Deceitful and manipulative
o Tells lies with truth; uses other people for personal gain
- Shallow emotions
o Don’t experience emotion like others; mimic emotions
o They’ve learned to fake emotions
Factor 2: Antisocial Behaviour
- Impulsive
o Don’t think about consequences
- Poor behaviour control
o Act quickly; risky behaviour
- Need for excitement
o Need for stimulation (e.g., sky diving)
- Lack of responsibility
o Nothing is their fault; world against them
- Early behaviour problems
o Aggression; problems at school/with police
- Adult antisocial behaviour
o Criminal record; aggression
Factor 1 = Moral Corruption
Factor 2 = Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)
You need both factors to be a psychopath
ASPD and Psychopathy
50% - 80% ASPD
15% - 25% Psychopathy
Video - David Krueger
o Canadian serial killer (3 victims in the 50s)
- What psychopathic traits does he display?
o Doesn’t feel remorse
o Felt accomplishment killing someone
o Felt like God
o Still seems like he has the same beliefs
- Note the vocabulary he uses and how he describes his crimes and his motivations
Which of the following is NOT related to the development of adult psychopathy?
1. Brain damage
2. Early abuse/neglect
3. High IQ
4. Emotional deficits
5. Parents’ level of psychopathy
Psychopathy: Theories
- Brain damage, structural anomalies
o Frontal lobe dysfunction
o Frontal lobe responsible for decision-making, impulsiveness
- Cognitive processing deficits
o Response modulation deficits (Newman)
- Cognitive-emotional integration (Cleckley, Hare, Blair)
Psychopathy: Etiology
- Heritability of psychopathic traits
Traits MZ twin DZ twin
CU traits .73 .39
AB traits .64 .49
*CU – callous-unemotional
*AB – antisocial behaviour
- “Callous
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