World of the Psychopath #1

Term
1 / 35
Cleckley's Criteria for Psychopathy
Click the card to flip 👆
Terms in this set (35)
Cleckley's Criteria for Psychopathy
Superficial charm and good "intelligence"
Absence of delusions and other signs of irrational thinking
Absence of "nervousness" or psychoneurotic manifestation
Unreliability
Untruthfulness and insincerity
Lack of remorse/shame
Fantastic and uninviting behavior with drink and sometimes without
Suicide rarely carried out
Sex life impersonal, trivial, and poor integrated
Failure to follow any life plan
CAPP
Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality
is a personality-based model and clinical assessment of psychopathy
6 domains consisting of 33 traits
Attached
Behavioral
Cognitive
Dominance
Emotional
Self
PCL-R
The Psychopathy Checklist or Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised
is the most widely used instrument for the measurement of the psychopathic personality
Hare's Criteria for Psychopathy
Glibness/superficial charm
Grandiose sense of self-worth
Pathological lying
Lack of remorse/guilt
Need for stimulation/prone to boredom
Parasitic lifestyle
Impulsivity
Irresponsibility
Poor behavioral controls
Juvenile delinquency
PCL-R Structure
Factor 1: Interpersonal/Affective
Factor 1, Facet 1: Interpersonal
Factor 1, Facet 2: Affective

Factor 2: Antisocial/Impulsive
Factor 2, Facet 3: Behavioral
Factor 2, Facet 4: Antisocial
PCL-R Scoring
2 point scale
0 (definitely false)
1 (sometimes true)
2 (definitely true)
Factor 1, Facet 1: Interpersonal
Glibness/superficial charm
Grandiose sense of self-worth
Pathological lying
Conning/manipulative
Factor 1, Facet 2: Affective
Lack of remorse or guilt
Shallow affect
Callous/lack of empathy
Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
Factor 2, Facet 3: Behavioral
Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
Parasitic lifestyle
Lack of realistic, long-term goals
Impulsivity
Irresponsibility
Factor 2, Facet 4: Antisocial
Poor behavioral controls
Early behavioral problems
Juvenile delinquency
Revocation of conditional release
Criminal versatility
Triarchic Conceptualization of PsychopathyMeanness Disinhibition Boldness Meanness + Boldness = low fear Meanness + Disinhibition = difficult temper Disinhibition + Boldness = psychopathy or (if you have all three)Disorders Often Comorbid with PsychopathyAntisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) Sociopathy Other Personality Disorders Mood Disorders Psychotic Disorders Substance Use DisordersPrimary vs. Secondary PsychopathyPrimary - is characterized by low anxiety and thought to result from a genetic predisposition Secondary - is characterized by high anxiety and thought to develop in response to environmental adversityProtective Factors for Psychopathycompetent parenting, good peer influences, social competencePersonality AssessmentsPCL-R (Psychopathy Checklist-Revised) PPI (Psychopathic Personality Inventory) MMPI-2 (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) Five-Factor Model (OCEAN) TriPM (Triarchic Personality Measure)Problems with Self-Report MeasuresSubject to impression management Not good at assessing interpersonal and affective components Only moderately correlated with the PCL-RNeurotransmitters Involved with PsychopathySerotonin Dopamine NorepinephrineHormones Associated with PsychopathyTestosterone (High levels correlated with a host of other negative outcomes (e.g., antisocial behavior, marital discord, conduct disorder, violence, reduced startle response, etc.) Cortisol (Lower levels in psychopathic offenders vs. nonpsychopathic offenders)Social Factors Related to Juvenile Delinquency/Psychopathyparenting, family, societal, individual and attachmentMeannessCan be viewed as agentic disaffiliation, which is a motivational style in which pleasure and satisfaction are actively sought without regard for and at the expense of othersDisinhibitionPropensity toward impulse control problems entailing lack of planfulness and foresight, impaired regulation of affect and urges, insistence on immediate gratification, and deficient behavioral restraintBoldnessCapacity to remain calm and focused in situations involving pressure or threat...to recover quickly from stressful events, high self-assurance and social efficacy, and a tolerance for unfamiliarity and dangerBrain Regions Associated with PsychopathyLimbic System Frontal LobeLimbic SystemAmygdala HippocampusFrontal LobePrefrontal Cortex Smaller with people who are psychopaths Decision making Planning ImpulsivityAmygdala Structural TheoryIncreased PCL-R scores were associated with reduced amygdala volumeHippocampus Structural TheoryReductions in posterior hippocampal volume to be associated with increased PL-R scores Abnormal structural hippocampal asymmetries in psychopaths with prior convictionsPrefrontal Cortex Structural Theoryabnormalities: Reduced OFC volume overall in psychopathic individualsAmygdala Functional TheoryReduced activity Inhibits ability to recognize fear/sadness of the victims (visual or auditory), engage in victim empathy, and disrupts basic core emotional learning processes that are critical for socialization Impaired startle reflex Fear processing deficits: While viewing unpleasant images, parts of the brain are differentially activated, sometimes overactive and other times under-reactive when compared to controlsHippocampus Functional TheoryHippocampal dysfunction may result in affect dysregulation, poor contextual fear conditioning The hippocampus has dense interconnections to both the amygdala and prefrontal cortex, which are also implicated in psychopathy, so it may have an effect on and be affected by the functioning in these structuresPrefrontal Cortex Functional TheoryReduced prefrontal and temporal blood flow Poor performance on neuropsychological tests of executive functioning Malfunctioning right hemisphere Functional brain imaging studies have observed reduced activity associated with psychopathy in the OFC of the prefrontal cortex during fear conditioning Early damage to the OFC often leads to several psychopathic characteristics, including pathological lying, irresponsibility, promiscuous sexual behavior, shallow affect, and a lack of guilt or remorseFamily Members with the Greatest Influence on PsychopathyFather Same sex siblingsLilienfeld (1998) Main FindingsTry to detect psychopathic traits in noncriminal populations Designed to measure personality traits essential to psychopathy Behavior-based criteria over overinclusive and include a variety of conditions, only one of which is primary psychopathy Behavior-based criteria are underinclusive in that they do not identify individuals who display the personality traits associated with psychopathy, but do not display chronic antisocial behaviorPrevalence of PsychopathyGeneral pop. psychopathy = .075%-1% Prison pop. psychopathy = 15%-25%Differences Between Cleckley and Hare's CriteriaCleckley: Absence of delusions & thought disturbance Absence of nervousness Suicide rarely carried out Hare: Need for stimulation/prone to boredom Parasitic lifestyle Juvenile delinquency