Chapter 11: Psychopathy

Sociopathy

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

Psychopathy

• Established scientific term

•  Used by scientists and clinicians

•  Validated measures to assess 

•  Dedicated scientific society

• Term consistently used

• Not a DSM diagnosis

Sociopathy

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

Psychopathy

• Established scientific term

•  Used by scientists and clinicians

•  Validated measures to assess 

•  Dedicated scientific society

• Term consistently used

• Not a DSM diagnosis

what is a sociopath?

• Not a scientific term

• Used primarily by media

• No measures to assess 

• No scientific society studying it

• Term has no accepted definition

• Not a DSM diagnosis

Psychopaths have been called:

intraspecies predators

Robert's parents feel he exhibits reckless behaviour, irresponsibility, and lack of remorse. Robert has been this way since birth, and his parents feel he has a difficult temperament. Robert might have:

psychopathy

What term is used by the Inuit in Alaska to describe a psychopathic personality?

Kunlangeta

Hervey Cleckley's book ____________________ provided one of the most extensive clinical descriptions of psychopaths.

The Mask of Sanity

Which Canadian researcher developed the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised?

Hare

Factor 2 is most strongly related to reoffending, substance abuse, lack of education, and _______________.

poor family backgorund

The PCL-R has been supported by researchers for use with:

males

females

forensic psychiatric

patients

sexual offenders

All of the following are challenges associated with using self-report questionnaires to assess psychopathy except:

Psychopaths are generally less intelligent thus can't respond accurately.

The most widely used self-report questionnaire(s) to assess psychopathy is/are:

Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised and the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale.

Based on the triarchic model of psychopathy developed by Patrick, Fowles, and Krueger (2009), self-report measures of psychopathy tap into which three main personality components?

Boldness, meanness, disinhibition

In an experiment measuring cheating behaviours and psychopathy, the best predictor of cheating was:

high scores on the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale.

Studies using self-report psychopathy scales in university populations have reported that high psychopathy scores are associated with all of the following behaviours except:

child molestation

Psychopathy and Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) share many of the same features. However, APD places more emphasis on ________________.

antisocial behaviours

Approximately ______ of offenders can be classified as psychopaths.

10%–25%

The terms "psychopathy" and "sociopathy" are _________________________.

related but distinct concepts

Which statement accurately reflects the asymmetrical relationship between APD and psychopathy?

Nearly all psychopathic offenders meet the diagnostic criteria for APD, but most diagnosed with APD are not psychopaths.

Which of the following is not an example of how the construct of psychopathy has influenced court decisions?

prove incompetence or unfitness to stand trial

A diagnosis of psychopathy fulfills the disease of the mind requirement but it has never fulfilled the second requirement of_____________________.

not appreciating the nature or quality of the act

Dr. Shelby was hired by the prosecution and asked to provide a PCL-R rating for an offender on trial for sexual assault. The defence hired Dr. Krane to provide a PCL-R rating for their client as well. Based on the concept of adversarial allegiance, how would the ratings of the two psychologists differ?

Dr. Shelby would provide a higher PCL-R rating than Dr. Krane.

The tendency for mental health experts to be biased toward those who hire them refers to ______________________.

adversarial allegiance

Psychopathic offending is __________________.

both versatile and high

density

The relatively small number of psychopaths account for _________________.

disproportionately large amount of

crime

Psychopaths differ from other offenders in what way?

They begin their criminal careers younger.

They persist longer.

Their use of violence lacks an emotional aspect.

They commit a greater variety of violent

offences.

Several studies have found that offenders who engage in ___________ violence score significantly

higher on measures of psychopathy than do offenders who engage in ___________ violence.

instrumental, reactive

In a study by Woodworth and Porter (2002) examining the use of instrumental motives,

psychopaths engaged in instrumental murder in ______ of cases:

93%

Recent research by Porter, ten Brinke, and Wilson (2009) found that psychopathic offenders can

manipulate the criminal justice system in relation to parole and early release. Which statement best

reflects their findings?

Psychopaths are given early release from prison more often than non-psychopaths, but are less

successful in the community because they reoffend faster.

According to Hare (1993) we are more likely to _____________ than be murdered by a psychopath.

lose our life savings to a

psychopath

In a study by Coid et al. (2009) measuring psychopathy in a sample of community members ____ of

these individuals scored zero on the PCL-SV.

71%

Which of the following is not a myth associated with psychopathy?

Psychopaths are treatable.

Recent studies suggest that psychopathic traits may be high for _________________.

corporate managers

A recent study on sex differences in psychopathic traits by Neumann, Schmitt, Carter, Embley, and

Hare (2012) found:

that lifestyle traits (i.e., risk-taking) are more prevalent than antisocial traits (i.e., violence) in general.

Kirkman (2005) reported that non-incarcerated psychopaths in heterosexual relationships tend to

display all of the following characteristics except:

dependence and insecurity

In a sample of 60 rapists, Brown and Forth (1997) found:

PCL-R scores are related with number of prior offences but not number of prior sexual offences.

Researchers agree that:

many psychopaths do not experience trauma during their childhood.

Psychopathic rapists are more likely to be __________________.

opportunistic and vindictive disorganized

Gerald is classified as a sexual offender and is considered to be a part of the sex offender group that has been found to have the lowest psychopathy scores. What type of sex offender is Gerald?

child molester

Evidence for overkill and enjoyment for hurting the victim (sadistic violence) is related to

___________________.

PCL-R scores

In Rice, Harris, and Cormier's (1992) study to evaluate treatment outcomes in psychopaths, which

group had the highest reoffending rate?

treated psychopaths

Olver and Wong (2006) found that psychopathic offenders who remained in treatment were:

less likely to violently reoffend.

The "faint hope clause" allows offenders convicted of murder to:

apply for parole before their eligibility date.

What is the three-dimensional factor structure of the Antisocial Process Screening Device?

callous-unemotional, impulsivity, narcissism

Mock jurors presented with information on a juvenile psychopath are:

likely to support the death penalty.

Mock jurors are least likely to support the death penalty for which of the following adult offenders?

psychotic offenders

Lynam, Caspi, Moffitt, Loeber, and Southamer-Loeber (2007) reported there was a ____________

degree of stability in psychopathic traits from age 13 to age 24.

moderate

In Caldwell et al. (2006), which examined treatment outcomes in youth with high scores on the

Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version, the youth who received treatment in a correctional centre

had:

twice the violent reoffending rates of youth treated in a treatment

centre.

The best research design to determine the extent to which family experiences influence the

development of psychopathic traits is:

prospective longitudinal studies

Retrospective studies assessing callous/unemotional traits in youth or psychopathy in adults by

asking them about their childhood experiences have found that psychopathic individuals report

lower levels of __________________.

parental care

Oliver has been arrested as the prime suspect in a murder case and is about to undergo an

interrogation. Oliver is believed to be highly psychopathic. Based on the suggestions of Quayle

(2008), what type of behaviour would not be expected of a psychopathic suspect?

dislikes being the focus of

attention

In the lexical-decision task by Williamson, Harpur, and Hare (1991), nonpsychopaths:

identified neutral words faster than psychopaths.

The two theories of psychopathy are _______________ and ________________.

response modulation deficit, startle-blink response

Which of the following is not a function of the amygdala?

language

Recent research has suggested that psychopaths' performance deficits on emotional tasks may

not result from amygdala dysfunction, but rather deficits in _____________.

attention