Does threat of punishment deter psychopaths? Their brains respond differently, brain scans show
The brains of violent offenders with psychopathic personalities don’t process punishment in the same way as other offenders, according to an MRI study.
The Daily Beast summarizes the study of 50 men, which involved the award of points for correctly pairing images. Twelve were violent offenders with antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy, 20 were violent offenders with antisocial personality disorder but not psychopathy, and 18 were healthy non-offenders
The violent offenders studied failed to learn from punishment, but brain scans showed the psychopathic offenders also had abnormal response to punishment in certain areas of the brain, according to the study, published in Lancet. A press release summarizes the findings.
One of the study’s authors is Sheilagh Hodgins, a University of Montreal psychology professor. “Psychopaths show overoptimism. They always think behaviors will be rewarded. They don’t pay attention to punishment. Predicting punishment tells you behavior is inappropriate,” she told the Daily Beast. The study shows that “what we observe behaviorally has a neural reason,” she said.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “The Legal Field Attracts Psychopaths, Author Says; Not That There Is Anything Wrong with That”
ABAJournal.com: “Psychopath Test Determines Fate of Some Criminals”
