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Spotting psychopaths using technology

  • Sarah Hulbert and Hojjat Adeli EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: September 25, 2015
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Abstract

For the past three and a half decades, the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) and the self-report Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R) have been the standard measures for the diagnosis of psychopathy. Technological approaches can enhance these diagnostic methodologies. The purpose of this paper is to present a state-of-the-art review of various technological approaches for spotting psychopathy, such as electroencephalogram (EEG), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI (fMRI), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and other measures. Results of EEG event-related potential (ERP) experiments support the theory that impaired amygdala function may be responsible for abnormal fear processing in psychopathy, which can ultimately manifest as psychopathic traits, as outlined by the PCL-R or PPI-R. Imaging studies, in general, point to reduced fear processing capabilities in psychopathic individuals. While the human element, introduced through researcher/participant interactions, can be argued as unequivocally necessary for diagnosis, these purely objective technological approaches have proven to be useful in conjunction with the subjective interviewing and questionnaire methods for differentiating psychopaths from non-psychopaths. Furthermore, these technologies are more robust than behavioral measures, which have been shown to fail.

Keywords: EEG; MRI; psychopath

Corresponding author: Hojjat Adeli, Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Biomedical Informatics, Neurology, Neuroscience, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Civil, Environmental, and Geodetic Engineering, and Biophysics Graduate Program, The Ohio State University, 470 Hitchcock Hall, 2070 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA, e-mail:

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Received: 2015-6-7
Accepted: 2015-8-17
Published Online: 2015-9-25
Published in Print: 2015-12-1

©2015 by De Gruyter

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