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State-dependent executive deficits among psychopathic offenders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2005

YANA SUCHY  and
DAVID S. KOSSON
YANA SUCHY
Affiliation:
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
DAVID S. KOSSON
Affiliation:
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, Illinois
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Abstract

Three hypotheses for cognitive deficits among psychopaths were tested: Response modulation, left hemisphere activation, and an interaction between the 2. Twenty-six psychopathic and 32 nonpsychopathic criminal offenders identified with the Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised were randomly assigned to left- and right-hemisphere activation groups. An auditory processing task was administered, such that the ability to classify nonverbal auditory signals and the ability to manage subgoals were assessed under left- and right-hemisphere activation conditions. The results showed that psychopaths' information processing in general, including response modulation, was deleteriously affected by left-hemisphere activation, supporting 2 of the 3 hypotheses tested. These results offer an explanation for inconsistent findings of executive deficits among psychopaths. (JINS, 2005, 11, 311–321.)

Keywords

Left-hemisphere activation hypothesisResponse modulationLateralityReaction timePitch discriminationPersonalityNeurobehavioral manifestationsNeuropsychology
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 11 , Issue 3 , May 2005 , pp. 311 - 321
Copyright
© 2005 The International Neuropsychological Society

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