Examination of Psychopathic Traits and Attention Using the Image Based Parity Task

<p>Psychopathy has been defined as including deficits in affective, cognitive, and behavioral functioning. Due to the severity of these deficits, several etiological theories have emerged in an attempt to better understand the personality construct. The response modulation hypothesis (RMH; Patterson & Newman, 1993) is a theory growing in popularity among researchers and posits that an inability to reallocate attentional resources to peripheral information moderates the affective and behavioral deficits commonly documented within individuals with psychopathy. Thus, the present study attempted to examine to test the validity of the RMH in a non-incarcerated population. The results somewhat support the theory that subcortical-cortical circuitry is at least partly involved in how individuals with psychopathic traits process all information. As Coldheartedness increased interference from positively and negatively arousing distractors was similar. Likewise, increasing levels of Self-Centered Impulsivity were found to be associated with better accuracy. However, some traits of psychopathy were associated with more distraction. Future studies should consider determining which traits of psychopathy tend to moderate attentional focus and resultant affective processing.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Clinical Psychology

Year

2014

Author dc:creator

• Llamas, Veronica Claudia

Contributors dc:contributor

• Haerich, Paul E.
• Burley, Todd D.
• Mallery, Suzanne T.
• Vermeersch, David

• Clinical Psychology
• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology; Psychopaths; Antisocial Personality Disorders
• Psychopathy
• Cognitive Functioning
• Etiological Theories
• Response Modulation Hypothesis
• Attentional Focus
• Affective Processing

Statement dc:rights

• This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/172

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarsrepository.llu.edu:etd-1167