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Facial affect recognition in criminal psychopaths.
David S Kosson1, Yana Suchy1, Andrew R Mayer1
1Finch U of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School.
Emotion (Washington, D.C.)
|August 6, 2003
Summary
Psychopaths show specific deficits in recognizing nonverbal emotional cues, particularly facial expressions. This study highlights impaired emotional processing in psychopathy beyond verbal deficits.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Social Sciences
Background:
- Previous research indicates psychopaths struggle with verbal emotional material.
- Studies on nonverbal emotional processing in psychopaths yield inconsistent results.
- This study investigates the nature of nonverbal emotional processing deficits in psychopathy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if psychopaths have general or specific deficits in nonverbal emotional processing.
- To examine facial affect recognition in psychopaths compared to nonpsychopaths.
- To test hypotheses regarding hemispheric lateralization anomalies in psychopathy.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Hare's Psychopathy Checklist--Revised (PCL-R) for participant identification.
- Administered a facial affect recognition test using prototypic facial expression slides.
- Assessed performance under conditions emphasizing right-hemisphere processing.
Main Results:
- Psychopaths were less accurate than nonpsychopaths in classifying facial affect.
- A specific deficit was observed in psychopaths' ability to classify disgust.
- Findings suggest impaired right-hemisphere functioning in psychopaths' emotional processing.
Conclusions:
- Psychopaths exhibit specific, not general, deficits in nonverbal emotional processing.
- Facial affect recognition, especially for disgust, is impaired in psychopathy.
- Results support theories of hemispheric lateralization anomalies in psychopathy.