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Old May 21st, 2013 #1
Rick Ronsavelle
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Default Do psychopaths' brains fail to understand the abstract?

DO PSYCHOPATHS' BRAINS FAIL TO UNDERSTAND THE ABSTRACT?
Psychopaths are callous, glib, superficial, and impulsive; lack empathy for others; and display no guilt or remorse for their harmful acts. One reason for these traits, research suggests, is that psychopaths have difficulty understanding emotions. However, a new study indicates that psychopaths are impaired not just in the emotional realm, but more broadly, in understanding abstract information in general.

Kent Kiehl, Robert Hare, and colleagues studied eight male criminal psychopaths, all inmates of a maximum-security prison in Canada, comparing them to eight non-criminal, non-psychopathic controls. The researchers controlled for a wide range of factors including age, parental socioeconomic status, education level, and IQ.

The subjects participated in a test in which they viewed concrete words (such as "table"), abstract words (such as "justice"), and pseudo- words. All words were selected to be emotionally neutral to eliminate emotional response as a factor. Subjects viewed word groups containing either concrete words and similar-looking pseudo-words, or abstract words and similar-looking pseudo-words. They were instructed to raise one hand each time a real word appeared, and to raise the other hand if a pseudo-word appeared. During the tests, the researchers investigated brain changes in the participants using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Psychopathic subjects, Kiehl et al. say, "performed more poorly, manifested as slower reaction times, than control participants, when processing abstract word stimuli." This is consistent, they say, with studies showing that psychopaths have trouble processing abstract words, performing abstract categorization tasks, understanding metaphors, and processing emotionally weighted words and speech.

In particular, the psychopaths showed clear deficits in activating one brain area, the right anterior superior temporal gyrus, when processing abstract stimuli. This region failed to differentiate normally between abstract and concrete stimuli.

The researchers say, "These data support the hypothesis that there is an abnormality in the function of the right anterior superior temporal gyrus in psychopathy."

"Perhaps," the researchers say, "psychopathic individuals have difficulty engaging in cognitive functions that involve material that has no concrete realization in the external world. We might speculate that complex social emotions such as love, empathy, guilt and remorse may be a form of more abstract functioning. Thus, difficulties in processing and integrating these conceptually abstract representations to regulate or modulate behavior would be [seen] in these individuals."

-----
"Temporal lobe abnormalities in semantic processing by criminal psychopaths as revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging," Kent A. Kiehl, Andra M. Smith, Adrianna Mendrek, Bruce B. Forster, Robert D. Hare, and Peter F. Liddle, Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, Vol. 130, 2004, 27-42. Address: Kent A. Kiehl, [email protected].

>>>Welcome to CrimeTimes.org

Crime Times is a quarterly publication of The Wacker Foundation concentrating on the links between brain dysfunction and disordered/ criminal/ psychopathic behavior.

Search Crime Times :

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Title I Issue Number I PDF/Full Page View of Issues
Most current efforts to fight crime focus on sociological approaches: counseling and rehabilitation for offenders, tougher laws intended to discourage criminal acts, and better parenting and better education to prevent at-risk children from becoming delinquents and criminals.

These well-intentioned approaches have one thing in common: they frequently fail. Why? Because they fail to acknowledge that many criminals suffer from brain malfunctions which prevent them from benefiting from sociological or psychological interventions. Research shows that chronic offenders exhibit brain dysfunction leading to extreme "dyslogic." Many exhibit a lack of insight and foresight, a lack of empathy for animals and people, a low anger threshold, poor abstract thinking and social skills, a lack of fear and remorse, impulsivity, and an inability to realize the consequences of their actions or to learn from experience.

The more we learn about the brain dysfunction that underlies much delinquency and criminality, the more successful we will be in truly rehabilitating offenders, and preventing "at risk" children and adults
from turning to lives of crime. The purpose of Crime Times is to foster this effort by reporting state-of-the-art worldwide research on the causes and treatment of aberrant behavior.

Topics addressed by Crime Times include:

ADHD, aggression, conduct disorder, antisocial behavior, delinquency, impulsivity, violence, and psychopathy.

The effects of imbalances of neurotransmitters and hormones, such as serotonin, thyroid, and testosterone.

Structural abnormalities of the brain.

Genetics, premature birth, low birthweight, and perinatal trauma.

Food and chemical sensitivities.

Environmental contaminants such as lead, manganese, mercury, and pesticides.

Maternal smoking, alcohol and drug abuse.

Medical and nutritional interventions.

New books and information from leading experts

http://crimetimes.org/index.html
 
Old June 10th, 2013 #2
ELF
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Location: In the land of Hockey Hosers(Canada)
Posts: 2,592
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Ronsavelle View Post
DO PSYCHOPATHS' BRAINS FAIL TO UNDERSTAND THE ABSTRACT?
Psychopaths are callous, glib, superficial, and impulsive; lack empathy for others; and display no guilt or remorse for their harmful acts. One reason for these traits, research suggests, is that psychopaths have difficulty understanding emotions. However, a new study indicates that psychopaths are impaired not just in the emotional realm, but more broadly, in understanding abstract information in general.

Kent Kiehl, Robert Hare, and colleagues studied eight male criminal psychopaths, all inmates of a maximum-security prison in Canada, comparing them to eight non-criminal, non-psychopathic controls. The researchers controlled for a wide range of factors including age, parental socioeconomic status, education level, and IQ.

The subjects participated in a test in which they viewed concrete words (such as "table"), abstract words (such as "justice"), and pseudo- words. All words were selected to be emotionally neutral to eliminate emotional response as a factor. Subjects viewed word groups containing either concrete words and similar-looking pseudo-words, or abstract words and similar-looking pseudo-words. They were instructed to raise one hand each time a real word appeared, and to raise the other hand if a pseudo-word appeared. During the tests, the researchers investigated brain changes in the participants using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Psychopathic subjects, Kiehl et al. say, "performed more poorly, manifested as slower reaction times, than control participants, when processing abstract word stimuli." This is consistent, they say, with studies showing that psychopaths have trouble processing abstract words, performing abstract categorization tasks, understanding metaphors, and processing emotionally weighted words and speech.

In particular, the psychopaths showed clear deficits in activating one brain area, the right anterior superior temporal gyrus, when processing abstract stimuli. This region failed to differentiate normally between abstract and concrete stimuli.

The researchers say, "These data support the hypothesis that there is an abnormality in the function of the right anterior superior temporal gyrus in psychopathy."

"Perhaps," the researchers say, "psychopathic individuals have difficulty engaging in cognitive functions that involve material that has no concrete realization in the external world. We might speculate that complex social emotions such as love, empathy, guilt and remorse may be a form of more abstract functioning. Thus, difficulties in processing and integrating these conceptually abstract representations to regulate or modulate behavior would be [seen] in these individuals."

-----
"Temporal lobe abnormalities in semantic processing by criminal psychopaths as revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging," Kent A. Kiehl, Andra M. Smith, Adrianna Mendrek, Bruce B. Forster, Robert D. Hare, and Peter F. Liddle, Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, Vol. 130, 2004, 27-42. Address: Kent A. Kiehl, [email protected].

>>>Welcome to CrimeTimes.org

Crime Times is a quarterly publication of The Wacker Foundation concentrating on the links between brain dysfunction and disordered/ criminal/ psychopathic behavior.

Search Crime Times :

Articles can also be accessed via
the following directories:

Title I Issue Number I PDF/Full Page View of Issues
Most current efforts to fight crime focus on sociological approaches: counseling and rehabilitation for offenders, tougher laws intended to discourage criminal acts, and better parenting and better education to prevent at-risk children from becoming delinquents and criminals.

These well-intentioned approaches have one thing in common: they frequently fail. Why? Because they fail to acknowledge that many criminals suffer from brain malfunctions which prevent them from benefiting from sociological or psychological interventions. Research shows that chronic offenders exhibit brain dysfunction leading to extreme "dyslogic." Many exhibit a lack of insight and foresight, a lack of empathy for animals and people, a low anger threshold, poor abstract thinking and social skills, a lack of fear and remorse, impulsivity, and an inability to realize the consequences of their actions or to learn from experience.

The more we learn about the brain dysfunction that underlies much delinquency and criminality, the more successful we will be in truly rehabilitating offenders, and preventing "at risk" children and adults
from turning to lives of crime. The purpose of Crime Times is to foster this effort by reporting state-of-the-art worldwide research on the causes and treatment of aberrant behavior.

Topics addressed by Crime Times include:

ADHD, aggression, conduct disorder, antisocial behavior, delinquency, impulsivity, violence, and psychopathy.

The effects of imbalances of neurotransmitters and hormones, such as serotonin, thyroid, and testosterone.

Structural abnormalities of the brain.

Genetics, premature birth, low birthweight, and perinatal trauma.

Food and chemical sensitivities.

Environmental contaminants such as lead, manganese, mercury, and pesticides.

Maternal smoking, alcohol and drug abuse.

Medical and nutritional interventions.

New books and information from leading experts

http://crimetimes.org/index.html
Leading exsperts?

Bullshit, I would sooner trust a jew with my money then these so called Exsperts

After all it is most likely they get their funding from the Canadain goverment who is in the jews's pocket.

Also if you will notice that the loonies that were picked for this so called *leading Edge Study* were all men and no women?

When it comes to evil and insanity women are just as evil and insane as men.

Also I would like to know the race of the prisoners and the race of the control group.

Bet you ten to one the *Study* *found* that it was white men who were the loonies and that it was a non white race of their choise that was *sane*
 
Old June 10th, 2013 #3
littlefieldjohn
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Join Date: May 2009
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Ignorant and illiterate as I am in the ways of these wise men, I can't help but
conjecture that the slower reaction time in 'pseudo - word' recognition simply means that the test subjects , besides being criminal , are atypically stupid .
 
Old January 28th, 2018 #4
Blusnayl
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Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 63
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Quote:
Originally Posted by littlefieldjohn View Post
Ignorant and illiterate as I am in the ways of these wise men, I can't help but
conjecture that the slower reaction time in 'pseudo - word' recognition simply means that the test subjects , besides being criminal , are atypically stupid .
Humble recognition is to be applauded.
 
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