Michaela Ferretti

Professor Smith
UWRITE
November 9, 2015
" S o c i a l C o g n i t i v e & A f f e c t i v e N e u r o s i s . " Ps y c h o p a t h s K n
o w R i g h t f r o m W r o n g b u t Don't Care.6 Jan. 2010. Web. 10 Nov.
2015.
Studies have shown that most psychopaths know right from wrong but do not care to
follow the right path. An example given in the text shows the way psychopaths think,
unlike healthy adults, adult psychopaths will typically judge as equally forbidden
transgressions in which a person wears pajamas to a restaurant (conventional) and a
person who gratuitously hits a waiter in the restaurant (moral). Most normal, well
rounded people know that hitting your waiter/waitress at a restaurant is unacceptable.
Psychopaths tend to lack emotion, which then leads to immoral behavior. Over the years
psychologists have come to a conclusion that psychopaths lack emotional processing and
moral judgment. A typical person uses emotions to guide their actions and that is
something psychopaths do not do. Participants that were male adults completed a test
called the PCLR test, which is designed to measure psychopathic traits. Over all this
article is very professional and gives specific data from psychopaths. Legal scholar, and
scientists such as Damasio, Dwyer, Greene, Haidt, Hauser, Mikhail, Posner all
contributed findings with in the article. The intended audience would have to be scholars
who are familiar with these types of intense studies such as the PCLR test.
th

Evidence:
The deficit in moral psychology seen among psychopaths is due to the deficit in
emotional processing, comes from the wealth of research showing a significant
relationship between emotional experience and moral judgment.
Emotional processing is necessary for moral understanding, and the more specific thesis
that the compromised emotional processes of psychopaths accounts for their abnormal
moral psychology, including most specifically, their heinous violence and disregard for
others.
Analysis: This is a scholarly article, which made it difficult to read. Some of the
terminology is hard to understand because I do not know the meaning of some of the
terms. Over all I believe this article did a great job giving valid data from studies on
psychopaths. This article relates to my inquiry question because it again goes further in
depth on why psychopaths do the things they do.
The charming psychopath
Hare, Robert. "This Charming Psychopath." Psychology Today.4 Jan. 1994. Web. 10
Nov. 2015.
Going into a relationship people typically don't think the person they supposedly love
is a psychopath. Love has its way of making people blind because of how someone can
sweep you off your feet, and make you trust their every move. Most psychopaths are
excellent manipulators and can convince anyone what is going through their own head.
This article is about a woman named Elsa, and her husband that is a hidden psychopath.
Deadly but charming people are under the category of a psychopath. The article was titled

 The Charming Psychopath by Robert Hare, because he is trying to inform readers that
even though someone comes off normal its important to pay attention to small details
because after all they could fall under the category of being a psychopath. Robert Hare
search for psychopaths all began in the 1960s, at the University of British Columbia. He
learned more about psychopaths by visiting local prisons and observing them. Years of
study passed by and Hare invented a diagnostic tool called the Psychopathy Checklist.
This checklist would in depth examine psychopaths characteristics.
Evidence:
Their hallmark is a stunning lack of conscience; their game is selfgratification at the
other person's expense. Many spend time in prison, but many do not. All take far more
than they give.
Not surprisingly, many psychopaths are criminals, but many others manage to remain
out of prison, using their charmand chameleonlike coloration to cut a wide swathe
through society.
Analysis: This article was easy to comprehend because it was a personal story about a
couple. This shows that around the world people in relationships may be with someone
who is a psychopath. This article gives ways to notice signs that are obvious to get out of
the relationship as soon as possible. The above quotes give detail about how some
psychopaths are in disguise.
Inside the mind of a psychopath
Kiehl, Kent. "Inside the Mind of a Pyschopath." 1 Sept. 2010. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.

Psychopaths are likeable people when they want to be. A key factor that trained
professionals have realized is that all psychopaths lack empathy. Most psychopaths are
liars and manipulators and feel no regret towards their actions even if to others they are
wrong. Most normal people make sense of the world through emotion, but psychopaths
tend to not have those types of feelings. Furthermore, psychopaths often cover up their
deficiencies with a ready and engaging charm, so it can take time to realize what you are
dealing with. When asked psychopaths tend to deny what theyve done wrong and state
that it was the old me, not who I am now. This is a huge problem because the
psychopath himself does not think that they have done anything wrong to begin with even
when they are locked up in prison. Over all professionals have come to a conclusion, they
say psychopaths have a biological defect. Their brains will never process like normal
people. This article was written by Kent. A Kiehl and Joshua w. Buckholtz. Kiehl
launched a multimillion dollar project funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health
and Drug Abuse. Together they gathered 1,000 cases of psychopaths and made it into a
searchable database for people to access easily. With the help of Kiehl she helped design
a portable scanner that can be brought beyond the prison walls. This scanner tells you
when there is a dangerous prisoner in range of you. With the help of both Joshua, and
Kent they both advanced the research of mental health together. This article is an
academic based article and I think it took time, and research to complete this article. The
article gives valid information about psychopaths and first hand experiences that they
have dealt with. This relates to my inquiry question because it helps me understand a
psychopaths mind better.

Evidence:
Charming as they may seem, psychopaths can also be tonedeaf because they lack access
to their own feelings and those of others.
Psychopaths have trouble making appropriate moral value judgements and putting the
brakes on their impulses. They are also hampered in how they respond to emotions,
language and distractionsa disconnect that is sometimes seen as early as age five.
Analysis:
This article will benefit me when it is time to compose my inquiry paper. Over all this
article did a great job on explaining the way psychopaths minds are. Throughout my
paper i am going to include information such as, why psychopaths lack empathy, and how
their mind works different from normal people.
The definitive guide to guilt
Whitbourne, Susan. "The Definitive Guide to Guilt." Psychology Today.11 Aug.
2012. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Normal people all experience thoughts of guilt when doing something
that is immoral. Guilt is an internal state, which is closely related to
loneliness, and grief. Grief can also be closely related with anxiety. A
couple years after children are born they say the emotion of guilt forms
around ages 3-5 years old. People tend to experience guilt because
they convince themselves that they have caused some sort of harm.
There is cognitive therapy that is available for people who experience

grief and guilt more than a regular person should. Blaming yourself for
everything that goes wrong in life can lead to serious complications.
Its very important to be able to
put things in the past and move on. Once people learn to change
thoughts that run through their head then the emotions that are
experienced can be changed. The problem with psychopaths is they do
not experience guilt after they do something wrong. Normal people feel
guilt after they do something wrong and that is a good thing. To not
feel any guilt after hurting someone, cheating on your significant other,
or stealing would be an obvious sign of psychopathy. The title of this
article is the definitive guide to guilt, the author Susan Krauss
Whitbourne is informing readers on the importance of feeling guilt.
Freud was the psychology expert and studied emotion. The importance
of this article is to teach people multiple ways to cope with their
emotions. The intended audience would be scientific experts in the
same field that Susan Whitbourne works in. Also, the audience needs
to have the same expert level and inquire knowledge about guilt. Dr.
Susan K Whitbourne received her PH.D in developmental psychology.
She has over 160 articles and 16 books. Furthermore, she has made an
appearance for NBC nightly news, CNN, Abc.com, USA today, money
magazine and many others. I chose this article to learn more about
why some people do not have a guilty conscious and why others do.
This relates to my inquiry question, Why do some people have no

remorse? because psychopaths feel no guilt towards their actions.

Normal people will feel emotions such as guilt, and
loneliness, and regret after doing something immoral. Psychopaths lack
empathy towards their actions and towards people, which is a serious
problem around the world.
Evidence:
Guilt is not a very good motivator. It's more accurate to think of guilt as an internal
state.
People who experience guilt on a chronic basis, according to the cognitive perspective,
mistakenly suffer under the illusion that they have caused other people harm.
Analysis: I chose this article because it relates to my inquiry question. Guilt is something
psychopaths do not experience after they commit crimes. In my inquiry paper I am going
to use quotes from this article to explain why psychopaths do not experience guilt. This
article did a great job explaining how to cope with a guilty conscious and also explained
the importance of feeling guilt after doing something immoral.
The hidden suffering of a psychopath
Research has shown that many psychopaths have a hart time loving
and
trusting the world but they can love and accept their pets, family, and
children. Psychopaths have a huge heart and crave love and affection

from other people but no matter how much love and care they are
given it is never fulfilling to them.
Research has also shown the ones that are psychopaths tend to not
have a stable relationship with their parents, not enough guidance in
early childhood, substance abuse, and poor relationships with peers.
Most psychopaths feel inferior to others because they are well aware
that they cant let their true colors show. Most psychopaths end up
isolating themselves from society and end up depressed and lonely.
Living a life with so much emotional pain and rejection usually leads
them to break out in violent acts. Usually for most psychopaths they
start doing minor crimes and then keep dwindling down and end up
killing people in the near future. Willem H. J. Martens has a PH.D in
psychology and studies psychopaths as a living. Do all psychopaths
lack empathy and emotions. Through my inquiry paper I am going to
be working delegintely to find all the answers.
Evidence:
Social isolation, loneliness, and associated emotional pain in psychopaths may precede
violent criminal acts.
Dahmer and Nilsen have stated that they killed simply for company.5 Both men had no
friends and their only social contacts were occasional encounters in homosexual bars.

As psychopaths age, they are not able to continue their energyconsuming lifestyle and
become burnedout and depressed while they look back on their restless life full of
interpersonal discontentment. Their health deteriorates as the effects of their recklessness
accumulate
Analysis: This article relates to my paper because it explains the hidden emotions and
feelings of a psychopath. Even though we are all human, the psychopaths mind does not
function at a normal rate. Psychopaths experience extreme emotional distress and that is
why psychopaths go on such extreme rampages. This article proves that a psychopaths
mind is not normal and that most psychopaths are very dangerous to even be around. In
my paper I am going to incorporate some of this evidence to back up my claims.
The unburdened mind
Putnam, Christopher. "The Unburdened Mind." Damn Interesting.2008. Web. 28
Oct. 2015.
Psychopaths are most frequently called the born criminal. Psychopaths lack human
emotion and their interaction with other humans is skewed. Psychopaths are so common
that one out of every 100 men tend to be a psychopaths, and one out of every 300 women
are psychopaths. Many potential psychopaths might not even realize they have the
condition, nor has there traditionally been any easy way for others to recognize them.
This has been a huge problem because the people that fall under the category of
being a psychopath are in denial and dont get professionally evaluated by someone.

Psychopaths are dangerous to be in this world because most of them do not have remorse
for their actions. People who suffer with this disorder may not even know that they are a
psychopath until they are professional evaluated by a doctor. Psychopaths tend to have
most of the same characteristics when evaluated. Some behaviors include impulsive and
selfdestructive behaviors, along with compulsive lying. This condition was known as th
manie sans delire which later turned into moral insanity. The 20century evolved and these
people were known as sociopaths that had antisocial personality disorder. This was a very
interesting article and was very easy to read. Christopher Putnam was an experienced
writer for the Damn Interesting A Team. Over all this article will help students who are
dealing with similar questions and who are trying to understand my question more
clearly. This article helps people understand the characteristics and behaviors of
psychopaths. My inquiry question was based on why do some people have no remorse,
and this article relates to my inquiry question because it explains the mind of
psychopaths. Understanding the way psychopaths work is important to understand when
completing this inquiry project. Over all experts agree that psychopaths cannot get rid of
their condition and will never have normal behaviors or think like a normal person.
Evidence:
In the 19th century, psychiatric clinicians began to notice patients in their care who fit
no known diagnosis, but who nevertheless displayed strange and disturbing behaviors.

They lied pathologically, and when caught, they shrugged it off with a smirk and moved
on to the next lie.
What does remorse feel like? for instance, the typical psychopath will become
irritated, deflect the question, or attempt to change the subject.
Analysis: This article related to my paper because it explained how psychopaths have an
unburdened mind. Also this article explains a personal story of this guy named frank and
I think that made the article easier to understand. I am going to incorporate some of this
information in my paper. This article gave statistics of men and women who are
psychopaths and I think that is important to understand because it makes people realize
how many psychotic people are out there.