Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2002. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 75 p. Includes abstract and vita. Advisor: Michael Vasey, Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references (p. 70-75).

Thesis (M.A.)--Cleveland State University, 2009. / Abstract. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on April 15, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 38-49). Available online via the OhioLINK ETD Center and also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1983. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-171).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1946. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaf [13]).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1969. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 211-214). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / This research studied ego functioning in two classes of delinquents and one class of non-delinquents in relation to informational cues mediated through an authority figure. The particular focus was the ability of the different classes of delinquents to utilize cues based in the social referents 'self' and others. In the present study, the commission of delinquent acts was viewed as indicative of the presence of some departure from normal ego development. Normal ego development is characterized, in psychoanalytic theory, by the gradual decrease of exclusive self-interest and the eventual abandonment of infantile omnipotence conceptions. These genetically early-appearing modes of ego functioning give way to interest in others and to the use of others for purposes of reality testing. The eventual development of an adequate, independent rewarding superego occurs which functions in the creation of guilt and of inner rewards. Severe disruption of normal ego development is seen as related to the mother's management and attitude towards the child in his early life. Disruption in the earliest phases is seen as distorting future ego development and functioning [TRUNCATED].

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This study was concerned with the relations between representations of psychopathy and interpersonal perceptions. From 147 inmates seen in a federal medium security prison, 79 of the men provided complete data for comparisons. Groups were defined under criteria from (1) the Psychopathy Checklist (PC) (Hare, 1985b), or (2) American Psychiatric Association (1980, 1987) outlines for Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD). Measures were derived from the Interpersonal Adjective Scales-Revised (IAS-R) (Wiggins, Trapnell, and Phillips, 1988 ) which relate interpersonally defined perceptions of personality as locations within a circumplex space--Interpersonal Circle (Wiggins, 1979, 1980). Self-ratings were obtained as descriptive of (1) self, (2) ideal self, (3) self as thought seen by a friends, and (4) self as thought seen by a specific member of the institutional staff. A rating was also obtained from the specific staff members as descriptive of the particular inmates. Comparisons were also made with respect to the specificity and sensitivity of MMPI profiles considered relevant to psychopathy. Supplementary comparisons used selected scales from the Adjective Checklist (ACL) (Gough and Heilbrun, 1980) and Rosenberg's (1965) Self- esteem Scale. These comparisons provided manipulation checks of the consistency of the data and contributed to the interpretive generalizability of the results. The primary hypotheses were that a group of individuals defined as psychopathic would show differences in representations obtained from self-rated and other-rated descriptions, with respect to circumplex location and derived difference scores from the IAS-R, in comparison to groups considered non-psychopathic. Results indicated differential perceptions, particularly by staff members, which provided good discriminations of groups based on the PC but not for groups defined by APD. Circumplex locations of psychopaths defined by the PC were consistent with expectations for the Interpersonal Circle. The discriminative utility of group differences was much higher for the PC-defined groups than for APD relative to the base rates for these different categorizations. The results are discussed in terms of (1) their contribution to the nomological network for the concept of psychopathy as represented by the PC, (2) specific limitations of the study, and (3) the evident confusion which can result from the use of measures assumed to to relate to the 'psychopath,' but that rely on primarily behavioural descriptions. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

This study was designed to examine the hypothesis that criminal psychopaths differ from criminal nonpsychopaths in their ability to over-focus attention on certain kinds of stimuli. For the purposes of this study, the concept of over-focussing was operationalized to mean the ability to process stimuli more quickly or efficiently by making use of one or more attentional mechanisms for selecting among locations or stimuli. A second aim of the study was to identify the component processes contributing to this more efficient selection. Five experiments were run to assess several different components of attention contributing to selection of stimuli in a variety of paradigms. Experiments 1 and 2 assessed covert orienting of attention across the visual field using both peripherally presented physical cues and centrally presented symbolic cues to prime locations in visual space. Three dissociable components of attention were assessed in this paradigm. Experiments 3-5 were designed to assess the efficiency of processing a target item in the presence of a distractor item. Four additional dissociable components of selective attention were measured in these three studies. The results supported the hypothesis that psychopaths can over-focus attention, but the groups were differentiated by only one of the component processes measured. In Experiments 1 and 2 endogenous orienting of attention was greater for psychopaths than for nonpsychopaths. In these paradigms endogenous facilitation controlled the allocation of attention to cued locations, and the subsequent speeding of reaction time to targets presented at those locations, when the cue was symbolic or predictive, but not when it involved a physical change of energy at the cued location. This strategic allocation of attention probably resulted from the predictive validity (approximately 68% valid) of the cue in relation to the target. Other component processes failed to differentiate the groups. These included measures of exogenous orienting and inhibition of return in experiments 1 and 2, and measures of interference due to a distracting stimulus, habituation of interference, attenuation of interference due to spatial displacement of the distractor, and negative priming in experiments 3-5. The difference in covert orienting was replicated in experiments 1 and 2 in two groups of criminals who also failed to demonstrate any abnormalities in a variety of other processes involved in attention. It was concluded that psychopaths differ from nonpsychopaths specifically in their strategic allocation of attention in situations of moderate uncertainty, but show no other abnormalities in the component processes that control attention. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Detection threshold (DT) for electric shock under both incentive (IDT; cigarettes) and no-incentive (NIDT) conditions was determined in psychopathic and nonpsychopathic criminals and noncriminal controls (N=14 each group). A modified forced-choice procedure permitted E to vary stimulus intensity from trial to trial in an attempt to counteract boredom or inattentiveness. The use of a constant-current stimulator, a concentric electrode, and monitoring of skin/electrode impedance allowed reasonably precise control over current intensity. There were no differences between groups in NIDT or IDT, a result not consistent with previous findings of relatively high DTs in psychopaths. The result was interpreted in terms of the concept of arousal. An additional result was that IDT was lower than NIDT for all groups. Tolerance level (TL) for shock was also determined in the same groups under both no-incentive (NITL) and incentive (ITL; cigarettes) conditions. Although there was no difference between groups in NITL, psychopaths had a significantly higher ITL than the other groups. The result supported the hypothesis of relatively high stimulus tolerance in psychopaths. An additional result noted was that TL did not correlate with DT, a finding which appears consistent with evidence suggesting that the two parameters have somewhat different response determinants. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate