Wednesday, October 5, 2011

The Psychopath Test and Toto


In Chapter 4, Jon Ronson examines Bob Hare’s hypothesis that psychopath’s brains differ from non-psychopaths brains.  Ronson attends a seminar on how to detect a psychopath from a non-psychopath conducted by Bob Hare, the man who made the PCL-R Checklist that decides the diagnosis of a psychopath.  Hare tests the responses of people through an electric shock test and a Startle Reflex test.  In the electric shock test, he found psychopaths had no pain inflicted on them and could not remember the pain of the electric shock. Non-psychopaths had the complete opposite reactions.  The Startle Reflex test studied the responses of people to the sight of grotesque images.  Hare found that psychopaths were “engrossed” and “absorbed” in the images while non-psychopaths were startled at the images.  The tests proved that there was an abnormality in the brain of psychopaths.  Their brains lack activation of the amygdala that determines unpleasantness; so, the message of unpleasantness is not sent to the central nervous system.  The results from Hare’s test led Hare to look for another method to detect psychopaths in a less obvious, hands-off method, thus, leading him to the PCL-R Checklist.  During Hare’s seminar, Ronson learned how to detect a psychopath through the structure of their sentences, by analyzing a person’s phrase, by looking for a lack of impulse control, and by detecting the art of manipulation. Throughout the chapter, Ronson constantly diagnoses people with items on the checklist, which represent the behavior of a psychopath.  Hare concludes that because psychopaths brains are wired without emotion, due to the lack of activation of the amygdala, they destroy societies and communities and are the cause of injustices since their brains cannot comprehend emotions.  Lastly, Ronson examined Adam Perkins who used functional MRIs (fMRI) to identify the difference in the brains of psychopaths.  Like Hare suggested, Perkins found no change in the amygdala on the fMRI when testing electric shock on psychopaths.  This proves that there really is a difference between a psychopath’s brain and a non-psychopaths brain. 
            Chapter 4 and 5 were really interesting to read.  I find it surprising that psychopaths and sociopaths can make their way up the social ladder and have powerful roles within societies.  However, I don’t understand how they are the cause of wars and injustices.  I also don’t understand how and why people were influenced by Toto Constant to join FRAPH when it is clearly defined as a far-right paramilitary group with intentions to terrorize people.  I wouldn’t think a lot of people would join a group that terrorizes, rapes, and murders other people unless they were all psychopaths.  I also don’t understand the connection the CIA and DIA have to Toto and the FRAPH.  I think Jon Ronson’s really funny.  It’s funny and really odd that he, as a person with excessive anxiety, searches for psychopaths to interview to try to understand them. Out of all the stories about psychopaths John Ronson has told, the one that has grossed me out and has surprised me the most is the story where the psychopath manipulates the emotions of the troubled kid and has him beat his parents with a baseball bat.  This really proves to me that psychopaths have no emotions and that they most definitely have different brain functions than non-psychopaths.

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