The Etiology of Psychopathy

Paper Summary:

This paper examines through a literature review how genetic, biological, environment and family factors all appear to be viable when researching the etiology of psychopathy even though no clear cause has yet been established. It discusses how research into a combination of the different factors would contribute more to our understanding of the condition and how, until additional epidemiological evidence is gathered, causality is not likely be established.

From the Paper:

"The inclusion of a factor that would stimulate or push for antisocial behaviour, such as heightened impulsivity, has been taken into consideration when researching the etiology of psychopathy Gorenstein et al (1980) . Frontal lobes are thought to play a major role in inhibiting impulsivity and any such dysfunction in them could therefore heighten impulsivity. Studies showing that psychopaths have impaired performance on neuropsychological tests of frontal functioning and reduced gray matter in the frontal lobes support the idea of heightened impulsivity Dinn & Harris, (2000) , Raine et al (2000) . Patterson & Newman (1993) demonstrated that heightened impulsivity shows up when psychopaths are presented with a task designed to test their ability to modify their responses depending on success or failure."

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