Emotion among women with psychopathy during picture perception

Emotional reactions in women with psychopathy were examined in a mixed-picture paradigm using psychophysiological measures. Startle probes were presented at 2.0 or 4.5 s following onset of a 6-s picture presentation. At 2.0 s, nonpsychopaths exhibited the typical pattern of eyeblink reflex magnitude: unpleasant neutral pleasant. Psychopaths with high general levels of anxiety also exhibited this pattern. Psychopaths with lower anxiety exhibited attenuated reflex magnitudes during unpleasant pictures. Similarly, when focusing on psychopathy components, only individuals expressing high antisocial behavior and high emotional detachment exhibited smaller reflex magnitudes during unpleas-ant pictures. At 4.5 s, all groups exhibited normal, potentiated reflex magnitudes during unpleasant pictures. Group differences were not observed for other measures. Psychopathic men are noted for their failure to regulate inap-propriate behaviors, to experience a normal range and depth of emotion, and to form meaningful interpersonal attachments (Cleckley, 1976; Hare, 1991). Although the psychopathic individ-ual’s self-regulatory deficits are problematic, many researchers regard the “emotional deficit ” as more fundamental (e.g., Hare