Neuropsychological correlates of psychopathic traits in a large community sample: applying a virtual reality paradigm

Previous neuropsychological research has indicated several deviant executive functions in psychopathic individuals. Notwithstanding, results are not univocal and many questions remain unanswered. First, it’s unclear whether non-criminal individuals with higher scores on psychopathy exhibit similar deficits as their criminal counterparts. Second, the literature raises questions regarding the specificity of the deficits, given the sometimes contradicting findings. And third, the relation between the different psychopathy facets (i.e. the interpersonal, emotional, lifestyle and antisocial facet) and deviant executive functioning still needs further exploration. Hence, the current study aimed to explore the neuropsychological correlates of the different psychopathy facets in a large community sample (N = 245). Psychopathy was assessed with the the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale III (SRP-III; Paulhus, Neumann, & Hare, in press). In addition, the Jansari assessment of Executive Functions (JEF; Jansari, Agnew, Akesson, & Murphy, 2004), a virtual reality task assessing planning behavior, working memory and task-switching. The relation between the SRP-III factors, and the neuropsychological functions will be explored. The implications of the results will be discussed