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Biomedical subjects

A Raine

Publications and source records attributed to A Raine.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Evoked potential augmenting-reducing in psychopaths and criminals with impaired smooth-pursuit eye movements.

Previous studies that have assessed a stimulation-seeking theory of psychopathy are open to the criticism that psychopaths may lie on self-report questionnaires. The present study uses event-related potential (ERP) augmenting-reducing as a psychophysiological analog of stimulation-seeking in psychopaths to test this theory. It is also hypothesized that "schizoid" criminals, as defined by poor eye tracking, would show nonaugmenting/reducing, a profile characteristic of schizophrenia. Schizoid criminals were found to be characterized by nonaugmenting/reducing, but psychopaths were not found to be characterized by augmenting. It is concluded that stimulation-seeking is a viable theory of criminality but not of psychopathy, and that the etiological basis to schizoid criminality may differ substantially from criminality, per se.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Reduced lateralization in verbal dichotic listening in adolescent psychopaths.

One possible explanation for previous findings of abnormal linguistic processing in psychopaths is that they are less lateralized for verbal processes. This study tests the hypothesis that adolescent psychopaths show evidence of reduced lateralization on a verbal dichotic listening task. Four self-report and behavioral measures of psychopathy were used to define psychopathy using cluster analytic techniques in 40 juvenile offenders aged 13 to 18 years. Psychopaths were found to have reduced ear asymmetries relative to nonpsychopaths, a result indicating reduced lateralization for verbal material. The effect does not appear to be mediated by group differences in age, ethnic background, IQ, overall performance, left-handedness, selective attention to one ear, or interhemispheric transfer deficits. This result suggests that the previous finding by Hare and McPherson is robust, provides some preliminary validity for the assessment of psychopathy before age 18, and indicates initial support for the utility of cluster analytic techniques in the assessment of psychopathy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Relationships between N1, P300, and contingent negative variation recorded at age 15 and criminal behavior at age 24.

Recent event-related potential (ERP) studies indicate that antisocial and psychopathic behavior is in some circumstances characterized by heightened attentional processes. This prospective study assesses whether ERP measures of attention recorded in adolescence are capable of predicting criminality status in adulthood. N1, P300, and contingent negative variation (CNV) were recorded during a CNV paradigm in a representative sample of 101 male schoolchildren at age 15, and related to criminality status at age 24. Criminals-to-be were characterized by larger N1 amplitudes and faster P300 latencies to the warning stimulus. Psychopathic personality within the criminal group was associated with larger N1 and CNV amplitudes. A discriminant function analysis using N1 and P300 measures correctly classified 74% of cases. It is concluded that enhanced early attentional processing may be of etiological significance in the development of criminality and that ERP measures may be of value in the early prediction of criminal behavior.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Autonomic orienting responses in 15-year-old male subjects and criminal behavior at age 24.

This prospective study analyzed relationships between skin conductance and heart rate measures of orienting in a noninstitutionalized sample of 101 15-year-old male subjects and criminal behavior as assessed at age 24 years. Subjects with a criminal record at age 24 (N = 17) had significantly smaller skin conductance responses and smaller heart rate deceleratory and acceleratory responses than the other subjects (N = 84). Lack of any skin conductance response was significantly more prevalent in subjects with a criminal record (31%) than in the control subjects (10%). These results implicate deficits in orienting with the later development of criminal behavior. The authors hypothesize that the genetic predisposition to criminal behavior may find its expression in part through smaller autonomic orienting.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Evoked potentials and psychopathy.

All previous studies which have assessed evoked potentials (EPs) in psychopathic populations are critically reviewed. Three main themes emerge from this review. Firstly early EP studies suggest a dysfunctional arousal system at a brainstem or parietal cortex level in psychopaths. Secondly, middle-latency EP studies suggest that psychopaths show larger visual EP amplitudes, particularly at high intensity levels, indicating cortical augmenting. Thirdly, psychopaths are characterised by enhanced P3 EPs to task-relevant events. An extended sensation-seeking model of psychopathy is proposed which attempts to incorporate these electrophysiological findings into an information-processing framework. It is argued that under certain circumstances psychopaths are characterised by information-processing proficiencies and that they are clearly differentiated from schizophrenics at a psychophysiological level in terms of P3. It is concluded that current 'processing deficit' conceptions of antisociality are overly restrictive and ignore performance superiorities which may have important implications for our understanding of psychopathy.

Brain↗
PubMed1989

Evoked potential models of psychopathy: a critical evaluation.

Raine (1989) reviewed all evoked potential studies carried out to date and developed an information-processing model of psychopathy from the findings of these studies. Jutai (1989) and Howard (1989) have outlined conceptual and empirical criticism of this model and a reply is made to these comments. Some are found to be invalid, while acceptance of others was not found to necessitate a rejection of the model. However, caveats made in the original paper are reiterated here. The cortical immaturity model outlined by Jutai (1989) as a counter-explanation to that proposed by Raine (1989) is evaluated, and criticisms of this alternative are outlined. It is argued that further progress to a more complete understanding of of psychopathy will be achieved by empirically testing these and other models.

Brain↗
PubMed1989

Interhemispheric transfer in schizophrenics, depressives, and normals with schizoid tendencies.

Although several studies suggest that schizophrenics suffer from an impairment in the interhemispheric transfer (IHT) of information, methodological weaknesses in these studies preclude clear interpretation of their results. This study addresses these criticisms in order to provide a clearer test of the IHT theory. Schizophrenics, depressives, normal controls, and normals with schizoid tendencies were assessed on five measures of IHT (verbal and nonverbal dichotic listening, intermanual transfer, bimanual block design, finger sequence repetition) and two measures of unilateral hemispheric processing (lateral eye movements, auditory thresholds). Results consistently failed to support an IHT deficit interpretation of schizophrenia. Schizoid normals had a significantly greater right-ear advantage on verbal dichotic listening than both psychiatric groups, a result suggesting enhanced left-hemisphere activation in schizoid normals. It is concluded that the IHT theory requires stronger empirical substantiation than has been obtained to date to warrant further consideration as a central theory of schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Factors of schizoid personality.

The increasing use of schizoid personality scales with normals has led to a number of validation studies, but to date there are no published analyses of the factorial structure of these scales. This study presents results of factor analyses of schizoid personality scales in an initial attempt to delineate their factorial structure. Questionnaires were administered to 114 male and female undergraduates and factor analysed using Varimax, Quartimax, and Oblique rotations. A two-factor varimax solution yielded a first factor accounting for 49 per cent of total unrotated variance with high (0.70 to 0.91) loadings from Hallucinatory predisposition, Perceptual aberration, Schizophrenism, STA and STB scales, and was interpreted as reflecting a general factor of schizoid personality disorder. Psychoticism and Social anhedonia loaded on a second factor accounting for 20 per cent of the variance which was uncorrelated (r = 0.09) with factor 1. This factor solution was closely replicated using quartimax and oblimin rotation criteria. It is concluded that Social anhedonia and Psychoticism represent a separate dimension from other scales which reflect the more positive features of schizoid personality.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Biosocial longitudinal research into antisocial behavior.

This paper reviews all longitudinal studies of antisocial and criminal behavior which have employed both biological and social measures. Psychophysiological measures which are particularly important in the prediction of antisocial behavior include reduced frequency of skin conductance orienting responses, poorer skin conductance conditioning, and lower resting heart rate levels. Two general themes emerge from this review. Firstly, where antisociality is of a mild or non-violent form, biological factors predispose to antisociality when the individual has experienced a benign home background. Secondly, where violence or seriously recidivistic crime is concerned, biological factors predispose to such behavior in those who have experienced adverse early rearing conditions. It is argued that this difference between mild and severe antisociality is in part a result of the differential contributions of genetic and perinatal factors to these sub-types of crime.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗
PubMed1988

Relationship of lateral eye movements recorded in the dark to verbal and spatial question types.

Lateral eye movements (LEMs) were recorded in normal subjects to verbal and spatial questions in the dark using infra-red recording techniques to assess whether clearer LEM-question type relationships are observed when the potentially confounding effects of visual stimulation are absent. Verbal questions elicited more rightward LEMs than spatial questions. However, spatial questions were not associated with leftward LEMs. It is argued that while infra-red recording techniques may be optimal for recording LEMs to verbal questions, the above results question the generalizability of strong LEM-spatial relationships obtained for a single blind subject by GRIFFITHS and WOODMAN [Neuropsychologia 23, 257-262, 1985].

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Schizoid personality, inter-hemispheric transfer, and left hemisphere over-activation.

This study assesses the external validity of schizoid personality against multiple measures of cerebral laterality designed to distinguish between left hemisphere (LH) over-activation, LH damage and inter-hemisphere transfer deficit interpretations of schizotypy. Questionnaire measures of schizoid personality were assessed in an undergraduate population and related to laterality measures of both verbal and nonverbal dichotic listening, haptic inter- and intra-manual matching, employment of left and right hemisphere strategies during the haptic task, lateral eye-movements, and left and right ear auditory thresholds. A high score on a composite index of schizoid personality was significantly related to greater asymmetry (right ear advantage) in verbal dichotic listening, the use of LH strategies, and lower right ear thresholds, an overall pattern of results indicating LH over-activation in schizoids. It is suggested that studies comparing schizophrenic patients with normal controls minimize the likelihood of obtaining group differences if they fail to take into account schizoid personality in the controls.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Attention, autonomic arousal, and personality in behaviorally disordered children.

This study assessed the construct validity of the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist (RBPC) by measuring attention, autonomic arousal, and personality in 40 behaviorally disordered children aged 7 to 15 years. Conduct Disorder and Socialized Aggression subscales were characterized by high Psychoticism, Impulsivity, and Lie personality scores, by lower heart rate levels, and by more errors on a continuous performance reaction-time task. Conversely, Attention Problems, Anxiety Withdrawal, and Motor Excess were characterized by greater variability in reaction times. Conduct Disorder alone was related to an external locus of control, while only Attention Problems was characterized by low scores on the WISC Freedom from Distraction factor. These differential relationships suggest (a) support for the construct validity of the RBPC, (b) that antisocial behavior and hyperactivity/attention deficits are dissociated disorders, and (c) that hyperactivity/attention deficits may be characterized by fluctuations in the allocation of attentional resources rather than a core structural deficit in attention.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Effect of early environment on electrodermal and cognitive correlates of schizotypy and psychopathy in criminals.

This study examined hypotheses concerning electrodermal hyporeactivity and psychopathy, electrodermal hyporeactivity in schizoid antisocials, poorer scores on the Attention-Distraction factor of the WAIS in schizoid antisocials and stronger support for these relationships in those from intact as opposed to broken home backgrounds. Thirty-seven prisoners were assessed for psychopathy, schizotypy (anhedonia-psychoticism and schizophrenism), the WAIS, and skin conductance recorded to orienting, consonant-vowel, and 90 dB stimuli. All hypothesized relationships for psychopathy were non-significant. High anhedonia-psychoticism scores were significantly associated with reduced orienting frequency (r = -0.43) and with poor performance on Attention-Distraction (r = -0.43). Reduced orienting frequency was itself associated with poor Attention-Distraction (r = 0.61). These relationships were stronger in subjects from intact as opposed to broken home backgrounds. Conclusions are drawn with respect to the mediating effects of attentional and social background factors in psychophysiology-schizotypy relationships.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Validation of schizoid personality scales using indices of schizotypal and borderline personality disorder in a criminal population.

The external validity of 10 schizoid personality scales was assessed against dimensional measures of DSM-III borderline (BPD) and schizotypal (SPD) personality disorders in a sample of 37 top-security prisoners. Significant relationships with SPD or BPD emerged for schizophrenism, withdrawn-disturbed relationships, hallucinatory predisposition, schizoidia, disordered thinking and perceptual aberration (r = 0.30-0.66). The first four of these scales were significantly related to SPD (r = 0.29-0.51) after partialling out the effects of BPD, indicating an intrinsic link between these scales and SPD which may constitute the genetic affinity of SPD with schizophrenia. It is suggested that scales which assess the construct of schizophrenism or 'interpersonal aversiveness' may be the most central to Meehl's (1962) 'integrative neural defect' or genetic predisposition to schizotypy.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

A psychometric assessment of Hare's checklist for psychopathy on an English prison population.

The research scale for psychopathy developed by Hare (1980) represents an important recent advance in the assessment of this disorder in that it emphasizes objectivity and reliability. This study compares the factor structure of the scale derived from an English prison sample with the original Canadian sample in order to assess the cross-cultural generalizability of the checklist and reassess the factorial basis of the scale. Results from the first analysis indicate substantial correspondence between psychopathy factors derived from English and Canadian analyses. Results of a second analysis suggest that four main clusters of traits (emotional detachment, superficial relationships, egocentricity, and impulsivity) are centrally important in the identification of psychopathy. Results of further psychometric analyses suggest increasing the scale's validity by deleting several items having little in common with the main features of psychopathy. It is concluded that Hare's checklist is both applicable to an English population and internally valid, and that future research may usefully investigate correlates of each of the four psychopathy factors.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Tonic heart rate level, social class and antisocial behaviour in adolescents.

On the basis of previous empirical research it was hypothesised that (a) antisocial behaviour in adolescence would be characterised by lower tonic heart rate levels and (b) any such relationship would be particularly borne out in the higher social classes where the 'social push' towards antisociality may be relatively weaker. These predictions were tested by relating tonic heart rate levels in a sample of 15 year old male schoolchildren to self-report and teacher ratings of antisocial behaviour/undersocialization. An 'antisocial' group was found to have significantly lower heart rate levels than a 'prosocial' group. Several analyses on high and low class groups resulted in a significant low heart rate/antisociality relationship in the high classes only. It was speculated that the heart rate/antisociality relationship may be mediated by somatotype, or alternatively that low levels in high class antisocials may reflect a vagal passive adaptation to mildly aversive events.

Adolescent↗