Psychology 15 - Writing Wednesday - How Psychopaths Talk

1. On Loose-Leaf paper, write your Name, Teacher's Name, Class, and Date.  

2. Write a 2-3 paragraph monologue by a psychopath narrating a recently committed crime, using the language cues below.

3. Your work on paper should be slightly over one page. Typed assignments should be two long paragraphs, emailed to icflamm@sof.philasd.org (email link).

​​Characteristic One: Psychopaths were more likely to use the past tense, suggesting a detachment from their crimes, say researchers.


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​Characteristic Three: Psychopaths used more (twice as many) conjunctions like “because,” “since” or “so that,” implying that the crime “had to be done” to obtain a particular goal.


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Characteristic Two: Researchers also found more dysfluencies - the "uhs" and "ums" that interrupt speech - among psychopaths. Researchers speculate that the psychopath is trying harder to make a positive impression, needing to use more mental effort to frame the story.

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​Characteristic Four: Psychopaths use twice as many words relating to physical or physiological needs, such as food, sex or money, while non-psychopaths use more words about social needs, including family, religion and spirituality. Unveiling their predatory nature in their own description, the psychopaths often included details of what they had to eat on the day of their crime.