Citation

Miller L. Aggressive Behav. 1987; 13(3): 119-140.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1987, International Society for Research on Aggression, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/1098-2337(1987)13:3<119::AID-AB2480130303>3.0.CO;2-P

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Neuropsychological studies of aggressive psychopaths have revealed characteristic deficits in skills that require verbal mediation, conceptual integration, and the abilities to anticipate consequences of actions and to use feedback from behavior to modify maladaptive response patterns. Formulations of this impairment pattern in terms of frontal lobe and left hemisphere dysfunction are reviewed. It is proposed that the aggressive psychopath suffers from an inability to form a self-referential conceptual classification system for behavioral control and that this predisposes to behavioral disinhibition in situations of stress and interpersonal ambiguity. Finally, implications of neuropsychological studies of aggressive psychopathy for the study of personality and psychopathology are discussed.

Language: en