Psychopathy and Memory for Violence

Abstract

Despite theoretical speculation suggesting psychopaths have superior memory for their autobiographical experiences in comparison to nonpsychopaths, little published research has directly assessed this issue. This lack of research formed the impetus for the present investigation. As part of a larger study investigating variables associated with episodic memory in adult male offenders, 150 violent crime perpetrators were interviewed at two federal penitentiaries in British Columbia, Canada. The participants' memories for three different acts of perpetrated violence were elicited (i.e., acts of instrumental and reactive violence and a poorly remembered act of violence) and exhausted for detail. The sample was dichotomized by psychopathy status via the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 1991, 2003). Consistent with certain assumptions of Hervé, Cooper, and Yuille's (2007) biopsychosocial model of eyewitness memory, the pattern which emerged indicated that psychopathic participants reportedly had better memory for their acts of violence in comparison to nonpsychopathic participants. The results are discussed in terms of how the present research supports the extant research and theories. Future directions for empirical investigations and implications for the criminal justice system are offered.