Reading Quest 2

How do you detect a psychopath?

       While reading chapter 6 of How We Decide, the example of John Wayne Gacy was eerie and alarming.  A seeming wonderful man, husband, and neighbor could be a mass murderer?  What made this news so shocking was the fact that no one close to him suspected it.  This made me wonder if there were many telltale signs on ways to detect if someone is a psychopath.  As I researched the topic, I found, on LiveScience.com, surprising claims that the nature of psychopaths can be hinted through their speech patterns.  According to a team of researchers in Cornell University, who interviewed murderers classified as psychopaths, psychopaths often used “cause and effect” while explaining their crimes.  The “because” and “so that” indicate that they have logical explanations for what they have done and why they did it.  The study also suggests that psychopaths put a lot of focus on basic human needs, such as eating, drinking, and money.  Psychopaths have a lack of remorse or regret for their crimes while explaining them and it appears in their speech.  The study also notes that psychopaths often tend to speak in past tense instead of present.  Researchers say it could be a sign of their psychological detachment.  Some more signs are extreme selfishness, narcissism, and charm.  It is also common for them to be highly intelligent and cunning.  Although it seems very unlikely anyone could tell a person is a psychopath within a brief encounter, if they know the person well it might be easier to see detect these signs.