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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is conscience to a psychopath?

2. How did Clifford Olson see himself during his trial?

3. How do psychopaths perceive the world?

4. What does successful therapy require of a patient?

5. What does Hervey Cleckley see as the main difference between psychopaths who are not incarcerated and those who are?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why are many clinicians and family members reluctant to identify psychopathy in childhood?

2. Why are nurturing, kind-hearted women ideal victims for psychopaths?

3. Why is the option of ignoring the presence of psychopathy in children no longer available?

4. What theory does the author feel may possibly explain the self-contradictory nature of psychopathic speech?

5. What does the Psychopathy checklist provide to clinicians that they are lacking?

6. What benefits came from public exposure to the man who claimed to be a Berkeley Ph.D. in psychology and was discovered by a local reporter to have faked his resume when he ran for the school board?

7. What characteristics distinguish psychopathic use of non-verbal communication?

8. What warnings does the author give to those who are trying to deal with psychopaths in their lives?

9. Why does the author think it important to know about the eyes of a psychopath?

10. Why is it important to identify psychopathy in childhood?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do you think psychopaths do not normally get along with one another? Do you think they can recognize others who are like them? What makes you think so or not? In your essay, provide evidence for your opinion.

Essay Topic 2

It has been said that "guilt is a blessing, not a curse". Using evidence from the text, write an essay for or against the proposition that guilt is an important, useful tool in our individual lives and social interactions.

Essay Topic 3

What is your explanation for the public's glamorization of criminals? Do you accept the theory that the public can play out illicit behavior without personal cost by identifying with criminals onscreen? Do you think that people always root for an underdog, and that an individual out of sync with the larger system is always an underdog? Explain your theory for the attraction of evil and support your theory with examples and information from the text.

(see the answer keys)

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