The Psychopath Test on This American Life Posted by:Lloyd Woodward--Monday, May 21, 2012

Click here to go to to This American Life to listen.

If you'e like a lot of us at PSST you are no stranger to the nature verses nurture issue.  Somewhere in this episode it says something to the effect that psychologists, teachers, and social workers used to think that everything was about how a person was raised.  All behavior was thought to be learned; however, today people seem more aware that the hereditary cards that a person is dealt may have more to do with how people turn out than learned behavior.

Especially, when you look at psychopathology, some people may not have the "hardware" necessary to feel empathy, remorse, or even fear.  Still, there is a danger that in the use of this Psychopath Test some people might get "written off" when really there was a miracle for them right around the corner.

This show raises more questions than it answers but it really does help a listener to be aware of exactly what the questions are.  Of course this piece is educational;  like everything that Ira Glass and This American Life examines, it is wildly entertaining as well.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/436/the-psychopath-test




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