Fearful Faces do Not Lead to Faster Attentional Deployment in Individuals with Elevated Psychopathic Traits

Sylco S. Hoppenbrouwers; Jaap Munneke; Karen A. Kooiman; Bethany Little; Craig S. Neumann; Jan Theeuwes

doi:10.1007/s10862-017-9614-x

Fearful Faces do Not Lead to Faster Attentional Deployment in Individuals with Elevated Psychopathic Traits

Sylco S. Hoppenbrouwers^*, Jaap Munneke, Karen A. Kooiman, Bethany Little, Craig S. Neumann, Jan Theeuwes

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

In the current study, a gaze-cueing experiment (similar to Dawel et al. 2015) was conducted in which the predictivity of a gaze-cue was manipulated (non-predictive vs highly predictive). This was done to assess the degree to which individuals with elevated psychopathic traits can use contextual information (i.e., the predictivity of the cue). Psychopathic traits were measured with the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale-Short Form (SRP-SF) in a mixed sample (undergraduate students and community members). Results showed no group difference in reaction times between high and non-predictive cueing blocks, suggesting that individuals with elevated psychopathic traits can indeed use contextual information when it is relevant. In addition, we observed that fearful facial expressions did not lead to a change in reaction times in individuals with elevated psychopathic traits, whereas individuals with low psychopathic traits showed speeded responses when confronted with a fearful face, compared to a neutral face. This suggests that fearful faces do not lead to faster attentional deployment in individuals with elevated psychopathic traits.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	596-604
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment
Volume	39
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-017-9614-x
Publication status	Published - 2017

Funding

Funding This research was supported by an ERC advanced grant [ERC-2012-AdG – 323,413 Jan Theeuwes] and a TUBITAK-BIDEB visiting scientist grant [2221 – J. Munneke] Ethical Approval All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Funders	Funder number
ERC advanced
ERC-2012-AdG
TUBITAK-BIDEB
Seventh Framework Programme	323413

Keywords

Attention
Fear
Psychopathy
Response modulation hypothesis
Top-down attention

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title = "Fearful Faces do Not Lead to Faster Attentional Deployment in Individuals with Elevated Psychopathic Traits",

abstract = "In the current study, a gaze-cueing experiment (similar to Dawel et al. 2015) was conducted in which the predictivity of a gaze-cue was manipulated (non-predictive vs highly predictive). This was done to assess the degree to which individuals with elevated psychopathic traits can use contextual information (i.e., the predictivity of the cue). Psychopathic traits were measured with the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale-Short Form (SRP-SF) in a mixed sample (undergraduate students and community members). Results showed no group difference in reaction times between high and non-predictive cueing blocks, suggesting that individuals with elevated psychopathic traits can indeed use contextual information when it is relevant. In addition, we observed that fearful facial expressions did not lead to a change in reaction times in individuals with elevated psychopathic traits, whereas individuals with low psychopathic traits showed speeded responses when confronted with a fearful face, compared to a neutral face. This suggests that fearful faces do not lead to faster attentional deployment in individuals with elevated psychopathic traits.",

keywords = "Attention, Fear, Psychopathy, Response modulation hypothesis, Top-down attention",

author = "Hoppenbrouwers, {Sylco S.} and Jaap Munneke and Kooiman, {Karen A.} and Bethany Little and Neumann, {Craig S.} and Jan Theeuwes",

year = "2017",

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AU - Munneke, Jaap

AU - Kooiman, Karen A.

AU - Little, Bethany

AU - Neumann, Craig S.

AU - Theeuwes, Jan

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - In the current study, a gaze-cueing experiment (similar to Dawel et al. 2015) was conducted in which the predictivity of a gaze-cue was manipulated (non-predictive vs highly predictive). This was done to assess the degree to which individuals with elevated psychopathic traits can use contextual information (i.e., the predictivity of the cue). Psychopathic traits were measured with the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale-Short Form (SRP-SF) in a mixed sample (undergraduate students and community members). Results showed no group difference in reaction times between high and non-predictive cueing blocks, suggesting that individuals with elevated psychopathic traits can indeed use contextual information when it is relevant. In addition, we observed that fearful facial expressions did not lead to a change in reaction times in individuals with elevated psychopathic traits, whereas individuals with low psychopathic traits showed speeded responses when confronted with a fearful face, compared to a neutral face. This suggests that fearful faces do not lead to faster attentional deployment in individuals with elevated psychopathic traits.

AB - In the current study, a gaze-cueing experiment (similar to Dawel et al. 2015) was conducted in which the predictivity of a gaze-cue was manipulated (non-predictive vs highly predictive). This was done to assess the degree to which individuals with elevated psychopathic traits can use contextual information (i.e., the predictivity of the cue). Psychopathic traits were measured with the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale-Short Form (SRP-SF) in a mixed sample (undergraduate students and community members). Results showed no group difference in reaction times between high and non-predictive cueing blocks, suggesting that individuals with elevated psychopathic traits can indeed use contextual information when it is relevant. In addition, we observed that fearful facial expressions did not lead to a change in reaction times in individuals with elevated psychopathic traits, whereas individuals with low psychopathic traits showed speeded responses when confronted with a fearful face, compared to a neutral face. This suggests that fearful faces do not lead to faster attentional deployment in individuals with elevated psychopathic traits.

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Fearful Faces do Not Lead to Faster Attentional Deployment in Individuals with Elevated Psychopathic Traits

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