Behavioral Health Experts Claim Head Movement While Speaking Indicator Whether Women Are Psychopathic
by Douglas Ankney
According to the authors of a study from the University of New Mexico, “[n]onverbal behaviors (i.e., head dynamics) represent an important, yet understudied, form of communication that may enhance our ability to detect certain forms of psychopathology, including psychopathy.” A research team used an automated detection algorithm to determine “that women who hold their heads perfectly still or with minimal movement while in conversation possess high levels of psychopathic propensities.”
The researchers analyzed 213 female prisoners incarcerated at a medium- and maximum-security facility in the U.S. who ranged in age from 21 to 57. Psychopathic traits were defined as “a combination of interpersonal dysfunctions such as manipulation, pathological lying, callousness, lack of remorse, impulsivity, and criminal versatility.”
By observing video-recorded interviews of each of the study’s participants, researchers extracted the head position frame-by-frame. The average head position was calculated using the spatial data extracted from the frames and categorized as minimal, moderate, or extreme movement—with less movement equating with more psychotic. (One might conclude that the study gives legitimacy to the term “a real head case.”)
Additionally, the study included the 20-item assessment from the Hare Psychopathic Checklist Revised Exam (developed in the 1970s by psychologist Robert D. Hare) that measures antisocial tendencies on a scale from 1 to 40. People scoring 30 or higher are deemed psychopathic.
Source: Cato
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