<p>The analysis has revealed how psychopathic killers utter specific words beyond conscious control while talking about heinous crime. <br /><br />The words of psychopaths match their personalities, reflecting selfishness, detachment from their crimes and emotional flatness, says Jeff Hancock, professor of computing and information science at Cornell University and colleagues. <br /><br />Hancock and colleagues analysed stories told by 14 psychopathic murderers held in Canadian prisons and compared them with 38 convicted murderers who were not diagnosed as psychopathic.<br /><br />Each subject was asked to describe his crime in detail. Their stories were taped, transcribed and subjected to computer analysis, the journal Legal and Criminological Psychology reports. <br /><br />Psychopaths used more conjunctions like "because", "since" or "so that", implying that the crime "had to be done" to obtain a particular goal, according to a Cornell statement. <br /><br />They were more likely to use the past tense, suggesting a detachment from their crimes, say the researchers. They tended to be less fluent in their speech, using more "ums" and "uhs". <br /><br />They used twice as many words relating to physical needs, such as food, sex or money, while non-psychopaths used more words about social needs, including family, religion and spirituality.<br /><br />Unveiling their predatory nature in their own description, psychopaths often included details of what they had to eat on the day of their crime, according to a Cornell statement. <br /><br />The exact reason for this is not clear, but the researchers speculate that the psychopath is trying harder to make a positive impression, needing to use more mental effort to frame the story. <br /><br />This research potentially opens the way for better diagnosis and treatment of such conditions and have implications for law enforcement and social media.</p>
<p>The analysis has revealed how psychopathic killers utter specific words beyond conscious control while talking about heinous crime. <br /><br />The words of psychopaths match their personalities, reflecting selfishness, detachment from their crimes and emotional flatness, says Jeff Hancock, professor of computing and information science at Cornell University and colleagues. <br /><br />Hancock and colleagues analysed stories told by 14 psychopathic murderers held in Canadian prisons and compared them with 38 convicted murderers who were not diagnosed as psychopathic.<br /><br />Each subject was asked to describe his crime in detail. Their stories were taped, transcribed and subjected to computer analysis, the journal Legal and Criminological Psychology reports. <br /><br />Psychopaths used more conjunctions like "because", "since" or "so that", implying that the crime "had to be done" to obtain a particular goal, according to a Cornell statement. <br /><br />They were more likely to use the past tense, suggesting a detachment from their crimes, say the researchers. They tended to be less fluent in their speech, using more "ums" and "uhs". <br /><br />They used twice as many words relating to physical needs, such as food, sex or money, while non-psychopaths used more words about social needs, including family, religion and spirituality.<br /><br />Unveiling their predatory nature in their own description, psychopaths often included details of what they had to eat on the day of their crime, according to a Cornell statement. <br /><br />The exact reason for this is not clear, but the researchers speculate that the psychopath is trying harder to make a positive impression, needing to use more mental effort to frame the story. <br /><br />This research potentially opens the way for better diagnosis and treatment of such conditions and have implications for law enforcement and social media.</p>