Nicola S. Gray

Abolition of latent inhibition by a single 5 mg dose ofd-amphetamine in man

The performance of healthy volunteer subjects on an auditory latent inhibition (LI) paradigm was assessed following administration of a single oral dose ofd-amphetamine or placebo. It was predicted that a low (5 mg), but not a high (10 mg), dose ofd-amphetamine would disrupt LI. The prediction was supported with left ear presentation of the preexposed stimulus only. When the preexposed stimulus was presented to the right ear the predicted pattern of findings was not obtained. It is concluded that the dopaminergic system is involved in the mediation of LI in man and it is speculated that the interaction between amphetamine dose and ear of presentation of the preexposed stimulus may reflect normally occurring dopaminergic hemisphere asymmetry.

Predicting violent reconvictions using the HCR–20

BACKGROUNDnRisk assessment of future violent acts is of great importance for both public protection and care planning. Structured clinical assessments offer a method by which accurate assessments could be achieved.nnnAIMSnTo test the efficacy of the Historical, Clinical and Risk Management Scales (HCR-20) structured risk assessment scheme on a large sample of male forensic psychiatric patients discharged from medium secure units in the UK.nnnMETHODnIn a pseudo-prospective study, 887 male patients were followed for at least 2 years. The HCR-20 was completed using only pre-discharge information, and violent and other offending behaviour post-discharge was obtained from official records.nnnRESULTSnThe HCR-20 total score was a good predictor of both violent and other offences following discharge. The historical and risk sub-scales were both able to predict offences, but the clinical sub-scale did not produce significant predictions. The predictive efficacy was highest for short periods (under 1 year) and showed a modest fall in efficacy over longer periods (5 years).nnnCONCLUSIONSnThe results provide a strong evidence base that the HCR-20 is a good predictor of both violent and non-violent offending following release from medium secure units for male forensic psychiatric patients in the UK.

effects of d-amphetamine and haloperidol on latent inhibition in healthy male volunteers

Latent inhibition (LI) refers to a retardation of learning about the consequences of a stimulus when that stimulus has been passively presented a number of times without reinforcement. Acute positive-symptom schizophrenics, normal volunteers who score high on questionnaire measures of schizotypy and non-patients or animals treated with dopamine agonists show reduced LI. Neuroleptic drugs, such as haloperidol, administered at low doses, potentiate LI and effectively reverse disruption of LI induced by dopamine agonists in animals. However, a high dose of haloperidol, administered on its own, has been found to reduce LI. We examined the effects on LI of acute oral administration of an indirect dopamine-agonist, d-amphetamine (5 mg), and a nonselective dopamine receptor antagonist, haloperidol (5 mg), in normal male volunteers, using an associative learning task. Replicating previous reports, we found that d-amphetamine reduced LI; haloperidol also reduced LI, but only in subjects who scored low on the Psychoticism scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. In a subsequent study, no effect was found of 2 mg oral haloperidol administration on LI. The effect of 5 mg haloperidol on LI is interpreted as similar to that observed with a high dose of haloperidol in rats.

Faking of the Implicit Association Test Is Statistically Detectable and Partly Correctable

Male and female participants were instructed to produce an altered response pattern on an Implicit Association Test measure of gender identity by slowing performance in trials requiring the same response to stimuli designating own gender and self. Participants faking success was found to be predictable by a measure of slowing relative to unfaked performances. This combined task slowing (CTS) indicator was then applied in reanalyses of three experiments from other laboratories, two involving instructed faking and one involving possibly motivated faking. Across all studies involving instructed faking, CTS correctly classified 75% of intentionally faking participants. Using the CTS index to adjust faked Implicit Association Test scores increased the correlation of CTS-adjusted measures with known group membership, relative to unadjusted (i.e., faked) measures.

Psychoticism and dopamine D2 binding in the basal ganglia using single photon emission tomography

The aim of the study was to investigate the hypothesis of an association between personality and dopaminergic mechanisms. Subjects were a sub-set of normal controls who were scanned as part of a large study of in vivo dopamine D2 receptor binding in schizophrenia (Pilowsky, Costa, Ell, Verhoeff, Murray & Kerwin, 1994). Nine of the normal control subjects subsequently completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. As predicted, there was found to be a significant correlation between Psychoticism and dopamine D2 binding in the left and right basal ganglia. There was found to be no association between Extraversion, Neuroticism, or the Lie scale and dopamine D2 binding. Although these results have to be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size, they represent interesting preliminary evidence that dopamine function is implicated in the biological basis of the Psychoticism personality dimension.

Indirect Behavioral Measures of Cognition among Sexual Offenders

Indirect measures of cognition have become an important tool in research on sexual offending. Such methods allow the exploration and testing of models of cognitive processes that might underpin sexual preferences and, in turn, sexual offending. The article reviews studies that have used a large range of indirect techniques (e.g., Implicit Association Test, Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure, Choice Reaction Times, Stroop Interference, Rapid Serial Visual Presentation, Lexical Decision Priming Task, and Viewing Times), and aims to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this research.

Impulsivity and psychopathy: Associations between the Barrett Impulsivity Scale and the Psychopathy Checklist revised

Impulsivity is often cited as a core dysfunction in those who are high in psychopathic traits. However, both impulsivity and psychopathy are both multi-faceted constructs. We examined a 3-factor model of self-reported impulsivity (Barrett Impulsivity: BIS-11) against the 2-factor and 4-facet model of psychopathy as defined by the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). Those high on secondary psychopathy (Factor 2 and Facets 3 and 4 of the PCL-R) showed increased impulsivity as it related to acting with thinking (Motor Scale of BIS) and lack of future planning (Non-Planning scale of BIS), but not did not show any elevated features of poor concentration or distraction (Attention Scale of BIS). On the other hand, there was some evidence that primary psychopathy (Factor 1 of PCL-R) was associated with reduced impulsivity as it relates to future planning (Non-Planning scale of BIS). Thus, our results show that only some psychopaths show increased impulsivity and that not all forms of impulsivity are raised.

Factors associated with criminal convictions for sexually inappropriate behaviour in men with learning disabilities

Care professionals were interviewed regarding the extent, nature and victims of inappropriate sexual behaviour of 46 males with learning disabilities, and an adapted and expanded form of a version of the Structured Anchored Clinical Judgement risk assessment protocol (SACJ-Min: Hanson and Thornton, 2000) was completed for each client. Comparisons of the 16 criminally convicted and 30 non-convicted men revealed few differences on factors associated with sexual recidivism. However, convicted men were more likely to have targeted children and males as victims and had perpetrated more serious sexual offences. Variables that differed significantly, or nearly so, between the two groups were entered as predictors in a logistic regression analysis. The analysis generated a powerful model, accounting for almost 50% of the variance. However, the only significant predictors of convicted status to emerge from this analysis were child victim and, less reliably, emotional loneliness. The results suggest that the decision to prosecute a man with learning disabilities who displays sexually inappropriate behaviour is based more on the identity of the victim than on the nature of the offence.

Assessing Risk of Future Violence Among Forensic Psychiatric Inpatients With the Classification of Violence Risk (COVR)

OBJECTIVESnInstruments are needed to help clinicians make decisions about a patients risk of future violence in order to manage this risk, protect others, and allocate resources. One such actuarial instrument-the Classification of Violence Risk (COVR)-was developed from the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study. The COVR has not been validated in a sample other than the one with which it was constructed or outside of the United States. The purpose of this study was to provide an independent validation of the COVR in a sample of forensic psychiatric inpatients in the United Kingdom.nnnMETHODSnThe prospective study was conducted at four medium-security forensic psychiatric units over six months. Two risk assessment instruments were completed for 52 patients: the COVR and the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG), a well-established actuarial instrument. Incidents of verbal aggression, physical aggression toward others, and aggression against property were documented for the next six months from nursing records. Predictive accuracy of the instruments was analyzed using both correlational techniques and signal detection theory.nnnRESULTSnCOVR was a good predictor of both verbal and physical aggression. Its predictive ability was similar to that of the VRAG, although the VRAG was a better predictor of violence to property.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThe study provides the first independent validation of the COVR and evidence of the usefulness of the COVR in predicting harmful behavior in forensic inpatient settings in the United Kingdom.

Implicit sexual associations in heterosexual and homosexual women and men.

Patterns of genital arousal to sexual stimuli are somewhat different between men and women. Heterosexual males and homosexual males show clear category specific arousal that is consistent with their self-reported sexual preference. However, heterosexual women do not show this category specificity. In the present study, we attempted to measure a person’s automatic appraisals of stimuli with respect to the concept of sex via the use of implicit measures (the Implicit Association Test and the priming task). In three experiments, we showed that heterosexual females did not show a sex-related category specific response in favor of male versus female stimuli. However, this lack of specificity was not due to a lack of sex-related appraisals, but by equal appraisals of both male and female stimuli. On the other hand, heterosexual men, homosexual men, and homosexual women all showed automatic sex-related appraisals of stimuli that were category specific and in line with their self-reported sexual preference. The study shows difference in the pattern of sexual interest between genders at the earliest stages of the evaluation of a stimulus.