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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Hervey Cleckley say the psychopath is incapable of understanding?

2. How well do psychopaths get along with one another?

3. What was the verdict in the case of Ted Bundy?

4. Why is it important for parole boards to understand psychopathy?

5. How do psychopaths tend to view their own aggression?

Short Essay Questions

1. How has the term "psychopath" contributed to confusion about its meaning?

2. Why is it important to determine whether a psychopath is mentally ill or simply a wrongdoer?

3. What are some important differences between the violent acts of psychopaths and the violent acts of other criminals?

4. In what ways are psychopaths compared to science fiction androids by the author?

5. How are psychopaths often able to pass themselves off as experts?

6. What signs did Helen have that her preadolescent daughter, Alice, was "off"?

7. What distinguishes psychopaths who become criminals?

8. What distinguishes psychopaths from the mentally ill?

9. Why has the author determined not to devote much of his book to psychodynamic, unconscious processes of psychopathy?

10. Why did Ray's showing a knife to the author put the author in an impossible position?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Dr. Pinel described psychopathy as "insanity without delirium," and psychopaths as "morally insane." Do you think there is a distinction between moral insanity and other kinds? Can a case be made that psychopaths are actually psychologically damaged in such a way that they should not be held accountable for their actions? In your essay, take a position for or against this contention and support your position with material from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Use the descriptions provided in this text to compose a word portrait of a typical psychopath for a person who has never heard the term. What would he or she do in a first encounter? What identifying features would present themselves? How could a psychopath be recognized?

Essay Topic 3

An Australian judge put a psychopathic killer into a mental institution rather than a prison on the grounds that "anyone would have to be crazy to behave in that fashion." In your essay, support or refute the argument that psychopaths are obviously mentally ill. Use information from the text to support your thesis.

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