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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. When is the best period for changing the behavior or psychopaths?

2. What does successful therapy require of a patient?

3. What is the main danger of failing to diagnose psychopathy in a child?

4. What is the two-pronged question clinicians face in dealing with psychopathic children?

5. What is the most heart-wrenching situation involving psychopathy?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is a hypothetical, and why is it dangerous in arriving at a diagnosis of psychopathy?

2. Why are many clinicians and family members reluctant to identify psychopathy in childhood?

3. What is it about the speech of psychopaths that may reveal the condition to an astute observer?

4. Why is a bilateral brain, with each side having separate spheres of influence, more efficient?

5. What benefit does a psychopath typically get from therapy programs?

6. What attitude do white-collar psychopaths take toward their victims?

7. What warnings does the author give to those who are trying to deal with psychopaths in their lives?

8. What benefits came from public exposure to the man who claimed to be a Berkeley Ph.D. in psychology and was discovered by a local reporter to have faked his resume when he ran for the school board?

9. Who is Dr. Death, and why was he given that name?

10. Why is it important to identify psychopathy in childhood?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the grey boxes in this book. What do you think was the author's purpose for including these anecdotal materials? Do you think that if he were writing for a professional, rather than a lay audience, he would have included the boxed material? Do you think it contributes to your understanding or interest in the text? In your essay, give your opinion regarding the purpose and effectiveness of the boxed material.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay explaining the nature vs. nurture argument regarding psychopathy. Do you think that one aspect is a more likely cause than the other? Are they equally involved? Support your thesis with reasons from the text

Essay Topic 3

What is your explanation for the public's glamorization of criminals? Do you accept the theory that the public can play out illicit behavior without personal cost by identifying with criminals onscreen? Do you think that people always root for an underdog, and that an individual out of sync with the larger system is always an underdog? Explain your theory for the attraction of evil and support your theory with examples and information from the text.

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