Using signal detection theory in the analysis of emotional sensitivity of male recidivist offenders

Abstract

Our findings show that direct observations of emotional arousal, but not valence, discriminate between recidivist offenders with antisocial personality disorder and non-offending controls. Use of such approaches is likely to provide more valid data than self-reports and may prove particularly useful in studies of intervention for recidivists or in assessment of their readiness for release.

A signal-detection approach to individual differences in negative feeling

“…This finding, along with meta-analysis indicating positive relation between anti-social tendency and Neuroticism level (Jones et al., 2011) suggests a prediction of negative correlation between evidence differentiation ( d a ) and Neuroticism, and positive correlation between the report criterion ( c ) and Neuroticism. Note that the prediction regarding c , which stems from the (tentative) extrapolation from Barbosa et al. (2016) is opposite to that which we made beforehand.…”

“…Among the Big-Five, the report-criterion, c, was found to be correlated only with Neuroticism, such that high levels of Neuroticism were related to a lower c . The presence of a report-criterion involvement was further validated using the five criteria analysis Interestingly, the prediction derived from anti-social behavior studies (Barbosa et al., 2016; Jones et al., 2011) was not supported, as Neuroticism was accompanied with lowering of c. This difference may be due to the fact that lower-order Neuroticism traits (mainly Impulsivity and Angry Hostility) contributed to the positive relation with anti-social behavior (Jones et al., 2011). However, we did not assess these lower-order traits of the Big Five in the current study.…”

“…Here we focus on a prominent aspect in emotion, the subjective conscious experiences of the emotion, or feelings. Building on prior work (e.g., Barrett et al., 2007; Barbosa et al., 2016; Neufeld, 1975; Nielsen and Kaszniak, 2006), we (Karmon-Presser et al., 2018) have recently conceptualized feeling generation in terms of Signal-Detection Theory (SDT, Macmillan and Creelman, 2004). Accordingly, we consider feeling generation to closely resemble sensation processes.…”

“…Very few of the SDT applications in emotion research are made on reports of subjective experience (Barbosa et al., 2016; Neufeld, 1975; Nielsen and Kaszniak, 2006; for the three exceptions). To our knowledge, the only SDT study providing basis of specific prediction in the current study is Barbosa et al. (2016), who showed reduced sensitivity ( d’ ) and elevated response bias ( c ) in arousal experience, among anti-social men.…”

Versatility and exploratory psychometric properties of the Impulsive/Premeditated Aggression Scale (IPAS): A review

“…Both dimensional and categorical approaches provide useful information, and account for the natural heterogeneity of aggressive behavior, recognizing that individuals may vary in their level of behavioral control, having, however, a predominance for one type of aggression (Houston & Stanford, 2006). Other possible explanation concerns a response bias commonly affecting both scales, as antisocial participants tend to project more social desirability when answering self-report questionnaires (Barbosa, Almeida, Ferreira-Santos, & Marques-Teixeira, 2015).…”