Cohesion in texts produced by psychopathic and nonpsychopathic criminal inmates

Although there has been much speculation about psychopathsʹ distinctive use of speech, to date there have been no published data documenting that psychopaths communicate any differently than others. This study examined the clinical observation that psychopathic speech is poorly integrated compared to that of controls. 39 inmates from a Wisconsin state penitentiary were asked to produce two stories. Cohesion analysis was used to measure how well integrated the narratives were. As predicted by Williamson [Williamson, (1991). Cohesion and coherence in the speech of psychopathic criminals. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of British Colombia.], psychopathy was associated with a tendency to use fewer cohesive ties per clause. Contrary to the Williamson (1991) predictions, however, psychopaths did not use more incompetent references than controls. Despite its limitations, this study provides a foundation for future work elucidating psychopathic speech.