Response modulation hypothesis (original) (raw)

The response modulation hypothesis is an etiological theory which argues that psychopathy is an attention disorder, and is not caused by an inherent lack of empathy or fear. It posits that when psychopaths focus on a particular goal, they are unable to shift their attention to peripheral signals or cues if they are unrelated to the main goal. Usually outside signals prevent people from antisocial behaviors (such as anxiety deterring someone from environmental dangers or empathy deterring someone from harming others) but psychopaths do not focus on these signals if they do not relate to their main goal.