ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that psychopathic individuals suffer from a general information processing deficiency involving the relatively automatic shift of attention to stimuli that are peripheral to ongoing goal-directed behavior. It reviews research that is relevant to the assertion that information that is not salient with respect to an immediate behavioral goal is less likely to attract the attention of psychopathic individuals, is less likely to be evaluated, and is less likely to be used to guide ongoing, goal-directed behavior. The chapter describes evidence that psychopathic individuals' ability to modify ongoing, goal-directed behavior in response to peripheral, non-salient information is impaired relative to nonpsychopaths. It provides evidence that the failure to modify behavior occurs because the relatively automatic redirection of attention to information that is peripheral to goal-directed behavior occurs less readily in psychopathic individuals. While the evidence for psychopathic individuals' information processing deficiencies continues to develop, efforts to develop programs designed to build compensatory strategies have scarcely begun.
