Contingent Negative Variation, P3 Evoked Potentials, and Antisocial Behavior

While initial investigations have found significantly lower contingent negative variation (CNV) amplitudes in adult, institutionalised antisocial groups, others have found either no group differences or significantly higher amplitudes. This study attempts to circumvent some methodological and conceptual problems in previous stud its by assessing CNV in a classical forewarned reaction time experiment in two samples of non‐institutionalised normal adolescents where behavioral ratings and self‐report measures were used to define Antisocial and Pro social groups. A trend toward higher P3 amplitudes to the warning stimulus (SI) observed in a previous study was also investigated by recording evoked potentials to SI. Results indicated no significant group differences in CNV and Nl amplitudes, but a significantly larger P3 amplitude in the Antisocial group in both subject samples. This latter result was viewed as consistent with Jutai and Hare's (1983) finding that psychopathic anti socials have a heightened capacity to attend to events of immediate interest.