This article represents an initial attempt to adapt the three most relevant components of Moyer’s animal aggression typology to humans. These include predatory (unemotional, goal-directed), irritable (anger-based), and defensive (fear-based) aggression. As different brain networks are likely involved, the authors hypothesized that executive function and personality tests could differentiate violent from nonviolent criminals and discriminate the types originally classified on the basis of criminal history. Discriminant analyses correctly classified 80% of the violent and nonviolent groups and 74% of the predatory and irritable groups. Of theoretical salience, the predatory group resembled the unimpaired nonviolent group only on the cognitive Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test but was indistinguishable from the impaired irritable aggression group on the Iowa Gambling, suggesting inhibitory deficits primarily in the face of reward opportunity. Implications for the theory and application to risk assessment are discussed.

Men commit the vast majority of domestic homicide-suicides (H-Ss) wherein a person kills their intimate partner (and/or other family members) before taking their own life. Studies of men who commit H-S have looked at the act from psychopathology and evolutionary psychology viewpoints. To complement those approaches, this article presents additional views of domestic H-S. Applications of theories from social (escape from self), developmental (evolution of self and continuity of self), gender role (power and the male role), and family violence psychology (abusive personality and proximal antecedents of abuse) are outlined. These conceptualizations are offered because they pertain to instability and deconstruction of the self amidst the life changes and intimate distress that precede many cases of domestic H-S.

A novel virtual reality executive function task (Multitasking in the City Test [MCT]) was developed with the aim of investigating planning and multitasking with ecological validity in mind in a normal population. Thirty healthy participants (21 females) completed a neuropsychological test battery that included the MCT along with standardized tests of executive and other cognitive functions. The sample performed within normal limits on the standardized tests. The MCT was performed successfully, although specific types of errors occurred frequently. Spearman correlation coefficients were computed between the various test measures. Only the plan score from the MCT was significantly associated with one of the executive function tests administered (Modified Six Elements Test), suggesting that both variables may be measuring a similar construct. Statistically significant correlations were also found between the MCT and the Trail-Making Test Part A and Judgment of Line Orientation, suggesting that "basic" cognitive functions such as information-processing speed and visuospatial skills are being tapped on the MCT. Preliminary evidence from this study suggested that the MCT may be an ecologically valid method of evaluating executive functioning. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

This article considers innovations in the assessment and treatment of incarcerated individuals. The emphasis is on immediate patient needs and inmate management concerns, rather than on rehabilitation. Assessment of this diagnostically complex population is framed in dimensional and biopsychosocial terms. Scarce resources, new scientific knowledge and technology, organizational barriers, and role transformations for psychologists will guide improvements and future research in correctional mental health care, as reflected in specific areas: dimensional assessment, suicide risk assessment, neuropsychological correlates of chronic maladaptive behavior, prescriptive authority for psychologists, and telehealth. In particular, outcome research based on a broader range of interventions will be increasingly crucial to the effectiveness of correctional psychologists' work. In the near future, the degree of impact that psychologists have will depend largely on their individual and collective initiative in promoting the benefits of their services.