Who proposed that psychopaths have a slower rate of classical conditioning?

• A. Quay
• B. Eysenck
• C. Bowlby
• D. Skinner

Answer: (B)

The idea here links psychopathy with differences in how people learn associations, specifically through slower formation of conditioned responses to aversive cues. Hans Eysenck argued that psychopaths have distinctive arousal and fear systems, often with lower anxiety and a less reactive autonomic nervous system. Because of this, aversive conditioning tends to be weaker, so the rate at which they acquire a conditioned fear or avoidance response is slower. This slower classical conditioning fits with his broader view that personality traits like impulsivity and low anxiety underlie certain antisocial patterns, connecting learning processes to psychopathic behavior. While other theorists addressed conditioning or attachment in different ways, Eysenck is the one best associated with proposing slower conditioning in psychopaths.