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I'm the daughter of immigrant parents whose reason for existence seemed to be to give their children access to better education and to give us the chance of getting a good job. Having endured hardship, risk, and challenges in their own young lives, my parents' primary lens was one of safety and security.I grew up during a time when public education was easily accessible and free and post-secondary education was reasonably affordable - reasonably in the sense that my father worked the graveyard shift and overtime to save enough money to afford university tuition for his two children. Fortunately, my older sister and I are five years apart in age, so my parents never had to pay two sets of tuition at one time.It's been almost 20 years since I graduated from university and boy have things changed. I endeavour to prepare my young daughter much differently for the future (she'll be of the age for post-secondary education in about 16-17 years). I still believe in education, but no longer do I believe in "getting a good job" as being the answer for a safe and secure future. I think even the assumption of a safe and secure future is up for grabs.With that context, I find the question above to be a big one. There are several elements in the original question that could benefit from elaboration, context setting, or laying out assumptions.What is meant by "effective alternative"?What is meant by "traditional education"?What is great about traditional education such that we'd want to replicate its outcomes? What is not so good about traditional education such that we want better outcomes? What kind of outcomes?What is meant by engagement? With whom? With teachers, peers, content, subject matter, or broader economic and societal issues around us (for which education should be informing or preparing students)?The original question mentions higher education, which I interpret to mean post-secondary education and beyond. Which part of higher education are we talking about? A basic foundation? Marketable skills? Specialist subjects? Social skills? Self-motivation, taking initiative, problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and working in teams, and advocating for one's self?I was remarking to my husband the other day that I can't remember two-thirds of the stuff I studied at university. I don't remember how to apply the Calculus, Algebra or Combinatorics I studied. I study systems, but I certainly don't remember any of the theory from my systems design course. I do know how to read financial statements. I do make investment decisions, but I've never had to apply the Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model, even though I remember getting top marks for explaining it to my 3rd or 4th year corporate finance classmates.I learned a lot more "on the job". I learned technical skills like information gathering for the purposes of decision-making (aka due diligence). I also learned "how to navigate the complexity of work and life" skills such as negotiating (in real life situations, not the stuff taught in workshops or books, although some of that might have prepared me a little), communication (including communicating technical information, stories, marketing, and bad news), dealing with conflict, making connections, listening and problem solving, decision-making, and leadership. Somewhere along the lines I learned how to improve my curiosity back to childlike levels, risk-taking, evaluating people and situations, self-reflection, communication, financial understanding, economics, how to teach someone to alpine ski, civic engagement, and resource management.I don't necessarily expect anyone to learn all this at a post-secondary institution, but I've also been a student of and advocate of learning how to learn (also mentioned by Jonathan Brodsky in his answer to this question.) And maybe that is what higher education needs to be - a place to learn some specific, technical, and basic things, combined with learning how to learn. My husband, who didn't benefit from attending post-secondary education, shared with me that he feels university or college is an opportunity for exploration (nod to Stan Hanks' answer), rather than learn something with the sole purpose of turning that education into an income-generating endeavour to pay off the student debt required to learn it in the first place. In our late teens, some people don't yet know what they want to do in the near future, let alone for the rest of their life. Higher education doesn't have to be for the rest of one's life (unless it's learning to learn). Higher education is a time for self-discovery, trial and error, and making friends. On that note, I also realized in recent years, that an important key to success (if you're seeking perhaps more than safety and security, if you're seeking growth), is building your network, making connections, and finding early sponsors and mentors.Back to the question: How can we use technology to create an effective alternative to the current, traditional system of higher education?Use technology to:break down barriers so that people can find each other, start conversations, build relationships, and learn from each other on a social and academic level. This means helping people find like-minds (their tribe), as well as exposing people to ideas and opinions that are opposing and challenging. Connecting mentors and sponsors to students is critical (in some ways, that is essentially the value of organized post-secondary education today - to connect to people and an education brand that says something about you and the benefits you bring to a collaboration).model behaviour. I've done three online/virtual courses (in my life... or that I can remember). One was awful and the other two were amazing (the latter two were taken in the past year. I still refer to them and recommend them to others). The two amazing ones were good not so much because of the technology or delivery (one was an email course, the other was webinar plus ebook for later reference), but rather because of the quality of the content and the expertise of the course provider. But I phrase this as modelling behaviour. The course format and the providers modelled the kind of behaviour they intended to teach (both were marketing courses, now that I think about it).evoke emotion. I know that emotion drives decisions (see Antonio Damasio's research), so I hypothesize that emotion also influences how and what we learn.enable the learning that happens outside the lecture hall. I think of Knelf (it's fresh on my mind, someone just introduced it to me recently), which helps teams work better together - not because it is a technology that improves efficiency or productivity, but rather it improves understanding, empathy, and connection amongst team members (or at least that's the sense of it I get).I'm not entirely sure how technology could have helped me learn how to negotiate, teach alpine skiing, expand the forms of communication I was capable of and versed in, and manage conflict. All these and more were learned by doing. All involved being with other people - in person.I did, however, successfully learn marketing - something that I was allergic to and inept at (or so I thought) - through virtual, technology-enabled means.I started jotting down the following notes, which ended up not really being relevant in the body of my answer. I thought I'd include them here out of interest and for reference.What is out there nowThere is a startup I'm familiar with that aims to improve engagement. It's a dialogue management system that plugs into learning management systems, called Prollster.I also thought it would be helpful to note what popular online education solutions exist. They are varied and it speaks to the wide range of higher learning that happens:MOOCs offered by accredited institutions such as on edX or Coursera.There is open courseware like that offered by my alma mater, University of Waterloo.There is skills building for anyone by anyone such as Udemy, Lynda, Khan Academy, and early versions such as School of Everything. I include these because some people may choose not to go to university or college for their post-secondary education. Many people are experiencing changes mid-career.And then there is the myriad of personal and professional development workshops such as Art of Leadership, Pursuit of Excellence, and The School of Life.Workshops offered by trade or business associations (such as Women's Enterprise Centre of BC - through which I took one of the amazing marketing webinars).Courses offered directly by individuals as part of their marketing strategy such as Productized Consulting - the other amazing marketing course I took (it was offered for free as an email course originally).Thanks for the A2A Sabrina.

The earliest known reference to the word psychology in English was by Steven Blankaart, as late as the year 1694 in The Physical Dictionary which refers to "Anatomy, which treats of the Body; and Psychology, which treats of the Soul",The discipline which is known as psychology today and forms a part of the syllabi of our universities came into existence as late as the year 1879 with the establishment of a lab in Leipzig, Germany by Wilhelm Wundt, bearing the name ‘Laboratory for Psychological Research’.The practice of using psychology for the purpose of understanding and managing human behaviour for the optimum development and utilization of the human resource came into vogue still later, but it can not be denied that this subject gained grounds very fast in the fields of academics and the applied studies both, particularly because of its usefulness as a tool of personality appraisal and management of emotional health. It also forms part of many other studies such as the education, management, sociology, economics, biochemistry etc.Modern psychology, therefore, is decidedly the branch of knowledge that can help us in identifying our role, our mission and therefore, our place, may be not in the Universe, at least in our small world.The LimitationsToday, psychology stands on sound footings backed by massive research work and fresh research inputs are expected in the future also. We have hundreds of personality appraisal and clinical assessment tools which are being used in education, industry, health management etc. ; butStephen Arroyo, who holds a master’s degree in Psychology and is a prolific writer, admitted “…..though modern psychologists have developed a vast number of personality appraisal tools such as MMPI, CMI, EPI and questionnaires yet these measures rely on self evaluation. The accuracy of the test depends on a number of factors as honesty in responses, non-defensive approach to answer the queries, clarity of instructions given by the test constructor and test administrator ….. etc. etc.” Besides, it goes without saying that even the best psychological ability or clinical assessment test can measure no more than what a person does in the test itself.Moreover, these tests can be administered to individuals only after they have attained a certain age and are in a fit mental condition because questions can not be asked of such young children or the mentally retarded / deranged persons as are unable to understand and answer these. Further, unlike the management of several other health problems, the normal practice in the cases of all emotional problems is to treat such persons after the appearance of the symptoms which, very often is too late.Since the human beings, their behaviour and the progress of their lives through time do not follow linear paths, the modern psychology has not been able to develop any standard / dependable methodology to foresee, well in advance, the personality traits likely to develop with the physical / mental growth of the individual or the possibility of the development of mental / emotional problems at some particular stage of life in the future. Admittedly, we have been unable to make any progress in this direction and we do not have any systems or procedures in psychology for recognizing any early warnings. The result is that the component of advance planning, in whatever HRD or emotional health care programs we have, is conspicuous by absence.The counselors / therapists in this sector should, therefore, realize that their current skills need to be widened to include advance planning and / or the preventive interventions and also that prevention requires fore-knowledge. What we need today are cost-conscious personality appraisal, education / career guidance and mental / emotional healthcare treatment paradigms based on the concept of primary prevention.But what we are overlooking is the fact that there is has been an alternate – or at least a complementary algorithmic method – based on the Fractal Mathematics - for predicting human behaviour - formulated thousands of years ago in this country and now collecting dust in the libraries and the museums due to our epistemic arrogance.The Alternate MethodIt can be confidently claimed that there is an existing, time tested and dependable methodology of fore-knowledge – the Vedic Astrology – available to those who wish to incorporate prevention into their practice. This is one of the oldest branches of knowledge, studied and practiced since times immemorial, even in countries other than ours. Astrology, if used as an assessment tool, will also be free from the limitations of psychology as discussed above, assessment will be possible as early as at the time of the birth and will have the added advantage that the personal presence of the subject / respondent will not be necessary and therefore, shall be comparatively more objective, reliable and valid method and open up new possibilities in the field of all behavioral studies.It goes without saying that advance information / warnings received through astrological investigations can certainly form the basis of planning the education and career as well as designing and administering the prophylactic / therapeutic interventions for emotional health problems and optimize their effectiveness.What Is Astrology?Vedic Astrology is an ancient and specialized body of knowledge apparently emerging from the vedanga-jyotisha (वेदांगज्योतिष) - one of the six organs of the Vedas – the eyes, and deals with its applications in our day to day life. Traditionally, it was called the Jaatak Shastra (जातक-शास्त्र) or the Hora Shastra (होरा-शास्त्र). Americans gave it the name Vedic Astrology and this name became popular in India also.The eyes, as we all know, are the organs of vision. Just as our eyes are supposed to give us a view of what lies ahead in the space, Vedic Astrology is supposed to give us a vision of what lies ahead in the Time. It also gives us an insight into such things as are not visible to the eyes, such as the personality traits of people. In other words it is the ancient branch of knowledge which helps us in locating our place in the family, the society or the work-place, by an appraisal of the personality - as early as at the time of birth and in some cases even before that. In short it can be stated that Vedic-Astrology is our faculty of insight and foresight.Centuries ago, the Rishis formulated equations of, human behaviour specifically and, the life in general, based on one’s birth-data, and their methods have all the properties of Fractal Mathematics. Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales – their main properties being iteration, self-similarity and non-integer dimensions. Fractal patterns are extremely familiar, since nature is full of fractals and so is our life. Modern proponents of this subject like Benoit B. Mandelbrot (1924 – 2010) claim that things typically considered to be "rough", a "mess" or "chaotic", like clouds or shorelines, actually had a "degree of order existing amongst chaos" and can be understood and studied, and therefore managed under this subject. The designs of the working tools of Vedic Astrology such as the Foundation and the Subsidiary charts, the Dasha systems including their subdivisions etc., all are applications of fractal mathematics; and these tools, when applied to the birth particulars are capable of identifying the personality traits and also in working a time-frame showing the course of the life of a person through the flux of time.How does it work?The Noble laureate Pal Dirac, at one time the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the Cambridge, who is credited with the discovery of anti particles – the positrons - said, “Pluck a flower on earth and you move the farthest star”.Astrology works on this very principle that there exists a reciprocal dynamic relationship between the whole, i.e. the universe, and its parts including creatures like us. The dynamic configurations forming amongst the perpetually moving celestial bodies are reflected in the constitution and dynamics of the earthly objects. If the constitution and dynamics of the whole, i.e. the Universe, reflects a certain underlying order, then the constitution and dynamics of its parts, howsoever small, cannot be arbitrary or random and therefore can be foreseen. A massive treatise on astrology - Vrihat Parashar Hora Shastra (about 3000 B.C.) - came into existence as a result of Maharshi Parashar’s detailed narration of the rules of operation and interpretation of such relationships to Rishi Maitreya in response to his question “खस्थानां भूस्थितानां च सम्बन्धं वद विस्तारात्” meaning, “ kindly explain the relationship between those situated in the skies and those on the earth ” (VPHS Ch.1 verse 7).Objects of AstrologyContrary to the popular belief the object of Astrology is not fortune telling – it never was. It is to analyze the planetary configurations forming in the skies with reference to the time and place of the birth of a person to identify the specific role he / she is supposed to play in this life and help him / her to fulfill his / her true mission in life by(i) identifying his / her innate abilities and natural aptitudes at an early stage of life so that an endeavor for optimum development and productive utilization of the same can be made,(ii) picking out his / her predominant personality traits - particularly those that are likely to cause behavioral problems in life - so that necessary corrective interventions may be administered during his / her formative years,(iii) having some clarity about the opportunities and constraints (challenges) one is likely to come across from time to time in his / her life and(iv) planing life in harmony with the flux of time to make it· purposeful,· well planned,· well organized,· free from uncertainties,· full of self-confidence and· meaningful.Complementary Nature of Astrology and PsychologyUnfortunately, in our country no body ever seems to have bothered to give serious thought to this matter.Notwithstanding that with the advent of technology the practice of astrology came to be severely criticized by the academia in the European countries and even elsewhere, it is a matter of record that it was none else but a renowned European psychologist - Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) - who, in a letter written to his mentor and famous contemporary - psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, indicated the benefits and relevance of astrology for probing into the human personality and psyche deeply and more authentically.He wrote, “…I make horoscopes calculations in order to find a clue to the core of psychological truth….. I dare to say that we shall one day discover the scientific accuracy of planetary influence upon one’s temperament, personality and mind….. The signs of zodiac are character pictures, in other words these are the libido symbols which may depict the typical qualities of a person born at a particular moment.”Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud were psychiatrists and theorists who were ambitious men. Freud counseled Jung not to delve into the astrological world view as it could destroy his reputation as a reputable and scientific scholar, yet Jung did it anyway.But Jung believed that "Astrology represents the summation of all the psychological knowledge of antiquity."Jung categorically pointed out the important role of astrology in acquiring a deeper understanding of a person’s unconscious motives and conflicts in a letter written on 6th of September of 1947 to Dr. B. V. Raman, the world famous Indian Astrologer of the last century, "Since you want to know my opinion about astrology I can tell you that I've been interested in this particular activity of the human mind since more than 30 years. As I am a psychologist, I am chiefly interested in the particular light the horoscope sheds on certain complications in the character. In cases of difficult psychological diagnosis I usually get a horoscope in order to have a further point of view from an entirely different angle. I must say that I very often found that the astrological data elucidated certain points which I otherwise would have been unable to understand. From such experiences I formed the opinion that astrology is of particular interest to the psychologist, since it contains a sort of psychological experience which we call 'projected' - this means that we find the psychological facts as it were in the constellations."Now, after Jung we can name dozens of psychologists, such as Michael Gauquilin, Morrish Furz etc., right up to Stephen Arroyo and make a long list of practicing psychologists, who regularly used or use astrology in their professional work in Europe, America and Australia. Stephen Arroyo, who holds a master’s degree in Psychology and has written seven books on psychologically oriented astrology, says, “…Astrology if used as an assessment tool does not have the above mentioned problems”.Is There An Ancient Psychology?Yes, there is.Although, in the ancient times we did not have any branch of knowledge called ‘psychology’ but the Rishis and the Aachaaryas of the yore were very clear regarding the working of the human psyche. In order to understand the role of Vedic Astrology in diagnosing and managing the mental problems, first of all we must have some clarity as to the concepts regarding the working of the human psyche handed over to us in the Vedic traditions i.e. the shastras like saankhya (सांख्य), nyaaya (न्याय) etc. and many other sources, such as the Bhagwat Puraan. Here, we consistently find mention of and discussion about two parts of the human personality – the physique (वाह्यकरण) and the psyche (अन्तःकरण).The physique is the palpable part of a person, i.e. his entire body including the five sensory organs (पांच ज्ञानेन्द्रियां), the five motor organs (पांच कर्मेन्द्रियां) and all other parts / organs / systems (अंग / अवयव / प्रणालियाँ) of the body.The psyche is the abstract part of a person and consists of four functional components - or faculties – Chitta (चित्त), Buddhi (बुद्धि), Man (मन) and Ahamkaar (अहंकार). Vedic astrology has identified the astrological determinants of these components of the psyche and also explained the factors responsible for their health.Chitta (चित्त) is that component of our psyche which gives us the chetana (चेतना) - the conciousness or awareness. This consists of our faculty of perception and is also known as sangya (संज्ञा) - the process of receiving informations; and it receives, retaines in memory (धृति) and can recall (जागृति) the messeges / informations perceived and transmitted to it by our sensory organs, or even otherwise (may be the ESP). Its main astrological determinant is the planet Jupiter or the Jeeva (जीव – the conscious- self) and any debility or affliction to this planet in the horoscope results in poor or defective operation of the faculty of perception and memory.According to the modern psychology this process takes place through the part of the brain known as the thalamus, olfaction being an exception.Buddhi (बुद्धि) is that component of our psyche which gives us pragya (प्रज्ञा) - the Comprehension, which is the ability to understand what, why and how of whatever is perceived or received in our conscious-self. This faculty is our inferencial mechanism and is responsible for logically interpreting the messeges / informations received by the faculty of perception and convert these into knowledge - which is the mental outcome of perceiving, learning and reasoning. In addition to general intelligence it also includes specific inborn (some times learnt also) aptitudes and telants (रूचि एवं प्रतिभा) as well as aquired / learnt skills (कौशल) of various kinds such as the spatial visualization, number aptitude, verbal comprehension, musical intelligence and many others. The astrological determinant for general intelligence is the planet Mercury or the Jya (ज्ञ – the understanding self) and any debility in or affliction to this planet in the horoscope results in some or the other sort of deficiency or defect of intellect. The determinants for different specific inborn aptitudes and the aquired / learnt skills are different planets or configurations of the planets, e.g. the Mars for technical intelligence, the Rahu for number aptitude etc.etc.According to the modern psychology it is the function of the part of the brain known as the Cerebrum.Man (मन) is our motivational mechanism and is the most important component of the psyche because after the messeges / informations received by the faculty of perception are comprehended, i.e. are converted into knowledge, it responds or reacts by stimulating the emotions (भावना), produces desires (इच्छा), considers the options (विकल्प), makes its choice or resolution (संकल्प) and finally motivates the system for action. Motivation is the mental response to comprehension. Its astrological determinant is the planet Moon and any debility in or affliction to this planet in the horoscope not only results in some or the other sort of problem related to making decisions but most of the mental problems.According to the modern psychology it is the function of the part of the brain known as the Hypothalamus, and perhaps the amygdala.Ahamkaar (अहंकार) is our operational mechanism. Contrary to the general connotation, the word ahamkaar does not mean egotism or vanity but refers to the ‘subjective case’ we were taught in the school in grimmer classes. It is that part of the psyche which, as a result of the motivation comes into operation and mobilizes the motor organs - rather the entire person - into action. In other words it is translating the motivation into action (उद्यम) by mobilizing the motor system. According to the modern psychology it is the function of the Cerebellum at the unconscious level and of the Cerebrum at the conscious level. Its astrological determinant is the Sun or the atma (आत्मा - the self or the subject) and any debility in or affliction to this planet in the horoscope results in some or the other sort of behavioural deficiency or abnormality.So, it is right to say that Astrology is ancient psychology, plus much more,

Nope, because people can convince themselves of what they want to believe.I have seen a number of writers on Quora that believed that they were psychopathic, and diagnosed themselves as such, but as their tenure on the site continued, they found themselves diagnosed by professionals with something altogether different than what they had assumed.Depression, traumatic brain injuries, dissociative identity disorder, among others. However, when they were convinced that they were psychopathic, they said that they lacked certain emotions, when in reality, they admitted to themselves and to their readers that they were in fact ignoring them or suppressing them without realizing it.People can convince themselves of anything that they truly want to believe if it keeps them from a painful reality.Now let’s get into the process that a person might use to diagnose themselves and why that doesn’t work at all.Online testing. I have written about these;You have completed the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale.The LSRP measures two scales.Scores range from 1 (low) to 5 (high).Your score from primary psychopathy has been calculated as 5. Primary psychopathy is the affective aspects of psychopathy; a lack of empathy for other people and tolerance for antisocial orientations.Your score from secondary psychopathy has been calculated as 2.3. Secondary psychopathy is the antisocial aspects of psychopathy; rule breaking and a lack of effort towards socially rewarded behavior.With two scores, results of the LSRP are very suitable for being plotted. Below is the distribution of how other people who have taken this test have scored.You score for primary psychopathy was higher than 99% of people who have taken this test.You score for secondary psychopathy was higher than 39.13% of people who have taken this test.I took a couple others just to entertain you Brooke. Here are the results.There are strong indications that you might have a psychopathic / antisocial personality disorder.You reached 93.75% of Factor 1 which captures the core personality traits of psychopathy that define the interpersonal and affective deficits of this personality disorder (e.g. shallow affect, superficial charm, manipulativeness, lack of empathy) and that are correlated with narcissistic personality disorder, low anxiety, low empathy, low stress reaction and low suicide risk. But Factor 1 is also associated with extroversion and positive affect - affected persons usually score high on scales of achievement and well-being, so some aspects of the personality disorder may even be beneficial for the psychopath (in terms of nondeviant social functioning or if it comes to profit from manipulation or lies).You reached 100.00% in other relevant traits that can indicate this personality disorder.You reached, however, 38.89% of Factor 2 which captures the traits of antisocial behavior (e.g. criminal versatility, impulsiveness, irresponsibility, poor behaviour controls, juvenile delinquency) and is associated with reactive anger, social deviance, sensation seeking, anxiety, increased risk of suicide, low socio-economic status, criminality, and impulsive violence.You might have certain traits of antisocial or psychopathic personalities but certainly not in a form that would justify a personality disorder diagnosis according to the standards.There is no indication that you might have a narcissistic personality disorder.You might have certain traits of narcissistic personalities but certainly not in a form that would justify a personality disorder diagnosis according to the standards.Score: 4 of 9There is no indication that you might have a histrionic personality disorder.[D:3/I:3]You meet 100% of the range of general personality disorder criteria.This further indicates that you might have to deal with a severe personality disorder.Thus, is strongly recommended you seek a professional diagnosis to be sure what exactly you are dealing with.It might turn out useful to print the previous page including your selections and take it to a psychotherapist, psychiatrist or psychologist.[G:5]Next testThe test is complete.You scored 20. Scores above 30 indicate psychopathy, of course only a professional, which this test is not, can make a true assessment. This test was made just for fun.Below is a graph of how other people who have taken this test have scored:To be VERY clear, these are not tests that people should take seriously. They are nothing more than arbitrary and self testing is not how to discover psychopathy.Also, most “psychopathy tests” are not. They mix traits and often have a great deal of relation to the PLC-R criteria. This means that they are based in ASPD, not psychopathy. They will ask many questions about antisocial traits that have nothing to do with psychopathy. The only one that I think has any clear cut indicator of psychopathic traits is Dutton’s.The Psychopath ChallengeBy Admin,December 29, 2015ResultsVery HighWhen most people think of psychopaths, Hannibal Lecter typically springs to mind! But actually, being psychopathic doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re a serial killer – or even that you’ll break the law. In fact, within the framework of clinical psychology, a psychopath is someone with a distinct cluster of personality traits including charm, charisma, fearlessness, ruthlessness, narcissism, persuasiveness, and lack of conscience. Sure, these traits may well come in handy if you aspire to be an axe-murderer. But they can also come in handy in the courtroom, on the trading floor, or in operating theatre. It just depends on what else you’ve got going on in your personality, and the start you get in life.Another misconception about psychopaths concerns diagnosis. A lot of people think that you’re either a psychopath or you’re not, that it’s all very black and white.But this is not the case.In fact, psychopathy – like height, weight and IQ (to take just a few examples) – lies on a spectrum. Yes, at the sharp end you may well find your serial killers and axe murderers. But at the same time, all of us have our place at some point along the continuum.Some of us may score higher on some psychopathic traits than on others. But unless you score high on all of them, you don’t really have anything to worry about!Psychopathy30 out of 33People might look at that and say, well, you were diagnosed with ASPD, right? So the tests are on point. No, they aren't. They confirm what professional testing already demonstrated, but these tests are not controlled at all. They aren’t something that you have a doctor administering and comparing your previous answers to the new ones.There is no interview process, there isn’t someone with training evaluating the responses. What there is instead is an algorithm that is looking for specific responses on the test. You can easily lie, and the algorithm has no idea. It just confirms what you already believe because you told it what you wanted it to know. You informed it that you don’t feel remorse, you told it that you lack empathy. It isn’t difficult to know that is what it is looking for what you observe the testing questions.How would a psychopath respond to;Success is based on survival of the fittest; I am not concerned about the losers.or;I feel bad if my words or actions cause someone else to feel emotional pain.Honestly, it’s not hard to guess, and someone that wants that label is going to lie about their true feelings, and someone repressing their thoughts or feelings might give an answer contrary to their internal function.When you get assessed professional, there are safeguards that are in place for just this sort of thinking. Another way that people self assess is with the questions from the PCL-R. This is foolish for a number of reasons, the least of which is that the PCL-R is not used outside of prisons and forensic hospitals. I spoke about this, and how actual testing is done previously as well;Professionals who administer the diagnostic examination should have advanced degrees (M.D., Ph.D., or D.Ed.) in a medical, behavioral or social science field; and registered with a reputable organization that oversees psychiatric or psychological testing and diagnostic procedures. Other recommendations include experience working with convicted or accused criminals or several years of some other related on-the-job training. Because the results are used so often in legal cases, those who administer it should be qualified to serve as expert witnesses in the courtroom. It is also a good idea, if possible, for two experts to test a subject independently with the PCL-R. The final rating would then be determined by averaging their scores.The administration of the checklist is done in two parts;The Hare PCL-R contains two parts, a semi-structured interview and a review of the subject's file records and history.After semi-structured interview is completed, and the results are checked against records, and history, the score is arrived at. The score is on a scale of zero through forty. Above a thirty is considered a “psychopath”, though there are significant issues with the checklist itself in regards to its accuracy, and over reliance on criminal traits.The score is what determines whether or not the criminal or forensic patient is psychopathic, and how psychopathic they are according to Hare’s image of psychopathy.As for actual testing and diagnosis of ASPD;Psychopaths, a smaller subsection of ASPD, and what I shake out as at the end, know that they are different from a very early age. The technical diagnosis is ASPD with primarily factor one traits. Meaning that I am in control of my faculties, am rather cold and calculating, and highly manipulative. It was not news to me that my way in the world was different than everyone else’s. However, that was their problem, not mine. As far as I was concerned, the rest of the world was mired in irrationality, and pointless meaningless rules.In my case, I had my youthful indiscretions and got myself into a position where I was required to be evaluated for personality issues. I was under twenty-five however, so there was not a determination of psychopathy, or ASPD at that time. I was still very much a teenager. I have no idea what those tests showed either. I didn’t want to be there, I thought the entire thing was a waste of my time, and didn’t care at the end of it. It had nothing to do with me.When I got older, it was more and more clear to me that I thought so very differently and after my last indiscretion, no charges filed, I finally got curious enough to ask the question of what that was about.I contacted back the same doctor that had previously evaluated me. Apparently I made an impression, as he remembered me even though it was several years later. I told him I wanted to know what the tests had said, and he was a crafty bastard. He said, ‘It wouldn’t matter. I would need to reevaluate you. A lot has changed, so the prior tests are not enough information.’ Would I be willing to be evaluated again? He warned me that it would be extensive. I mulled it over and agreed.So, we began with interview type sessions. We talked about me, my life, what I had done, my thoughts. He would stop me while I was explaining something, or telling a story and ask how that event made me feel. It annoyed me because it seemed so very cliché. I didn’t know he was a fairly devious guy.He asked if I would do some testing. It started with him, I did personality testing. I did some with him, and then he referred me. It would mean seeing a few other doctors, and I agreed. In for a penny, right? I went in. This was a more involved process than I really cared to do. I took the same test several times for several doctors in the end. I still hate that test, the MMPI-2. It takes forever, which is part of the design of the test.He also referred me for neuropsychiatric testing. If you ever have the option, opt out. It takes three days and costs something like three thousand dollars. It was very expensive. While doing all of the evaluations and meetings with doctors, they ask you the same questions again and again, changing the wording around. At first you don’t really notice, but after you have been asked the same questions by a few doctors, you do. The point is to suss out how honest you’re being. No matter, it’s still annoying. They also all read your records. Your medical records, you psychiatric records, and ask you about this or that. They really study you.Then they all compared notes, I wasn’t there for that and I had another appointment. This was the big reveal I guess. The doctor had a lot of paperwork in his hand and looked out of place. He had me sit down and then talked to me about what the diagnosis was. I was ASPD with primarily factor one traits. He said that this was what he considered to be primary psychopathy. He went over what it meant, where in my life I could expect to see it affecting, asked if I had questions of course, which I really didn’t. I had the answer. Great! We’re done, right?Would I be interested in having brain scans done, he wanted to know. Why? Of course I asked. He explained that there was a theory about psychopathy being a formation difference in the brain, would I like to see if I had it? I was fine with it. I would have to pay for the scans, he cautioned. Another big ticket item. More than one scan, $3500.00 if I remember correctly.What the hell, I thought. So I had the scans. You go to the imaging place. You lay in the machine for a very long time and they show you images. Words, pictures, it depends on what they are looking for I suppose. They measure your brains response to neutral, negative, and positive images or words. In psychopathy there is no response when the word is negative, but a neurotypical’s brain lights up like the fourth of July. So, the scans take a good while, they look them over, and the doctor calls you with the result.Diminished activity in the frontal lobe, small amygdala, and I stopped listening because I didn’t know much about the brain to begin with, so he was just saying words to me. He concluded by telling me that I had the brain that they have seen in psychopaths. Weirdly, he seemed a little excited by it.So, that’s it. There’s no followup therapy. It doesn’t change or improve psychopathy. You are just wasting everyone’s time going that route, and dumping money down the drain. Afterwards, you just move on.You’re a psychopath, so what’s for dinner?As you can see, testing is involved, and if it isn’t, the doctor should be replaced. This is not a diagnosis that is a novelty to have, and in fact can cause some serious problems in your life in general. It is certainly not considered a positive, especially to those that do not understand it, only have the information presented by Hollywood, or the media to draw from. It can bring about a number of problems. If you are convicted of a crime, those four letters can condemn you to death. Seems a little bit overreaching, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s the truth;“There’s a lot of stuff that looks like it’s junk and should be filtered out by the courts, but it’s not being filtered out,” said Arizona State University psychology professor Tess Neal, the lead author of the study.One controversial psychological test, the Hare Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (PCL–R), came under fire in the American Psychological Association’s journal, Psychology, Public Policy, and Law. In a joint statement first published on-line on January 30, 2020, thirteen expert psychiatrists and psychologists wrote that while the test may have general usefulness in measuring psychopathy “as a construct,” it is “inappropriate [to use] the PCL–R to draw conclusions about an individual’s risk for committing serious violence in high-security custodial facilities.” Such conclusions are often critical in capital sentencing determinations in states such as Texas in which finding that a defendant poses a continuing threat to society is a prerequisite to imposing a death sentence.The experts criticize the PCL–R as plagued by adversarial allegiance — mental health witnesses called by the prosecution will rate a defendant’s level of psychopathy higher than defense experts will during “evaluations of the same person, made around the same time, and even when made on the same information base.” They also say that “the association between PCL–R scores and serious institutional violence is negligible,” making the test unreliable as an indicator of whether a defendant will actually commit violence in prison. The PCL–R “cannot make predictions that an individual will engage in serious institutional violence with any reasonable degree of precision or accuracy,” they say, “and should not be used for this purpose in capital sentencing evaluations.”and;After 26 years in prison, he was due for a parole hearing. In California, before a "lifer" like Dixon appears before the parole board, a state psychologist must first evaluate whether he poses a risk of further violence if released. To do that, the psychologist administers a test — the PCL-R, or Psychopathy Checklist-Revised — designed to measure whether that inmate is a psychopath.This test has incredible power in the American criminal justice system. It's used to make decisions such as what kind of sentence a criminal gets and whether an inmate is released on parole. It has even been used to help decide whether someone should be put to death.Long story short? No, you can’t self assess, and getting assessed has a lot of potential problems. Still not convinced? Have a look at someone that was held in a psychiatric hospital because they suspected that he might be psychopathic, because he lied about his motivation for a crime to avoid prison;Athena Walker's answer to What sort of negative impact would a clinically diagnosed psychopath face if their diagnosis was found by an employer or other background check?Not the outcome he was looking for I imagine. Leave diagnostics to the professionals, and if you suspect you might have ASPD, know that if you do get that label, it is more trouble than it’s worth.Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy ScaleSelf Test on Psychopathy ('Am I a psychopath?'The Psychopath Challenge - Dr Kevin Dutton, Ph.D.Athena Walker's answer to Wouldn’t psychopaths just lie on the Hare psychopathy checklist test? If so, how can it ever be considered accurate?Athena Walker's answer to What is the process for getting diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder?Can A Test Really Tell Who's A Psychopath?