I chose to watch the TED Talk Jim Fallon: Exploring the mind of a killer. I was drawn to choose this post because I have always been interested in different serial killers and their stories. I have also always been interested in what makes them kill people and why they are the way that they are. This TED talk talked about how there are different chromosomes in males and females and there is a certain gene that people can inherit and if kids with that gene experience a major trauma in their life, then this can lead to them being a killer themselves.
I did find this presenter and the information to be trustworthy because of his background and his knowledge of killers previously. Also, Jim Fallon, the author, was a Sloan Scholar, a Fulbright Fellow, and he was a Professor if Neuroscience. He has researched towards the subject of psychopaths and he focused on killers, so he has a large, reliable background on the topic of his TED talk.
A research idea I could do to test this would be to compare the data of a human brains at a young age with the potential psychotic gene and compare them to the brains of children who have the gene and have experienced trauma to see the difference in the brain scans of someone who is sane compared to the brain of someone who is considered to be a psychopath.
olivyahvanek 
Olivia,
I too watched the Ted Talk from Jim Fallon about the serial killers and how their brains are affected. I don’t know why, but for the longest time I have seen serial killers as a point of fascination, as well as horror. From an outside view, I always asked myself why these people are doing this and what are their motives behind killing people. I think that this Ted Talk helped greatly to explain one possible reason for killers acting the way they do.
As for the reliability of the talk, I completely agree with your analysis of why Jim Fallon is a reliable speaker. With his multiple achievements and his background in the psychology of serial killers, I think that he is a very trustworthy speaker, and that his reputation will only continue to go.
In your experiment, I think that you have some unique ideas, but I also have some questions about some possible problems. First, I see that you do not have a way of measuring this data from the human brain. Would you plan on measuring based on brain structure with an MRI or a CT scan? Or maybe brain activity with a PET or fMRI scan? Also, how are you planning on acquiring a random sample with the needed psychotic gene included? Just some thoughts to keep in mind if you were to actually plan it out.
Overall, great post! Very informative and interesting.
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I enjoyed reading your post. I also watched Jim Fallon’s presentation because the science behind what makes a killer is very interesting to me. He was definitely a credible source because he is involved in research, teaching, and clinical practice. I would love to see the result of the experiment you described. Pediatric psychology has always been a great interest of mine. It would be interesting to see the difference between the brains by an X Ray (Contrast or CT), or ideally MEG, similar to a slide that Fallon presented. We could even go beyond the structure and function of the brain, but how it affects behavior. Psychological experiments can test the behaviors of different children when responding to certain situations. You have a great idea that I would love to see the outcome of.
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