astronomy

Kevin Dutton

Kevin Dutton is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kevin Dutton rather than just read about it. In short: Kevin Dutton (born 1967) is a British psychologist and writer, specialising in the study of psychopathy. Work He is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, and a member of the Oxford Centre for Emotions and Affective Neuroscience (OCEAN) research group, and says "I divide my time between lab-based research and popular writing." Before this post he was a research…

Key takeaways

Kevin Dutton belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kevin Dutton to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kevin Dutton from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kevin Dutton (born 1967) is a British psychologist and writer, specialising in the study of psychopathy.

Work He is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, and a member of the Oxford Centre for Emotions and Affective Neuroscience (OCEAN) research group, and says "I divide my time between lab-based research and popular writing." Before this post he was a research fellow at the Faraday Institute, St Edmund's College, University of Cambridge, and Visiting Professor for the Public Engagement with Psychological Science at the University of Essex. He gained his Ph.D. from the University of Essex in 2000 with the thesis title Minorities as symbols of uniqueness : a break from the norm. He heads a research group on "The Role of Personality Traits and Emotion Regulation Skills in Various Occupational Domains.", and his research looks at the role of various "personality traits and emotion regulation skills" in different occupations such as "politics, investment banking, surgery, and the military", and whether action can be taken to enhance these characteristics "to improve job performance and decision making in these occupations." He has written several popular books on psychopathy, and a review stated that "his analysis tends to reinforce the idea that the chemistry of megalomania which characterises the psychopathic criminal mind is a close cousin to the set of traits often best rewarded by capitalism". He has said that he wrote The Wisdom of Psychopaths "as an attempt to figure out his dad"; his father worked on a market stall and was "ruthless, fearless and also extremely charming". In his 2011 Great British Psychopath Survey he concluded that the ten professions that have the highest proportion of psychopaths are:

All of these careers require a strong degree of professional detachment. In the same year he featured in Channel 4's "Psychopath Night", and launched a survey to which 700,000 viewers responded. Among the conclusions: "those with the least psychopathic traits preferred cats or kittens to many other pets while the most psychopathic individuals preferred pet fish." In October 2014 he appeared on BBC Radio 4's The Museum of Curiosity. His hypothetical donation to this fictional museum was "a smile". Beginning in 2021, he co-hosted the podcast Psycho Schizo Espresso with Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson.

Selected publications Black and White Thinking: The burden of a binary brain in a complex world (2020, Random House, ISBN 9781473558311) Kevin Dutton (1 September 2016). "Would You Vote for a Psychopath? Research shows that some of the component traits of psychopathy help leaders succeed". scientificamerican.com. Scientific American. Retrieved 29 September 2016. The Good Psychopath's Guide to Success by Kevin Dutton and Andy McNab, with cartoons by Rob Murray (2014, Bantam Press, ISBN 9780593073995) The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us about Success (2012, Heinemann, ISBN 9780434020676) Flipnosis: The Art of Split-Second Persuasion (2008, Heinemann, ISBN 9780434016914)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kevin Dutton

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kevin Dutton claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kevin Dutton before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kevin Dutton ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kevin Dutton

In research: Kevin Dutton appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kevin Dutton in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kevin Dutton is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1967 births, Academics of the University of Oxford, Alumni of the University of Essex, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kevin Dutton outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Kevin Dutton in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kevin Dutton means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kevin Dutton out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kevin Dutton in simple terms?

Kevin Dutton (born 1967) is a British psychologist and writer, specialising in the study of psychopathy. Work He is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, and a member of the Oxford Centre for Emotions and Affective Neuroscience (OCEAN) researc…

Why does Kevin Dutton matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kevin Dutton?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kevin Dutton.