How good are inpatients at feigning Miranda abilities?: An investigation of the Miranda Quiz, Inventory of Legal Knowledge, and Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology.

The current study represents the first investigation into feigned Miranda abilities using an inpatient population. We investigated the use of a very generic measure (i.e., the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology, or SIMS) as well as two specialized forensic feigning measures: the Miranda Quiz (MQ) and Inventory of Legal Knowledge (ILK). With a quasi-random assignment, 82 acute inpatients were evenly distributed to "feigning" and "genuine" groups. The recommended SIMS cut score > 14 performed poorly, misclassifying three-quarters of the genuine group as feigning. In general, sensitivities on the specialized scales were constrained by the general lack of severe decrements for the feigning group. However, specificities were strong to outstanding. In particular, the MQ floor effect showed some promise but was limited by its small number of items. The strongest potential was observed for the revised ILK scales, especially the Revised Clinical ILK (RC-ILK). When using single-point cut scores on two prior correctional samples, the RC-ILK produced excellent sensitivities (0.94 and 0.96) and outstanding specificities (0.98 and 0.99). Methodological issues and professional implications were discussed in the context of feigned Miranda abilities.

Effectiveness of the Miranda Acquiescence Questionnaire for Investigating Impaired Miranda Reasoning.

The capacity of arrestees to comprehend their Miranda rights adequately and to waive them intelligently remains largely unexamined by most defense attorneys and forensic practitioners. Although much is now known about Miranda comprehension, only recently has forensic research emerged on Miranda reasoning. This archival study utilizes an extensive dataset of 847 pretrial detainees who were administered the Standardized Assessment of Miranda Abilities. This study focuses on how forensic practitioners can evaluate Miranda misperceptions that may have contributed to highly consequential decisions to cooperate with law enforcement without seeking legal counsel. Specific items from the Miranda Acquiescence Questionnaire of the Standardized Assessment of Miranda Abilities clearly identified detainees with impaired Miranda reasoning. Two important patterns of Miranda misperceptions were observed: adversarial perspective on arrest and trusting law enforcement. For instance, more than 20 percent of detainees with impaired reasoning wrongly believed that cooperating with police could only have positive outcomes. Even more troubling, more than one fourth of detainees erroneously believed that they must always comply with police requests, which obviously could entail self-incrimination. These findings are then placed in a broader context when examining the professional roles of forensic practitioners in recognizing, understanding, and evaluating for impaired Miranda abilities.

The sequential pathway between trauma-related symptom severity and cognitive-based smoking processes through perceived stress and negative affect reduction expectancies among trauma exposed smokers.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Smoking rates are markedly higher among trauma-exposed individuals relative to non-trauma-exposed individuals. Extant work suggests that both perceived stress and negative affect reduction smoking expectancies are independent mechanisms that link trauma-related symptoms and smoking. Yet, no work has examined perceived stress and negative affect reduction smoking expectancies as potential explanatory variables for the relation between trauma-related symptom severity and smoking in a sequential pathway model. Methods The present study utilized a sample of treatment-seeking, trauma-exposed smokers (n = 363; 49.0% female) to examine perceived stress and negative affect reduction expectancies for smoking as potential sequential explanatory variables linking trauma-related symptom severity and nicotine dependence, perceived barriers to smoking cessation, and severity of withdrawal-related problems and symptoms during past quit attempts. RESULTS: As hypothesized, perceived stress and negative affect reduction expectancies had a significant sequential indirect effect on trauma-related symptom severity and criterion variables. CONCLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: Findings further elucidate the complex pathways through which trauma-related symptoms contribute to smoking behavior and cognitions, and highlight the importance of addressing perceived stress and negative affect reduction expectancies in smoking cessation programs among trauma-exposed individuals. (Am J Addict 2016;25:565-572).