OBJECTIVE Law enforcement officers often encounter alcohol-intoxicated suspects, suggesting that many suspects are presented with the challenge of grasping the meaning and significance of their Miranda rights while intoxicated. Such comprehension is crucial, given that Miranda is intended to minimize the likelihood of coercive interrogations resulting in self-incrimination and protect suspects' constitutional rights. Yet, the effects of alcohol on individuals' ability to understand and appreciate their Miranda rights remain unknown-a gap that the present study sought to address. HYPOTHESES Informed by alcohol myopia theory (AMT), we predicted that intoxicated individuals would demonstrate impaired Miranda comprehension compared to sober individuals and those who believed they were intoxicated (but were in fact not; i.e., placebo participants). METHOD After health screenings, participants completed the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence-Second Edition verbal subtests, rendering a Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) score. We randomly assigned participants to consume alcohol (n = 51; mean breath alcohol concentration [BrAC] = 0.07%), a placebo condition (n = 44; BrAC = 0.00%), or a sober control condition (n = 41; BrAC = 0.00%). All participants (N = 136) completed the Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments (MRCI), which measured participants' understanding of the Miranda warnings, recognition of the warnings, appreciation of their rights in interrogation and court settings, and understanding of Miranda-related vocabulary. RESULTS We found a significant effect of intoxication condition on participants' understanding of Miranda warnings (η²p = .14) and Miranda-related vocabulary (η²p = .05) when controlling for VCI scores. Specifically, intoxicated participants received lower scores for understanding of warnings compared to sober and placebo participants, and lower scores for understanding of Miranda vocabulary compared to sober participants. Alcohol did not significantly impact Miranda rights recognition or appreciation. CONCLUSIONS Alcohol intoxication may detrimentally impact some facets of Miranda comprehension. Thus, it is important that law enforcement consider refraining from questioning intoxicated suspects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

---

酒精中毒对米兰达理解力的不利影响。

目的 执法人员经常遇到酒精中毒的嫌疑人，这表明许多嫌疑人在醉酒时面临着理解米兰达权利的含义和意义的挑战。鉴于米兰达的目的是尽量减少强制审讯导致自证其罪的可能性，并保护嫌疑人的宪法权利，这种理解至关重要。然而，酒精对个人理解和欣赏米兰达权利的能力的影响仍然未知——本研究试图解决这一差距。假设根据酒精近视理论（AMT），我们预测与清醒的人和那些认为自己喝醉的人（但实际上没有；即安慰剂参与者）相比，喝醉的人会表现出米兰达理解能力受损。方法 健康检查后，参与者完成韦克斯勒智力简略量表第二版言语分测试，得出言语理解指数 (VCI) 分数。我们随机分配参与者饮酒（n = 51；平均呼吸酒精浓度 [BrAC] = 0.07%）、安慰剂条件（n = 44；BrAC = 0.00%）或清醒对照条件（n = 41；BrAC = 0.00%）。所有参与者（N = 136）完成了米兰达权利理解工具（MRCI），该工具衡量参与者对米兰达警告的理解、对警告的认可、对其在审讯和法庭环境中权利的理解以及对米兰达相关词汇的理解。结果我们发现，在控制 VCI 分数时，中毒状况对参与者对米兰达警告 (η²p = .14) 和米兰达相关词汇 (η²p = .05) 的理解有显着影响。具体来说，与清醒和安慰剂参与者相比，醉酒的参与者在理解警告方面得分较低，与清醒的参与者相比，在理解米兰达词汇方面得分较低。酒精并没有显着影响米兰达权利的认可或欣赏。结论 酒精中毒可能会对米兰达理解力的某些方面产生不利影响。因此，执法部门考虑不要讯问醉酒嫌疑人非常重要。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。