Prospects for assessing of prospective memory in forensic psychiatric examinations of legal capacity

In order to develop evidence-based approaches to forensic psychiatric examination of legal capacity, methods for studying prospective memory were tested in persons with chronic mental disorders living in residential care facilities or being on a semi-stationary form of social services. The sample consisted of 25 people. Methods included laboratory, naturalistic and natural methods for studying prospective memory, Comprehensive assessment of prospective memory (CAPM), The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the Russian version of the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS), PSP, the Standardized Protocol of Clinical Interview. The relationships between experimentally detected impairments in prospective memory and impairments in cognitive, executive, volitional and motivational functions were confirmed. It is concluded that prospective memory is directly related to the ability to regulate person’s activities in everyday life, which determines the appropriateness of prospective memory assessment in forensic psychiatric examinations of legal capacity. The results of an experimental study of prospective memory in combination with self-questionnaires can be considered as an additional method of studying critical functions.

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