Abstract
The authors describe a Computer-Assisted Determination of Competency to Proceed (CADCOMP), a new instrument that collects data directly from the defendant through an interactive computer program and renders a report covering relevant historical, psychopathological, and legal information. The comprehensive report could be utilized by the clinician to focus the clinician’s interview with the defendant on areas requiring further probing, thus reducing the time required to assess competency. Preliminary reliability and validity assessment studies are reported. The results support the predictive validity of CADCOMP used as a screening instrument and found the CADCOMP to be sufficiently reliable to be used for screening purposes.
Footnotes
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Dr. Barnard and Lynn Robbins are affiliated with the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610. Drs. Thompson and Freeman were 1989-90 forensic fellows at the University of Florida. Dennis Gies is administrator, North Florida Evaluation and Treatment Center, Gainesville, Florida. This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the 21st Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, San Diego, California, October 25-28, 1990.
- Copyright © 1991, The American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
