Article Figures & Data
Tables
- Table 1
Description and Congruence (“Fit”) between Dusky's Prongs and Selected Competency Measures
Measure Scale (n) Type M Length Dusky Prong Representative Content MacCAT-CA Understanding (8) Hypoth 45.3 Factual understanding Roles of courtroom personnel; understanding different criminal charges related to assault; understanding convictions and plea bargaining Reasoning (8) Hypoth 39.9 Consult counsel Distinguishing helpful from unhelpful information to provide to counsel; understanding mitigating factors (e.g., provocation and intoxication); making decisions about plea bargaining Appreciation (6) Case 22.7 Rational understanding Beliefs about outcome (likelihood of conviction and punishment); perception of lawyer (helpfulness and trust with all information); beliefs about the legal system (fairness and viability of plea bargaining) ECST-R FAC: factual Case 7.2 Rational understanding Roles of courtroom personnel; understanding the criminal charges CWC: counsel Case 7.7 Consult counsel Perceptions and expectations of counsel; identifying and resolving disagreements with counsel; impaired communication with counsel RAC: rational Case 8.1 Decision-making about trial; appraisal of different outcomes; problematic courtroom experiences CAST-MR Legal concepts (25) Case 20.3 Factual understanding The duties of legal professionals in court; common legal terms; specific terms related to sentencing Understand case (10) Case 7.4 Factual understanding Recall of the crime; recall of the arrest; description of criminal charges Assist defense (15) Both 46.9 Consult counsel Cooperation with the lawyer; doing what others (e.g. police, inmates, or prosecutors) ask; response to persons (prosecutor or witness) telling lies about the defendant) M length is the average number of words addressed to the defendant before he is asked to respond; some items include a statement followed by an inquiry. Case is the specific queries about the defendant's case; Hypoth is hypothetical queries unrelated to the defendant; and Both is a combination of case-specific and hypothetical queries.
Estimate Description Scales Competency Measure CAST-MR McCAT-CA ECST-R Reliability Inter-rater reliability establishes the reproducibility of scores when evaluated by two or more experts at the same time; lower estimates equal larger errors. Competency 0.90* 0.83 0.93 Feigning NA NA 0.996 SEM Standard error of measurement (SEM) measures the likely variability in the accurate measurement of a single score; larger scores equal greater errors. CompetencyFeigning 1.15† 1.28 1.28 Feigning NA NA 0.18 95% CI 95% Confidence interval establishes the range of scores possible for a single score that is likely to occur most of the time (i.e., 95 of 100 times); larger scores equal greater errors. CompetencyFeigning 2.25 2.51 2.51 Feigning NA NA 0.35 * Inter-rater reliabilities were reported only as percentages; this correlation represents test-retest reliability for nonforensic cases.
† Based on unweighted scale averages (M = 10.14, SD = 3.63) for four small subsamples of competency cases (n = 58).
