Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1398-1412 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Psychonomic Bulletin and Review |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Publication status | Published - 2017 |
Abstract
Finding a probable explanation for observed symptoms is a highly complex task that draws on information retrieval from memory. Recent research suggests that observed symptoms are interpreted in a way that maximizes coherence for a single likely explanation. This becomes particularly clear if symptom sequences support more than one explanation. However, there are no existing process data available that allow coherence maximization to be traced in ambiguous diagnostic situations, where critical information has to be retrieved from memory. In this experiment, we applied memory indexing, an eye-tracking method that affords rich time-course information concerning memory-based cognitive processing during higher order thinking, to reveal symptom processing and the preferred interpretation of symptom sequences. Participants first learned information about causes and symptoms presented in spatial frames. Gaze allocation to emptied spatial frames during symptom processing and during the diagnostic response reflected the subjective status of hypotheses held in memory and the preferred interpretation of ambiguous symptoms. Memory indexing traced how the diagnostic decision developed and revealed instances of hypothesis change and biases in symptom processing. Memory indexing thus provided direct online evidence for coherence maximization in processing ambiguous information.
Keywords
- Coherence maximization, Diagnostic reasoning, Eye movements, Memory indexing, Process tracing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychology(all)
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Psychology(all)
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Arts and Humanities(all)
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
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In: Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, Vol. 24, No. 5, 2017, p. 1398-1412.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Watching diagnoses develop: Eye movements reveal symptom processing during diagnostic reasoning
AU - Scholz, Agnes
AU - Krems, Josef F.
AU - Jahn, Georg
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2017, Psychonomic Society, Inc.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Finding a probable explanation for observed symptoms is a highly complex task that draws on information retrieval from memory. Recent research suggests that observed symptoms are interpreted in a way that maximizes coherence for a single likely explanation. This becomes particularly clear if symptom sequences support more than one explanation. However, there are no existing process data available that allow coherence maximization to be traced in ambiguous diagnostic situations, where critical information has to be retrieved from memory. In this experiment, we applied memory indexing, an eye-tracking method that affords rich time-course information concerning memory-based cognitive processing during higher order thinking, to reveal symptom processing and the preferred interpretation of symptom sequences. Participants first learned information about causes and symptoms presented in spatial frames. Gaze allocation to emptied spatial frames during symptom processing and during the diagnostic response reflected the subjective status of hypotheses held in memory and the preferred interpretation of ambiguous symptoms. Memory indexing traced how the diagnostic decision developed and revealed instances of hypothesis change and biases in symptom processing. Memory indexing thus provided direct online evidence for coherence maximization in processing ambiguous information.
AB - Finding a probable explanation for observed symptoms is a highly complex task that draws on information retrieval from memory. Recent research suggests that observed symptoms are interpreted in a way that maximizes coherence for a single likely explanation. This becomes particularly clear if symptom sequences support more than one explanation. However, there are no existing process data available that allow coherence maximization to be traced in ambiguous diagnostic situations, where critical information has to be retrieved from memory. In this experiment, we applied memory indexing, an eye-tracking method that affords rich time-course information concerning memory-based cognitive processing during higher order thinking, to reveal symptom processing and the preferred interpretation of symptom sequences. Participants first learned information about causes and symptoms presented in spatial frames. Gaze allocation to emptied spatial frames during symptom processing and during the diagnostic response reflected the subjective status of hypotheses held in memory and the preferred interpretation of ambiguous symptoms. Memory indexing traced how the diagnostic decision developed and revealed instances of hypothesis change and biases in symptom processing. Memory indexing thus provided direct online evidence for coherence maximization in processing ambiguous information.
KW - Coherence maximization
KW - Diagnostic reasoning
KW - Eye movements
KW - Memory indexing
KW - Process tracing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85018700464&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3758/S13423-017-1294-8
DO - 10.3758/S13423-017-1294-8
M3 - Article
VL - 24
SP - 1398
EP - 1412
JO - Psychonomic Bulletin and Review
JF - Psychonomic Bulletin and Review
SN - 1069-9384
IS - 5
ER -