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Skill differences in medical laboratory diagnostics
Author(s) -
Dollinger Stephanie M. Clancy,
Hoyer William J.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.2350090305
Subject(s) - psychology , stain , quality (philosophy) , gram staining , medical education , cognitive psychology , pathology , staining , medicine , philosophy , epistemology , biology , bacteria , genetics
Skill differences in visual diagnostics were examined by asking novice and expert medical technologists to identify bacteria in eight Gram‐stain specimens that varied in terms of diagnostically‐significant features and stain quality. Verbal protocols were analyzed for knowledge of specific cell morphology and of staining properties. There were skill‐related differences in visual diagnostic performance, particularly in terms of the quality of detail and number of explicit comments made for each relevant dimension. The implications of the findings for further research on the role of experience and the effects of practice/training in an applied domain such as medical technology is discussed.