Slide 1

Slide 2 1 Cognition for Clinicians Dr Steve Walsh Slide 3 2 Specialising 8It takes about ten years of full-time experience to become a domain expert. 8Expert physicians have extensive general knowledge of medicine and deep, detailed knowledge of their relatively narrow areas of specialisation. Slide 4 3 The Assumed Learning Curve 8Its often assumed that the novice becomes an expert by a steady, gradual accumulation of knowledge and fine-tuning of skills i.e. as a person becomes more familiar with a domain, his or her level of performance (e.g., accuracy and quality) gradually increases. Slide 5 4 The Actual Learning Curve 8Studies of experts, intermediates, and novices show that, sometimes those at intermediate levels of expertise may perform more poorly than those at lower levels of expertise, a phenomenon known as the "intermediate effect." Slide 6 5 Performance Slide 7 6 The Bad News 8Learning does not necessarily result in a gradual increase of knowledge and skills. 8Learning is the arduous process of continually learning, re-learning, and exercising new knowledge, punctuated by periods of apparent decrease in mastery and declines in performance. Slide 8 7 The Good News 8We all experience the intermediate phenomenon, so much so that the dips in performance are most likely a necessary part of learning. Slide 9 8 The Structure of Memory 8Short-term memory (working memory) 8Long-term memory 8Conceptual knowledge 8Procedural knowledge Slide 10 9 Conceptual Knowledge 8Factual knowledge is merely knowing a fact (e.g., risk factors for heart disease) without any in-depth understanding. May become rapidly out of date. Unlikely to lead to change. 8Conceptual knowledge is acquired through mindful engagement with materials in a range of contexts. lead to behavioural change. Slide 11 10 Procedural Knowledge 8Procedural knowledge is developed as a function of deliberate practice, which results in a learning process known as knowledge compilation. Slide 12 11 Expert Knowledge 8As you become more familiar with some knowledge domain or task, you acquire a great deal of specific knowledge. 8You learn to use long-term memory to support working memory so you don't have to remember a large number of isolated pieces of information. 8Strong retrieval links develop between working and long- term memory. 8Experts use these retrieval structures to provide selective and rapid access to long-term memory to solve problems. Slide 13 12 Information Overload 8The increase in information means that you would need to spend 8 hours per day for 13 years to read all the current published literature in a particular speciality. 8After doing this, you would be 13 years out of date! Slide 14 13 Important Concepts 8Comprehension not just facts. 8Organising knowledge better. 8Regular revision. 8Masses of information. Slide 15 14 Storing Information 8PaperMaster2002 www.documagix.comwww.documagix.com 8PaperPort www.scansoft.com/paperportwww.scansoft.com/paperport Slide 16 15 Organising Knowledge 8MindManager www.mindjet.co.ukwww.mindjet.co.uk 8VisiMap www.coco.co.ukwww.coco.co.uk 8Axon