Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

5-1995

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Psychology

Major Professor

Michael G. Johnson

Committee Members

James Gorney, Paul Lerner, Bruce Maclennan, Michael Nash, Howard Pollio

Abstract

This dissertation presents two experiments in which clinicians with varying amounts of expertise diagnose cases. The central concern in both studies is to what extent underlying theory or knowledge structures are important in the diagnostic task. In the first experiment, there are five levels of expertise and two types of case representation, feature list and exemplar. The two types of case representation are of central importance in the experiment because within subject differences in accuracy of diagnoses based on these two types is an indicator of the extent of the role played by theory. Specific predictions are made about how levels of expertise effect the pattern of the mean within subject differences in accuracy of diagnosing these two types of cases, and the results support the conclusion that expertise is important to the extent that problems are relatively ill-structured. In the second experiment, clinicians with varying degrees of expertise and from different theoretical backgrounds—with varied extents of training—were asked to think aloud about how they approached psychodiagnosis of five cases. These interviews were recorded, and a manual was developed for rating the depth of the different clinicians' knowledge base. It was found that experts have deeper knowledge bases and the group which had the deepest theory base also seemed to have fewer constraints in accessing that base in order to bring elements of theory to bear on the diagnostic task. Thus, in both experiments, a linkage was established between tasks which are relatively less well-structured, experience and training, and depth of underlying knowledge base. Experts seem to be most useful in diagnostic situations which are relatively ill-structured and hence allow them to bring their superior theoretical understanding to bear. The dissertation is conceptualized within the larger context of experimental work in areas which are relevant to the studies. One of these is the nature of categorization, and especially the role of theory in categorization and conceptual coherence. The findings in these studies strongly support the role of theory. Another important area is the role of expertise in problem solving. The findings again support the conclusion that expertise is important to the extent that problems are relatively ill-defined. A model of the role of expertise in assessment for psychoanalytic psychotherapy is offered which both emphasizes the importance of theory in this type of assessment and provides a strong account of the non-predictive functions of such expertise in this domain.

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