Using script theory to cultivate illness script formation and clinical reasoning in health professions education

Background: Script theory proposes an explanation for how information is stored in and retrieved from the human mind to influence individuals’ interpretation of events in the world. Applied to medicine, script theory focuses on knowledge organization as the foundation of clinical reasoning during patient encounters. According to script theory, medical knowledge is bundled into networks called ‘illness scripts’ that allow physicians to integrate new incoming information with existing knowledge, recognize patterns and irregularities in symptom complexes, identify similarities and differences between disease states, and make predictions about how diseases are likely to unfold. These knowledge networks become updated and refined through experience and learning. The implications of script theory on medical education are profound. Since clinician-teachers cannot simply transfer their customized collections of illness scripts into the minds of learners, they must create opportunities to help learners develop and fine-tune their own sets of scripts. In this essay, we provide a basic sketch of script theory, outline the role that illness scripts play in guiding reasoning during clinical encounters, and propose strategies for aligning teaching practices in the classroom and the clinical setting with the basic principles of script theory

Using script theory to cultivate illness script formation and clinical reasoning in health professions education

Background: Script theory proposes an explanation for how information is stored in and retrieved from the human mind to influence individuals’ interpretation of events in the world. Applied to medicine, script theory focuses on knowledge organization as the foundation of clinical reasoning during patient encounters. According to script theory, medical knowledge is bundled into networks called ‘illness scripts’ that allow physicians to integrate new incoming information with existing knowledge, recognize patterns and irregularities in symptom complexes, identify similarities and differences between disease states, and make predictions about how diseases are likely to unfold. These knowledge networks become updated and refined through experience and learning. The implications of script theory on medical education are profound. Since clinician-teachers cannot simply transfer their customized collections of illness scripts into the minds of learners, they must create opportunities to help learners develop and fine-tune their own sets of scripts. In this essay, we provide a basic sketch of script theory, outline the role that illness scripts play in guiding reasoning during clinical encounters, and propose strategies for aligning teaching practices in the classroom and the clinical setting with the basic principles of script theory

Effects of typeface fluency on the hypothesised processes contributing to source recollection

This item is only available electronically.Recollection accuracy can be significantly improved by producing written materials using hard-to-read (disfluent) fonts. Research suggest that these improvements are due to disfluency activating deeper levels of processing. While this ‘disfluency effect’ is well established, the cognitive mechanisms responsible are not yet understood. The present study involved 30 adults (71% female, mean age = 21.05, SD = 3.17), and examined the disfluency effect using EEG techniques to investigate familiarity and recollection; the two processes believed to be responsible for memory retrieval. The current study found no significant disfluency effects on the neurological correlates of familiarity (early frontal negative compenent; FN400) or recollection (late positive component; LPC) during the recall phase of a source memory task for information learned in fluent vs. disfluent typefaces. These findings bring into question whether familiarity and recollection provide an appropriate theoretical basis for the investigation of fluency and recollection. Furthermore, the current study also questions the correspondence between these two processes and specific ERP components may not be as straightforward as is generally believed. Therefore, it is suggested that future studies will be benefited by close monitoring of the theoretical assumptions which guide research.Thesis (B.PsychSc(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 201

Empirical analysis of polarization division multiplexing-dense wavelength division multiplexing hybrid multiplexing techniques for channel capacity enhancement

This paper exemplifies dense wavelength division multiplexing combined with polarization division multiplexing with C-band frequency range-based single-mode fiber. In the proposed link, 32 independent channels with 16 individual wavelengths are multiplexed with two different angles of polarization. Each carrying 130 Gbps dual-polarization data with 200 GHz channel spacing claiming a net transmission rate of 4.16 Tbits/s with spectral efficiency of 69% with 20% side-mode-suppression-ratio (SMSR) and optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR) 40.7. The performance of the proposed techniques has been analyzed using optimized system parameters securing a minimum bit error rate (BER) 10-9 at a transmission distance up to 50 km

Advanced extravehicular activity systems requirements definition study. Phase 2: Extravehicular activity at a lunar base

The focus is on Extravehicular Activity (EVA) systems requirements definition for an advanced space mission: remote-from-main base EVA on the Moon. The lunar environment, biomedical considerations, appropriate hardware design criteria, hardware and interface requirements, and key technical issues for advanced lunar EVA were examined. Six remote EVA scenarios (three nominal operations and three contingency situations) were developed in considerable detail

Neurodegeneration: Paying It Off with Sleep

SummaryA new study in fruit flies suggests modulation of neural activity links sleep and Alzheimer’s disease. Both sleep loss and amyloid beta increase neural excitability, which reinforces the accumulation of amyloid beta and shortens lifespan

The Self-Administered Witness Interview Tool (SAW-IT): Enhancing witness recall of workplace incidents

Given the often crucial role of witness evidence in Occupational Health and Safety investigation, statements should be obtained as soon as possible after an incident using best practice methods. The present research systematically tested the efficacy of a novel Self-Administered Witness Interview Tool (SAW-IT); an adapted version of the Self-Administered Interview (SAI©) designed to elicit comprehensive information from witnesses to industrial events. The present study also examined whether completing the SAW-IT mitigated the effect of schematic processing on witness recall. Results indicate that the SAW-IT elicited significantly more correct details, as well as more precise information than a traditional incident report form. Neither the traditional report from, nor the SAW-IT mitigated against biasing effects of contextual information about a worker’s safety history, confirming that witnesses should be shielded from extraneous post-event information prior to reporting. Importantly, these results demonstrate that the SAW-IT can enhance the quality of witness reports

False memory guided eye movements::insights from a DRM-Saccade paradigm

The Deese-Roediger and McDermott (DRM) paradigm and visually guided saccade tasks are both prominent research tools in their own right. This study introduces a novel DRM-Saccade paradigm, merging both methodologies. We used rule-based saccadic eye movements whereby participants were presented with items at test and were asked to make a saccade to the left or right of the item to denote a recognition or non-recognition decision. We measured old/new recognition decisions and saccadic latencies. Experiment 1 used a pro/anti saccade task to a single target. We found slower saccadic latencies for correct rejection of critical lures, but no latency difference between correct recognition of studied items and false recognition of critical lures. Experiment 2 used a two-target saccade task and also measured corrective saccades. Findings corroborated those from Experiment 1. Participants adjusted their initial decisions to increase accurate recognition of studied items and rejection of unrelated lures but there were no such corrections for critical lures. We argue that rapid saccades indicate cognitive processing driven by familiarity thresholds. These occur before slower source-monitoring is able to process any conflict. The DRM-saccade task could effectively track real-time cognitive resource use during recognition decisions