Abductive and diagnostic Reasoning
Description
Diagnostic Reasoning is the process of finding the best explanation for a set of symptoms.
In everyday life, this process is to be found in many different situations such as a doctors' diagnosis for a sick person, or when we try to find the failure in a technical system. The complexity and amount of possible symptoms and explanations make diagnostic reasoning a field of research which allows a huge variety of interesting research questions concerning different reasoning processes.
Content
TAR Modell
One model to explain this diagnostic reasoning is TAR, which describes diagnostic reasoning as a deliberate comprehension process in which observations are sequentially interpreted and integrated into a mental model. We use the Black Box task as an experimental paradigm to test different process assumptions.
Process Tracing
With eye tracking, we are able to make assumptions about cognitive processes based on objective behavioral data. Eye movements indicate which information are active and worked with in memory which makes it possible to describe the process of diagnostic reasoning in a more detailed way.
Fuzzy Logic
How much does a light pain hurt? In everyday life uncertainty makes it difficult to find good explanations. Our intention is to investigate the influence of uncertainty in the context of diagnostic reasoning processes.
DFG: Diagnostic Reasoning with Causal Models
Do I sniff because of a common cold or because of an allergic reaction? What determines the symptoms influence on the diagnosis? This project investigates order effects in symptom presentation and why diverse symptoms make us feel more certain about a diagnosis.
