Psychiatrists use similarities to make diagnoses in situations where rules are insufficient. The purpose of this study was to examine the criteria psychiatrists use to determine similarity between cases of personality disorder. Psychiatrists were provided with cases and were interviewed according to Kelly’s method. Cognitive science theories were used to explain the criteria identified. Results indicated that similarity decisions include idiosyncratic criteria. These results add to the current understanding of medical problem-solving processes and have implications for medical education.
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