Some Factors Influencing Clinical Judgment

摘要

After a previous study of clinical judgment using the analogical method in which the principles of classical psychophysics were applied to the investigation of clinical judgment, a survey of the literature encouraged the authors to extend the use of this method by attempting to apply learning theory to the judgmental situation. The present report gives the results of the application of drive theory as used in the study of manifest anxiety and an attempt to apply simple reinforcement principles (with less promising results). Several studies of the diagnostic judgment per se are included dealing with the problem of diagnostic judgment as a function of amount of information, and with the effects of diagnostic bias. A number of tangential studies are also included. (Author)