Pattern recognition as an indicator of diagnostic expertise

Expertise is typically associated with high levels of experience in a domain. However, high levels of experience do not necessarily mean that operators are capable of performing at the level of expertise. Based on evidence that pattern-recognition is the foundation of expert diagnostic performance, two studies investigated the utility of distinguishing competent from expert practitioners using measures of the component tasks of pattern-recognition. In two dissimilar domains, performance across the tasks clustered into two levels, reflecting competence and expertise. Performance on the tasks was only weakly correlated with years of experience in the domain. The significance of these results is discussed in relation to assessment and training evaluation.

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